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!