Pattern Language, an Essential Tool in Design
September 23rd , Rio Wisconsin
Pattern languages, compiled for each system under design, accomplish what no other design methodology can achieve. They integrate holistic, spatial intelligence with logical linear processes of development. And they allow the design to work in both directions: from the particular to the general and back again. Flexible and fractal by nature, pattern languages reflect the order of nature, yet integrate human culture within the same framework—because, to quote Penny Livingston-Stark, “We are nature working.”
By harnessing the power of inductive reasoning, pattern language enables us to assemble a whole from its pieces, formulate the DNA of a holistic system, and with that map, to identify its limiting factors, missing elements, and empty niches.
In this half-day workshop, Peter Bane, veteran permaculture teacher, design, and the author of The Permaculture Handbook: Garden farming for town and country, will introduce the core concepts of pattern language, explain how this methodology integrates with familiar permaculture design processes, and will lead participants through exercises to increase familiarity and fluency with this powerful tool.
Peter Bane
Peter is the Executive Director of Permaculture Institute of North America, a job he assumed in 2018 after serving as Secretary and later President of PINA’s board. Former publisher/editor of Permaculture Activist magazine (now Permaculture Design), he is also Treasurer of Great Rivers and Lakes Permaculture Institute, and a resident of western Lower Michigan, where he farms 18 acres with his partner and family’s.
Amenities
- Camping onsite is available at no cost.
- This will include access to bathrooms, water, cooking facilities but no refrigeration.
- This course will include light refreshments but you will provide your own lunch and dinner.