As part of my graduating thesis i looked at how the principles of permaculture could be used to assess the sustainable integration of urban agriculture into cities. What I found was that many of permacultures core principles manifest themselves out of necessity when some form of ‘crisis’ occurs, eg the Special Period in Cuba. David Holmgren, co-originator of Permaculture, offers 12 principles which he believes should guide all design processes;
1. Observe and Interact, 2. Catch and store energy, 3. Obtain a Yield, 4. Apply self regulation and accept feedback, 5. Use and Value renewable resources, 6. Produce no waste, 7. Design from patterns to details, 8. Integrate rather than segregate, 9. Use small and slow solutions, 10. Use and value diversity, 11. Use edges and value the marginal, 12. Creatively use and respond to change
Looking at the 12 principles I think many LA’s would say they approach design through some of these lenses every day. It is my personal belief that Landscape Architects will increasingly draw on the design approach offered by Permaculture and other ecological design concepts, eg. biomimicry, in the coming years and decades as circumstances increasingly dictate (although it would be great if we didnt wait that long) that we begin to look for new solutions in a resource depleted world.
