GOBRADIME Step 6: Design – Permaculture Womens Guild

Important progress note:

If you’ve made it this far in the design studio, but haven’t yet finished all of the modules, we strongly recommend you complete those modules before going further.

Here’s why:

You can’t possibly do a whole systems design without all of the information that is in those modules. It’s interconnected! You can certainly do lots of fun drafts, but please make space to go deep and work through the content before rushing into detailed map-making for your final project.

We don’t mind if you jump around in the course until this point, but this is where you need to go back and make sure you’ve got the tools you need to build the best design you can make. Take your time, enjoy the process, and get dirty!

Once you’ve finished the modules, please go through each step in the design studio, in order, and make sure you’ve done all of the homework up until this point. Then…

Finished with all of them and ready to get it done? Ok!

Deliverables to this point

Hopefully, the analysis phase has helped you to clarify your plans and priorities. So let’s get it down on paper!

Now it’s time to take all of those messy notes and crooked draft maps, and make them into clear, concise, and beautiful images that demonstrate a progression of plans and actions. For our purposes, we refer to this process–the synthesis of drafts, notes, and ideas into tangible, to-scale maps–rendering.

To streamline the process for you, as certification students, we have created our list of “deliverables,” which you’ve been working to accumulate as you move through the Design Studio. Once again, let’s review those deliverables:

Site selection.
Components list.
Species lists, as applicable.
Stakeholder interviews.
Goals articulation, refined.
Observation and site assessment notes.
Personal boundaries assessment.
Base map
Zone map
Sectors map(s)
Draft components map.
Edge & microclimates maps.
Resources maps, notes, and/or diagrams.

hey don’t panic if you don’t have all this stuff yet! Move through today’s class and then dive into the circular process of pulling it all together.

Now, in the rendering process, you will refine the drafts from the list above AND create more layers, as needed.

For your design project to qualify for certification, your collection of legibly rendered maps should include:

The base map, to scale.
The components map, with flows and relationships clearly marked.
Resource maps (unless you’re showing resources in a diagram or just as notes)
Zone maps, as above.
Sectors, systems, and relationships. You can represent this information in however many maps and combinations make sense for you, and you might even be able to get everything onto just a couple of maps, but ALL of the following elements and influences must be addressed:
Sectors overview map, as above.
Water systems.
Edges and microclimates.
Paths, patterns, and flows.
Plants, trees, and gardens.
Built environment and connections between.
Social relationships, invisible structures, economics.
Technology, transportation, and energy.
Animals, waste, and nutrient cycling.

If this all sounds really complicated, use your components list to ground you back to tangible reality. Map the physical, visible layer of your design, by placing your components into the sectors and systems on your site. How will they all connect? How will their relationships create regenerative cycles? These are the relationships that create the backbone of your design. Render them.

Map Rendering for Landscape Designers

This section by Paige Payne

WIN 20190905 09 39 20 Pro

Watch this video on YouTube

For this course, we created a collaborative design so that we could show you consistent, clear examples of several different kinds of maps you might include in your project.

You have already seen a few of these images, but in this class, we have embedded high-res PDFs of each map, so you can see all of the juicy details!

Here’s the base map:

Start with the base map, then do zones and sectors next.

Create one base map layer for each layer that you will render in your design. Be sure that you always have an original base map that you NEVER draw on. Make a separate base map of every layer before drawing on it! If you are using digital tools this will simply become its own layer that you can make visible or invisible with the click of a mouse.

Refer back to this article for more about the base map.

Keep the base map simple. Show the boundaries, outline of the property, fences, house, structures, and major permanent components. It is sometimes easier to draw existing trees and plant material if needed for each layer instead of including them in each base map. This keeps the base map simple and less cluttered on layers where the placement of trees and plant material are not relevant.

Make the drawing as large or small as you like to leave room for text, details, flow, species identification, etc. Bigger can be better if easier to read, draw on, and to create room for more information. It’s up to you!

If there is an image in your mind that clicks with your design, go with it! Once you get the first layer down things will fall into place, and each layer will build on the last. Once you have a few layers the more complex ideas will start to become apparent, and rendering them should become easier.

Orient each layer in the same direction in order to familiarize the reader and designer with the layout of the site. That way you and the reader will not need to reorient yourselves when viewing a new map. Ideally your design will be oriented with the south at the bottom of the page and the north at the top. This makes reading sun patterns more apparent when designing.

For smaller sites, each layer should be the same size and to the same scale. On larger properties this might not be possible (patch mapping and blowing areas up). This makes reading and understanding the maps easier when progressing through the layers of the design.

Design from pattern to detail. Draw larger elements and larger concepts first. For example if there are patios, food forest areas, raised beds, outbuildings or other large and crucial components in the design put them in first. It is much harder to design a building around an elderberry shrub than the other way around!

Once your large elements are in place, think about the flow between the spaces. How will you get from your greenhouse to your compost or from your herb garden to your kitchen? Connect the components with paths and flow patterns. If the flow doesn’t make sense and the components aren’t connected into a system you might want to reconsider the placement of your components.

Also, please make sure that you are documenting and showing the relationships between the components in the system, not just their relationships to humans.

Get more specific and add smaller items as you work through the layer. Components added at this point might include specific species identification, rotational crops, material choices, etc. There is room for pattern to detail designing in even the smaller components (ex, trees first, shrubs second, perennials third, ground covers fourth, vines fifth, etc.)

Finally, label the areas, add text, and clarify concepts. This is again a pattern to detail method. Start with large areas and more obvious functions. Then you can move on to more detailed aspects of how each element directly relates to each other and the layer that you are rendering.

This might take a little time and trial and error to get the text exactly how it needs to be in order to look neat and precise. If you are using a digital tool simply create your text for each element and move them around to fit neatly on the page.

I will often stagger the text areas in order to make it apparent where one text box ends and where another begins. You can also create a box around each area in order to make it clear where the text for one area begins and ends.

When drawing larger sites, or areas with a lot of detail patch mapping can make the areas of the design easier to manage.

Zones and Sectors

You should have already done your base map, zone map, and sector maps by the time you get to this point. We have mentioned them a few times now. But if you have not, do Not continue without them!

Here is Luiza’s Zone map:

and here is her Sectors overview map. She also did social and emotional sector maps, we will see this later.

Patch Mapping

This Herb Garden Detail map takes a small area at the front of the house and blows it up to show the plant species in the drawing. Notice the patch map includes information about where it is located on the whole system map.

Most design projects are going to need some patch maps. Patch mapping is when you zoom in on one section of your design and map out the smaller details within that area.On a large or complex site, you might even find it helpful to patch map every section of it.

Use patch mapping when:

You need exact numbers and measurements so you can determine how many plants and/or materials you need and create a multi-phase budget.
You have a small area in a specific microclimate and you want to make sure you make best use of it.
You want to present your design to clients and/or stakeholders and they need to see the details.
You want to show specific plans to workers during implementation.
You can’t fit all of your design plans on the whole-system map.
You have a large site with a lot of different areas.
You’re totally overwhelmed.

In the example below, notice how the herb garden plant key is hard to read in the overall physical map and plant key (map above), but is very easy to read in the detailed map.

Use patch mapping when:

You need exact numbers and measurements so you can determine how many plants and/or materials you need and create a multi-phase budget.
You have a small area in a specific microclimate and you want to make sure you make best use of it.
You want to present your design to clients and/or stakeholders and they need to see the details.
You want to show specific plans to workers during implementation.
You can’t fit all of your design plans on the whole-system map.
You have a large site with a lot of different areas.
You’re totally overwhelmed.

In the above example, notice how the herb garden plant key is hard to read in the overall physical map and plant key (map above), but is very easy to read in the detailed map.

Which layers should I render and why?

Here are a few more of Luiza’s maps, each with an explanation of how they were chosen and why they were essential to her site-specific needs.

Emotional Sectors

The emotional sectors map shows how outside elements, past experiences, and future visioning are considered in this design. This layer was the first one to be rendered because it is so integral to one of her design goals which was to integrate her personal and professional life using ecological principles. When considering this map the student had an immediate vision of the Navajo medicine wheel, which she had studied in the past. These two factors made this map an easy first layer for us to draw.

This map was chosen because:

Understanding and designing inner landscape elements were very important to this student and her design goals.
It was an easy layer to render because a vision of how it could be represented visually was clear to the student right away.
We felt that this layer transcended the invisible and physical layers. We were able to take invisible forces and make them visible with tangible reminders in the landscape.

Water Systems

This layer was chosen for a different reason than the emotional sectors map. The image shows the components and water flow of a closed loop system that was designed and implemented by the student and her husband. We used different colored boxes and arrows to show the different phases of the water as it moves through the purification process.

We used photos of the system during implementation as well as a diagram of the phytofiltration phase of the system to help the reader understand the system.

This map was chosen because:

The image represents a tangible system that displays many ecological principles.
It is a great example of a closed loop system and using available resources.
There is a clear directional flow of resources and a process that is easily represented visually.
There were existing photos of the system and the implementation that could be used to make an interesting and easily comprehensible map.

Physical Layer

This layer is an overview of actual tangible components that will be implemented in the landscape. There is a lot of information in this layer that made it important to render including:

Most tangible and physical components and systems that will be implemented and built in the landscape.
Materials will be used and repurposed.
Information on how the landscape will be used and ecological principles will be applied.
A detailed plant list with specific species and varieties of plants.
Components such as solar panels, tisane garden, existing trees, and wildlife hedge that were not included in other layers, but play an important role in the system.
Important components that are already existing and will remain in the system.
Components that will be added or changed.

This can be used as a working design in the implementation of the landscape and garden areas. This is your physical map of what will go where.

Invisible layers are represented with tangible items. The emotional sectors are represented by the windchimes in the north, a candle in the east, water cleansing reeds in the south, and compost in the west. This map shows that we are still considering invisible layers even when designing tangible components.

In Luiza’s example, she made a detailed plant key as well.

Social Sectors

This layer was important to render later in the design process because it looks at components from different layers in the design including both visible and invisible structures. Since the reader and student have become familiar with components in the design, we can consider how things come together to form larger ideas. Luiza wanted to use the 9 forms of capital to represent that this design, once implemented, will create abundance in many areas of life.

To simplify the image, we decided to show areas where the 9 forms of capital are present in the design. We did this by creating a key with a different colored triangles that represent each of the 9 forms of capital. Those triangles were then placed next to the areas where this capital was being created. Basic text and arrows highlighting the main points of each area were added next.

The result is an interactive map that encourages you to explore the concepts for yourself. We have kept it tidy and simple, but it is clear that larger concepts have been considered. This layer shows that a well thought out design isn’t just about gardening, but creating a system that gives back on many levels.

Why this layer was chosen:

Invisible layers and building community are very important to this student and her design.
This image makes the invisible structures visible by showing where each form of capital is present in the design.
This map is based on physical elements that exist in the garden making it more tangible.
This layer illustrates that more difficult ideas and concepts can be represented in an easy to read and understandable format.

A few pointers for rendering “invisible” layers:

You may or may not want to use your base map on these layers. Feel free to go with a completely different concept if you feel inspired.

Map the flow of energy for invisible layers. How do the various forms of capital flow in your design? Where do the various forms of capital enter and exit? Where is there waste, surplus or deficiency in the system? Use arrows to show the flow of of these invisible energies.
Again, design from pattern to detail. Start with the largest ideas and concepts. Then work your way to the details.
Use zone, sector, and physical maps as a base for inner and emotional landscapes.
Use universal or common symbols to represent ideas.
Add your text last so that the maps are cleaner and simpler as you are drawing. Only add text where needed to explain the concepts.
Relate invisible structures to physical structures. An example of this is present in the Inner Landscape Zones Map seen below. You can see that we took the garden zones and related them to Luiza’s Inner Landscape.
Use symbols to represent larger concepts and get big ideas across. An example of the use of symbols can be seen in the Inner Landscape Map. We used a butterfly to represent transformation, a thought bubble to represent dreams, etc. We also used symbols in the Emotional Sectors Map (Fire to the East, Water to the South, Earth to the West and Wind to the North). We then took these invisible sectors and placed physical reminders in the garden that can be seen on the physical map. Fire is represented by a candle in the herb garden which is on the east side of the property, the reeds and water purification site are to the south, compost is to the east, and wind chimes are to the north.
Use colorful boxes or keys to show where invisible structures are present. An example of the use of a key is seen in the Ethics and Principles Map. We made a key of symbols for each of the ethics and principles we used. Then we created boxes indicating where the ethics and principles were present in the design.

Homework for this phase of your design project

Tips and Guidelines

Make maps that represent the facts, then add layers on top that represent your dreams and ideas.
Take the time to make maps to scale, and write on them legibly. Or learn to do it all digitally–it’s easier than you might think! You’ll be kicking yourself if you can’t even read your own notes later on.
Revel in the design process and embrace the challenge! Make a beautiful design and it will inspire everyone who sees it.

Also, don’t get lost in the “when” of everything yet. Focus still on WHAT you want to do, and on rendering that, visually. In the next step of the design studio, we’ll tackle the WHEN and the HOW of it all in the next two classes, where we’ll develop your implementation phase maps and maintenance plan!

Please do not continue to the next step until all of your maps are legibly rendered, to scale.

Once you’ve got most of it assembled, use our Google Slides template to pull it all into a cohesive document that can be downloaded, shared, and presented.

Feedback

Now that you’ve got a bunch of maps, and especially if you get stuck during the rendering process, go out in search of feedback. Get feedback from your mentor, from the faculty-student forum, from your stakeholders, and from anyone on the street who is willing to look at your maps and listen to your ideas. This feedback will help you understand what you need to change about your maps, and how you can make them easier to read and follow.

Deliverables

Once again and even more concisely, here’s the summarized checklist of EVERYTHING you should have in hand before moving on.

Goals articulation, refined into a vision statement.
Stakeholder interviews.
Observation and site assessment checklist, your version.
Base map, to scale.
Components List.
Resource maps, diagrams, and/or notes.
Zone maps, before and after.
Components placement map: the physical layer.
Sectors, systems, and relationships, rendered in however many layers and in whichever combinations makes sense for your site. This could include any or all of the topics below, combined together into one map or rendered in as many maps as works for you:
* Sectors overview map.
* Water systems.
* Edges and microclimates.
* Paths, patterns, flows, and successions, big and small.
* Trees, gardens and related components.
* Built environment and connections between.
* Social relationships, invisible structures, economics.
* Technology, transportation, and energy.
* Animals, waste, and nutrient cycling.