Architecture LIVE 14
| Architecture LIVE 14 |
| I am landed. Re-oriented. Half exhausted from keeping up with the pace of events. |
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| As soon as I hit the ground it was down to work on the EconoSpaceMaking DVD. There was more to this than was apparent at the outset. |
| In the end the project took on a life of its own, delving into the heart of things in no uncertain way. This was reassuring as it clarified many of the ideas that I had being juggling with for a long time. |
| With the master disc completed an odd silence ensued. This held many questions. What now? What new challenge could I grasp and wrestle with? |
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| Almost noon at midsummer – note how the roof rafters cast a long shadow across the face of the building. This overhang will protect the building from too much solar gain. |
| The sad face of the 10sqm EconoSpace gave me an immediate answer! Neglected for six months, the frame stood like a grumpy bear newly awoken from hibernation. I found this out the hard way, stumbling around like a drunk on the open floor structure and almost impaling myself on a loose four-by-two. |
| The challenge now offered by this frame is pure EconoSpaceMaking. It asks as many questions as it purports to answer. |
| What is my purpose? Where is all this leading? |
| This interogatory chorus is audible above the clamor of practical questions which also challenge me. |
| How is the roof going to be completed? Where is the money going to come from? And the time? |
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| My life is held within the threads of this self-questioning, made visible in the half-made frame. I am mute in response. I try deep breathing and cleaning my desk, but to no useful purpose. Everything leads back to the same place. But a handful of weeks since I left the Irish EconoSpace to hibernate for winter, I gaze upon the face of the Australian EconoSpace at mid-summer. I suspect this to be a rack which will encourage the truth. |
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| Linseed oil is ordered. Clay sourced. The workshop re-opened. In contrast to the desk-bound nature of compiling the EconoSpaceMaking DVD – where amazing thing happen on the click of a mouse – the sheltermaking world is an uphill struggle where a large amount of physical effort oftentimes produce no apparant result whatsoever! In many ways this is the real challenge of sheltermaking – breaking through to the place where things become clearer and more relaxed. This is what Time does, when allowed to express its natural rhythm. I struggle to accept this even when I know it to be true. |
| The first objective in the building programme is to lay down a temporary floor. This will allow work on the roof and walls to get underway. This will encourage me to articulate my intentions for the space and for my life. I am excited and hesitant at this prospect. |
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| The building of a clay oven offers some diversion from the immediacy of EconoSpaceMaking. Handling the clay gave me lots of reassurance that all will be well on the physical front. It is just a matter of plunging in. It is the ‘life’ issues which now challenge me the most. |
| What is my purpose? Where is all this leading? What is the making of this EconoSpace telling me about my self? |
| From this perspective suddenly Ireland is a tiny place, half a world away. I have detatached from the EconoSpaces there and after drifting across the planet I am attaching to this EconoSpace in the Here & Now. |
| Here & Now is where the future begins. Here & Now is the mirror in which we see ourselves most clearly. |
| I am putting down roots. In some ways I am afraid to corroborate this reality, so I hesitate, prevaricade, roam the Internet like a lost dog. Clean my desk again. |
| Architecture LIVE 15 |
| Architecture LIVE 13 |
