permaculture

["John Schinnerer" <johns@eco-living.net>]

Aloha,

"A Pattern Language" is specifically a collection of works-in-progress
patterns for building, covering a range from fine details of  individual
buildings to city/village scale.  They've taken "timeless" patterns
throughout centuries of human building that create "living" human-built
environments and designed a network of patterns that are relatively
specific and empirically recognizable, yet culturally/locationally
adaptable.

"The timeless way of building" is the first book in the series, where the
genesis of (their approach to) pattern languages in general, leading to the
creation
of a specific one for building, is explained and exemplified.  For anyone
wanting to see how they suggest creating pattern languages, the book to
peruse first is "The timeless way of building."  It
can be rather confusing to jump right into "A pattern language" without
some groundwork...check your local library...

Work on pattern languages for permaculture would encompass the broader
range of designing done in permaculture - that is, not be limited to
buildings/towns/cities by any means.

The network of linkages between patterns that Alexander lays out appears
especially rich.  These indicate pretty clearly (for built environments, in
their case) what depends on what - enabling designers to take "one step at
a time" without having to resort to a linear approach.

John Schinnerer
---------------------------
Cultural & Ecological Designing
Human Habitat Design
john@eco-living.net
http://eco-living.net