permaculture

[Will Carey <cure@rtinet.com>]

on 10/20/04 11:25 PM, permaculture-request@lists.ibiblio.org at
permaculture-request@lists.ibiblio.org wrote:

> Courses I've seen lately do cover (and in some cases, build or visit
> examples of) Register's, Todd's and Lyle's work. Soleri less so, altho a
> course I did a couple of years ago had a participant who'd worked with
> Soleri and presented on his work. Reviews were mixed on that one; seemed
> more dream than substance.
 
Toby.. All..

Thanks Toby.. It's good to hear that these things are getting into the PC
courses, even if it's not getting the consideration it deserves in the
curriculum.  Most of the Ecocities concepts were developed after PC was
"established."   

As for Soleri's work, it needs to be looked at with a careful eye as to how
his Arcology designs "stack functions" the same way PC does.  Register got
his keys concepts for EcoCities by working with Soleri during the early
years of the Arcosanti project.  He merely adapted them to the task of
retrofitting existing cities in an evolutionary process that span timelines
quite similar to PC's 20-200 year scenarios.

I interned at Arcosanti in '75 and then took my first PC course some seven
years later... But I recognized the parallels in their key concepts of
integrated systems design right away.   Mollison's "sun scoop" forests
looked exactly like Solari's south-facing "truncated cone" structures... And
served much the same function as huge passive solar collectors.  But one was
rural and the other urban.  One was Plant Life and Animal Habitat, the other
was Concrete and Human Habitat.

And both are designed for a Post-Oil Civilization....  Civilization being
the key word.  With Post-Oil era is fast approaching, Arcology and
Permaculture design concepts can make the difference in easing the
transition.  

I don't think Soleri still teaches the "four key effects" of his design
concept , but they are as finely-tuned as Mollison's design principals.

There's a rich and vital overlap in the design concepts of Permaculture and
Arcology.  Register talks some about it in his book... But it should be
expanded upon. 

In fact, there was a PC course taught there at Arcosanti a few years back,
sponsored by Drylands.   I know Simon Henderson was a co-teacher there.  I
was hoping that some more dialogue between the two communities would evolve
from that course, but I guess not.

I'm glad though, that Register recognized Soleri and Mollison's work as
foundational to this New Paradigm he mentions in the EcoCities book. I'd
love to see the PC community embrace these more advanced concepts in Urban
and Community design.

So, Toby.... if you'd like I could come up the the Portland PC Guild
sometime and give a talk on EcoCities and Arcology design concepts.  I've
got a good video on Arcology and Soleri's work.

And.. If you want to talk about the "dark side" of Urbanism.... I can also
do a talk on Dumpster Diving... Also with video.   I worked a lot with John
Hoffman, the self-styled "Dumpster Guru" in Seattle when I was at the Center
for Urban Ecology.  In fact, the CUE is featured in the video...

Will