Proposed Book - "Permaculturetron", "Permaculture Henge" or "Permaculture Deckchair"

Discussion in 'Environmental and Health Professionals Interested' started by Lumbuck Thornton, Feb 6, 2012.

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Proposed Book - "Permaculturetron", "Permaculture Henge" or "Permaculture D

  1. Permaculture Henge

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  2. Permaculture Deckchair

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  3. Permaculturetron

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  1. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    - what happens when you thread permaculture zones and systems through one another?
    by Lumbuck Thornton

    This idea has evolved into what might be the next unit of civilisation - a shelter for computing with the smallest amount of materials, energy consumption and cost because we return to jungles of our making,


    View attachment 1344 Have a look at this image and see the rest in my album at....

    https://forums.permaculture.org.au/album.php?albumid=97

    I hate being away from the garden and gardens have now been shown to have many new health and medical benefits only just discovered that have changed the way new hospitals are designed. Gardens benefit from more presence and attention also.

    Every bloke needs a shed but computers are not the most comfortable place to use a computer and they are very removed from the images, light and sound of a garden.

    What I wanted was a shelter and garden design that enables me to relax or work with my computer sometimes in my garden at a comfortable temperature almost all year round when it is not raining. Fixing a building in one place seemed full of compromises. Even rotating a building to utilise the sun still made positioning vegetation difficult. I realised the shelter had to move but I did not know what to call it. Maybe the device, which is really a piece of passive solar outdoor furnature, could be called an "App Shelter" or "Micro Climate Chaser". The the whole layout of the back garden would change with access to light around the eastern half of the circuit being most important and shelter from the heat being the western half of the circuit. It is all still permaculture really but the plants, shelter and fixed building start to take on additional purposes. An above ground wormfarm system running to arching trench in mounds either side of the tracks to supply cooked vegetables on vines or other food plants via very woody stems.

    All the white space in the garden circle and around it would be planted out with ground covers right up to high fruit trees however their position would mainly be determined by solar impact at critical times of the day and year when I would be trying to collect the sun. They are not shown on the diagram yet so you can clearly see this new foundation structure for a garden.

    The first prototype I build will be a deck chair suspended in a frame where a wheelbarrow tray used to be. It will have to be moved manually in and out of the sun and vents and screens added or subtracted from the wooden framed box as required. Imagine being able to commute and work inside your garden and get out when ever you like. The window I propose to use will be a polycarbonate sheet and I am not sure whether to double layer it or use the greenhouse sheeting. This wall all lift up and hinge over out onto the ground behind me over the wheel in this first version. Later on when I know enough about shell design and access then we might put a recliner chair on wooden or recycled plastic rails.

    This raises the point that having the computer there might be a really useful resource that could track the management of the personal space and all of the garden around it. Planting times, pest control, and all the garden activities needed could be run on models in the winter days in the shed. I hope this idea might win over a few more people to back over to permaculture before it is too late for them and too late for the planet. This changes almost everything in building design to drastically reduce heating, cooling and construction costs of a shelter with the smallest footprint humans could comfortably retreat to.

    Here are some of the steps and possible chapters for a book....

    1. Take an old lounge room or office chair out in your garden.
    2. Build a wooden frame around your chair to hang fly screens in the summer and layers of cardboard insulation in the winter.
    3. Install one insulated window to follow or avoid the sun.
    4. Put the frame on a wheel and chase the micro climates around your garden.
    5. Redesign the garden to create more desirable microclimates and food.
    6. Build a shed large enough to store your chair and go upstairs to rooms that drain down through an above ground wormfarm and out into arching trenches running either side of the shade tunnel.
    7. Install a rocket heater in the shed, micro solar and wind generator for life support and comfort systems.

    Maybe I will need to set up threads dedicated to each chapter and build these up as we learn more along the way. Just like the way we all collaborate to provide content for a website - how about we try to compile a structured book to flesh out these new ideas....

    It is time we renovated ourselves back into our gardens in ways in new indigenous and ingenious ways that literally revolutionise the next units of human shelter and civilisation. Every school should have one out in the yard and then we can try and work out what to call it....

    "Permaculture Henge" relates to its circular structure, gardening rituals based around the movement of the sun and the seasons.

    "Permaculture Deckchair" because most people associate this with relaxation and many associate self sufficiency and environmentally friendliness with hard work and expense when it should not be.

    "Permaculturetron" might appeal the the younger generation. It moves in a circle and it could look quite spaceage with the use of reflectors and small but smart design and function.

    What do you think I should call the book?
     

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  2. TheDirtSurgeon

    TheDirtSurgeon Junior Member

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    I think I'd call it "The Garden Office."

    Or Study, Den... whatever it is in your culture. :)
     
  3. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    Good idea - not sure if I can add it to the poll? I might work on the computer model a bit more to add some vegetable beds.
    It can be a garden office if you want it to be but it is also a relaxation and recreational space - plus a productive shelter.
     
  4. TheDirtSurgeon

    TheDirtSurgeon Junior Member

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    There's a saying: "Under-promise, over-deliver."

    I think you can deliver much more than a garden office. But I have very high expectations for a "permaculturetron." :D
     
  5. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    "Permaculture Spacecrafting"

    You keep inspiring ideas - I might have to run another poll with all these extra title ideas!
    "Permaculture Spacecrafting" would get across it is the fact we are crafting the permaculture space now in a new way so it castes its shade correctly abut also allows us for the first time to move through and stay in our gardens in the comfort and outlook we desire. That is of course when we are not out space walking or "space working" when ever we like. Of course the personal crafted space or enclosed furnature does not have to have you in it to be heating or cooling to a desired climate for you to enter when you want a break ! Hopefully this is one of the most achievable pieces of science fiction out there at the moment. It is going to take a while to learn how to do but I am sure it is possible.
     
  6. TheDirtSurgeon

    TheDirtSurgeon Junior Member

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    I'm not really sure what you're trying to say there. Maybe I'm lost on your concept.

    But I like this:

    And I'm agreed.

    Some people on other forums might just tell me it's because I'm an arrogant asshole. But they would be Americans.

    :D
     
  7. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    Hi Dirt Surgeon,

    Being in the northern hemisphere, make sure your shed is on the northern most point of the circle and when you come out of it in the morning facing east and your passive solar shelter on wheels is warmed up enough, then make sure you turn right instead of left when you are trying to track the sun - if you want to stay warm !

    If you want to cool the climate in the cabin then slow down a bit or speed up to catch less sun and if that does not work then enter the shade tunnel !

    If your shed is at 12 o'clock from above then you should be at 1 oclock at sunrise 3 oclock at mid day and and 6 oclock at sunset.

    Hope this helps you get your bearings !

    The garden has to be designed around avoiding shade on the first half of the circle and maximising shade on the second half - it totally changes the way you design a garden.

    Think of it as sort of "companion planting for humans" except we have the capacity to move through the day !

    At least you are saying something - I appreciate your comments.

    I will try and organise a fly through movie and labels to help people find their way around.
     
  8. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    Perambulation means "walking around". Maybe thinking of it as a Pram for adults could be explored? The other idea was calling it "Recumbent Passive Solar".
     
  9. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    G'day Lumbuck - long time no see!
     
  10. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    I have been really busy but now getting a bit more time to focus on things. Working on more drawings at the moment but run out out of space in my album so have put a few more on another website. Still working on to scale prototype drawings at the moment. I want to have one made before November !

    I think a lot of people might like the idea of crawling back into a pram to get away from global issues. I need to try and encorporate exercise equipment into it as well for energy generation and heating but also for the health benefits. If people dont get up from siting every 20 minutes it starts to have health consequences - even if they exercise lightly or hard at another part of the day.
     
  11. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Nice to have you back.
     
  12. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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