Getting Wired

Back online. Feeling connected again.

Living in the countryside just ain’t the same without the information superhighway zipping through. I can take so much of the birds doing their thing or watching the clouds pass but then I want to be connected. Even if no one is logging on or reading this stuff it’s the possibilities of the internet that intrigue me. It’s like that night out when you feel it’s all going to happen. Maybe it’s just the moon building to the full or the fact that the EconoSpace wood is being sawed as we speak that has me excited. I’m also buzzing from a little thing I put together for a discussion on vernacular architecture at my local Arts Centre.

Architecture is composed of space which is hived off from the infinity of the universe by walls, floors and roofs which ‘contain’ the enclosed space. These 3 dimensional boundaries represent the 3 principle dimensions of the known world. When the time dimension is added – in the form of light – you have congregated the 4 dimensions which make up the world as we experience it. It follows from this that architecture is a representation of the known world, a fact seemingly understood by vernacular builders all over the planet. When this miniature space-time continuum is fractured, for example by selling one’s time on the open market by holding down a job to pay a mortgage in exchange for a place to live, then the magic spell is broken and buildings become dull and lifeless.

The ancient practitioners of the building arts understood these dynamics of architecture. Places such as Carrowkeel and Newgrange, not to speak of the Great Pyramid, attest to this. Traditional sheltermakers didn’t need any explanation for the mysteries they experienced building their own homes. They simply felt connected. This is one of the major things which has been lost by the commodification of everything from homes, to love, to food. Wrenching back these imperatives is essential if we are to truly feel the life which surges through us every day. This is one of the dynamics of the EconoSpace Project – exploring the freedom of mortgage-free building.

Anyway, while I was offline I managed to edit this clip on the installation of the alternative energy system at the Living Architecture Centre. Enjoy!

My Umbilical

In the blink of an eye my umbilical to the world is severed. I had a rather slow wireless connection beamed off Sheemore, an enigmatic hill to the northwest of me with 3 megaliths on its summit. Now, I have radio silence and must ride my bike to my neighbours Willie & Natalia’s to log on. They are connected to the same transmitter but run Windows as opposed to my Linux. That seems to be the source of the problem. What to do next is the question.

I feel cut off from the world and am even tongue-tied. This is strange. I love my online connection. I knew when I first heard of the internet that it was a way for me to live in the countryside. This has proved to be the case to the point where I now feel solitary and at a loss for words. Normally I can just glide over to the keyboard and let fly. Now, breathless from the bike ride, I try to think up things to say. Certainly I will be inspired on the homeward run which is all downhill.

I am buzzing from reading Carl Jung’s thoughts on consciousness. He says that raising individual consciousness is the purpose of life. I have a feeling that he is absolutely right. In his book Memories, Dreams, Reflections he also talks about designing and living in his own home. He says of this that he never felt so much himself. I’m inclined to agree. If we put those two things together then perhaps we can increase our understanding of the nature of Living Architecture which seems to offer the possibility of higher consciousness. Clearly this not for everyone but it suits me just fine.

He also goes on a lot about the space-time relationship which I have been mulling over myself. People don’t realise that our concept of time dates from the Industrial Revolution when national or transnational train timetables had to be devised! Before that local time was good enough. With the Internat we now have global time! The good old 24/7 syndrome. This drives me crazy. I like local time. At the moment I am rising at dawn when I wake, ignoring timepieces altogether. I eat when I am hungry and sleep when I am tired. I gauge time from the position of the sun in the sky. Conveniently my computer clock has gone haywire.

Hopefully I will be wired up again shortly and can resume my usual blather. In the meantime we are readying ourselves for the arrival of the EconoSpace wood. This is due to arrive next week. I have also decided to create a pond to drain the site where the building will stand. I will keep you posted on developments and shoot some video to accompany this.

Within & Without

One of the most interesting things about creating architecture is the fact that one ends up with inside and outside spaces. This is a reflection of our own selves with our physical exteriors and rich emotional inner worlds.

If one is interested in exploring one’s emotional relationship with the world there is no better way than to create one’s personal architecture and to inhabit this. Exactly why architecture can facilitate such exploration is something of a mystery at the present time. Undoubtedly in the past this mystery was understood and provided the foundation for the secrecy inherent within the architectural profession.

The practice of vernacular architecture has traditionally been free of secrecy. The deep connections to life which traditional dwellings typically forge were more-or-less taken for granted. In the modern era, where building one’s own home has become something of a rarity, the disconnection which many people feel from life may well be caused, at least in part, by having strangers create their home.

As we move into an era of profound change there is no better way to consider one’s options for change than by designing one’s personal architecture. One does not even have to build this in order to experience the magic! This is a mystery of its own!

I am presently reading ‘Memories, Dreams, Reflections’ by Carl Jung. He experienced a deep connection to the unconscious by building miniature structures in his back garden. Children, of course, make these connections naturally and indeed we all played ‘house’ when we were young. So, why do we lose the magic when we grow up?

Answers on a postcard please ….

Timber!

All this video stuff I’ve uploaded in recent days is fun but now its time to get down to the nitty gritty and order timber for the frame. This will come from a local sawmill, just like things used to be done in the past and just like we are being told to do by those espousing the new sustainable way.

Shopping locally for materials is a far cry from visiting the local builder’s merchant. You have to accept what is there for starters. You will not be doused in flourescent light or showered with glossy catalogues but merely dealt with on a one-to-one basis, just like we imagine it was in the past. I am fortunate that I have a small sawmill operating a few miles from me and it is from here that the timber for the EconoSpace/Art Studio will come. No fancy kiln drying or machine franking – just honest-to-god wood from the trees. I have a choice of spruce, larch, douglas fir and cedar.

I am going to put cedar on the roof. This wood is actually quite plentiful here as it was the traditional tree planted for shelter. It is reasonably ‘clear’ – that is, free of knots – but not quite good enough to split into shingles which is the traditional way of using it for roofing. Instead, I will cut the 200mm wide planks into short lengths and fix them to roofing battens, more or less like shingles or slates.

Using timber for a roof is a sure way of getting people agitated about fire and even brimstone. Using timber to frame up a house can even make people nervous! These insecurities have little to do with how combustible timber is but have more to do with our sense of how combustible we ourselves are! ‘But will it last?’ I frequently hear people ask. You might as well ask the same question over the head of a newborn baby! Of course it will not last but hopefully it will have a good life and will leave no harm behind.

Leaving no harm behind is the hallmark of sustainable building. This is generally not understood. People are usually so concerned about their ‘investment’ that they choose materials such as concrete or plastic in order to forestall any possibility of decay. This is really an effort to live forever, which, despite advances in science, is impossible.

I quite like the idea of a building that will age with me and I prefer to deal consciously with my mortality. The trick of this is to build without a mortgage! Curiously, the very word ‘mortgage’ reeks of death and decay and translates as ‘the wages of death’.

Well, so much for the philosophy, but I really must get cracking on that timber order!

The EconoSpace Project

Some more project volunteers

On-site preparations

The volunteers flex their muscles constructing a covered work area and a deck prior to commencing work on the Art Studio.

Some EconoSpace Project volunteers

Some of the volunteers who have come together to construct the Art Studio

The EconoSpace Project

The video blogging begins – a very serious me introducing the project and sounding a little like Darth Vader!

Live Your Architecture!

This is a fascinating clarion call. One some visceral level it is recognisable and easily understood. To explain it however is more difficult. I first proposed the idea of ‘living one’s architecture’ in the mid to late 90’s. This emerged from the work carried out with students of the Be Your Own Architect Course. While these Courses were focussed on teaching people how to design their own homes the reality of this empowerment revealed fascinating possibilities beyond what I had imagined. The process of designing personal space clearly allowed people to explore the deeper layers of what might be referred to as ’self’. Personal space is normally what we refer to as ‘the home’. It is the place where we can most be ourselves. If this architecture is imagined as being an extension of the self then it follows that the design of personal space offers interesting possibilities in terms of self-discovery. In fact, one soon realises that the architecture can, when shaped to suit the self, provide nutrition for the development of your life. This is a primitive and exciting idea, a process that is fascinating and rewarding. This is the reverse of the norm where the house stifles individuality and creativity as well as demanding 24/7 obesiance! So, the living one’s architecture an incendiary notion really, a process in need of a dictum or a mantra. So, Live Your Architecture!

The Garden

I was fortunate that my daughter Sian and her partner Martin created raised beds on the site as a gift last year. Set out in circular form about 6m diameter, with inner paths allowing for easy access, the beds were mulched with rotted horse manure and newspapers. Thomas and myself planted seeds in pots on the full moon and now Fionnuala and I are in the process of setting these out in the beds. Leeks, spinach, brocolli, kale, lettuce, onions, peas and even potatoes. The latter have been planted in a lazy bed which actually looks like a small grave.

 

I’m no gardener but the sight of the garden – someting like a crop circle when seen in the moonlight – is encouraging. I have an inner resistance to gardening which is probably some childhood hangover relating to getting dirty. Once I plunge my hands in soil however all resistance is overcome. This Food-Shelter combo is interesting. Add to that access to good drinking water and you have a survival story in the making. I’ll never be self-sufficient in terms of food but the idea of feeding and sheltering oneself within one’s own resources is fascinating. This process very much focusses one on place and to an extent cuts one off from the outside world.

 

Being cut off, or to put it more appropriately, being somewhat independant from the outside world is fascinating. Time becomes more important than money. Nature provides the life force necessary for growth. This is basically free and works tirelessly on your behalf day and night. It is hard for someone like myself not to become philosophical about such liberation. Yes, there is the hardship factor to contend with and the lure of what the world has to offer is constantly there. This is true both in regard to building as well as growing – one is constantly bombarded by suggestions that ‘home made’ is somehow inferior to the glittering offerings available ‘outside’.

 

There is no question that home produced food is superior in every way. Not only that, but also it is simply ‘there’. No need to drag yourself to the shop and to be immersed in the banality of retail commerce. This is potentially liberating but leaves one very much with oneself – weeding, watering, thinning, bending, stooping and so on. In terms of building the process is even more arduous and slow. Consequently, the time one has to spend with oneself is considerable. No diversions are on offer. One is simply there faced with the work to be done. When speaking of the past we refer to this as ‘hardship’. As far as I can see this hardship has more to do with being rooted in the same place rather than with any physical trauma. Protected from the overstimulation of the marketplace, one finds oneself alone. This is probably a scary place for many people.

 

Being alone in terms of dealing with one’s Food-Shelter needs is possibly one of the biggest challenges we face in striving for a ’sustainable way of life’. There may be no avoiding this as climate change and the reality of peak oil restrict our ability to move and limit the free availabilty of goods available off-the-shelf. Not only will this force us to stay home but it will foster a new reality in regards to how we survive. Where we have sold our time to the highest bidder in order to feed and shelter ourselves, the implosion of that illusion might make it difficult to get out of bed in the morning! One way or the other we are going to end up alone!

 

The aloneness of the sustainable future has much to offer. Closer ties with neighbours, a more direct connection with the earth, a new attitude to money and, most importantly, an opportunity to explore who we really are. Tending the vegetable garden is ideal for such self-exploration.