Permaculture, a critical introduction to an art of bio-inspirated design

In the late 1970s, two Australians, Bill Mollison, professor of biogeography at the University of Tasmania, and David Holmgren, a student of environmental design at the same university, proposed a method for designing self-sufficient, sustainable living spaces inspired by natural ecosystems: permaculture. Permaculture is defined as "an integrated and evolving system of perennial plant and animal species useful to humans". . The original aim of permaculture was to propose new, more energy-efficient and sustainable ways of farming, inspired by the workings of natural ecosystems. This definition has gradually refocused on the method and principles of design, and permaculture is now presented as a set of "principles for creating landscapes that mimic the structures and relationships found in nature, and that produce enough food, materials and energy to sustain local needs". .

Permaculture is currently attracting a great deal of interest from people concerned about the ecological and social impacts of an economic model based on the over-consumption of energy and natural resources. The proliferation of books, documentaries, Internet sites and forums, associations, training centers and the like bear witness to this. A study of these sources suggests that permaculture is now moving in several directions. One of these, undoubtedly the best-known in France and Europe, is that of a particular organic market gardening technique, applied to home gardens or very small farms dedicated to local food production. Particularly in Australia and the United States, permaculture is also used as a low-tech – low-fuel method for converting unsustainable intensive agricultural models. In developing countries, it is seen as a fruitful way of emancipating family farms unable to follow the costly technical model that the Green Revolution sought to impose on them in order to achieve food and economic security. Other sources further extend the scope of permaculture as a way of designing sustainable, resilient living spaces, on the scale of villages, neighborhoods or cities.

These directions, diverse as they are, are ultimately quite coherent. They are all part of the search for a...