Permaculture Design

For the HangArt project we are using a lot of concepts that come from the method of Permaculture Design. This is a concept that was developed by a guy named Bill Mollison. It is a way of developing human habitats that are ecologically sound and sustainable. Some basic info about permaculture can be found here, though there is a lot more to the study of permaculture.

One of the first steps we take in this design process is to analyze what is going on at the site we are designing. Rather than going right into the process of designing new things for the site we take a step back and look at what is going on at the site already. Who uses the site? What do they do there? Where does the sun come from? Where does the water flow? Where does the wind blow? Where are the utilities? What inputs are being given to the site? What outputs is the site giving us? There are many more questions we ask as well.

After we understand what's happening we can start to look at what works and what doesn't work. What do we need? What do we need to get rid of? What can be changed?

We also want to look at how one thing serves many different functions. The more functions that we stack, the more sustainable and functional our sit will be. We can install a bench that's just for people to sit on, or we can design it in a way that it also helps aid flood prevention, storage, and aesthetics. We could think of many other functions this bench could serve as well and try to incorporate it into the design. We can do this with physical things as well as social and economic aspects. This makes the design process much more complicated than drawing a plan on a piece of paper, but in the long run it makes the project much richer.

Welcome to the Project

Hello readers.
This blog is set up specifically to follow the progress of our project at The HangArt in Tucson, Arizona.

The idea behind this project is to look at the existing infrastructure on this downtown warehouse district lot and come up with a holistic plan for developing The HangArt space into a sustainable environment. This doesn't just apply to environmental sustainability, but also includes social and economic sustainability as well.

What is The HangArt?
The HangArt mostly focuses on music, but is by no means limited to music. Several local bands use the Quonset Hut as a practice space and concerts are also played there. The HangArt also has recording equipment and local bands record music there.
There is a one hundred year old warehouse on the second HangArt lot that houses an art gallery space. Art shows occasionally happen in this space, as well as acoustic music concerts. There are several artists and artisans who also use spaces on the lot to create their pieces.

As the project moves along I'll talk about things that we want to do to The HangArt to improve it and the concepts behind how we are coming to these conclusions.