  We give a unified explanation of the geometric and algebraic properties of
two well-known maps, one from permutations to triangulations, and another from
permutations to subsets. Furthermore we give a broad generalization of the
maps. Specifically, for any lattice congruence of the weak order on a Coxeter
group we construct a complete fan of convex cones with strong properties
relative to the corresponding lattice quotient of the weak order. We show that
if a family of lattice congruences on the symmetric groups satisfies certain
compatibility conditions then the family defines a sub Hopf algebra of the
Malvenuto-Reutenauer Hopf algebra of permutations. Such a sub Hopf algebra has
a basis which is described by a type of pattern-avoidance. Applying these
results, we build the Malvenuto-Reutenauer algebra as the limit of an infinite
sequence of smaller algebras, where the second algebra in the sequence is the
Hopf algebra of non-commutative symmetric functions. We also associate both a
fan and a Hopf algebra to a set of permutations which appears to be
equinumerous with the Baxter permutations.
