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DAY 11: 7 Ways to Fire Proof Your House & Group Presentations (PDC 2010 with Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton)

Only one more sleep before the course is over…

Today there was excited buzz in the air, and it seemed like the group was slightly less focused on the lecture. The reason, I am guessing, is this afternoon’s session when we got to present our designs to the group. Many (most) of the people haven’t done a group assignment since school days, let alone stand up and talk about it. The pressure was on.

If this wasn’t enough, today is the last full day of the course, and it is set to conclude with a party at which everyone will have to present a talent, otherwise we don’t get our PC certificate! All of a sudden, the classroom and the lunch break were enlivened with people sitting in circles and sketching to prepare for their presentations. Music instruments made an appearance, women spinning Hoola Hoops on the lawn, didgeridoo and guitars. It was great! So cheerful, energetic and…very human.

The morning lecture discussed the risks of bush fires and how to survive them. If you are designing for a region with dry hot spells (like Melbourne region, for example), you will need to have a plan for bush fire shelter.

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DAY 10: Group Design Process and Designing for the Tropics (PDC 2010 with Bill Mollison and Geoff Lawton)

Design Research

our piece of land to design
our piece of land to design

This is a photo of the paddock we are working with. As you can see, it’s mostly an open field sheltered by the surrounding buildings and a tiny amount of slope.

land maps, research, surrounding structures
land maps, research, surrounding structures

We did some homework and found an aerial view of the property on Google Maps and a campus map, which accurately outlines the surrounding structures.

Equipped with these tools, we set to work.

Group Dynamics

We set outside at the highest point of the paddock with a blackboard and a box of chalk, trying to fit in all the elements, but it was obvious that our design process was not very efficient…too many drivers and not enough focus…