Food & Shelter 1
| Food & Shelter 1 |
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| James offered to build a clay oven here. I have wanted one of these for a while. |
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| The whole procedure was incredibly fast. First, I made a sturdy timber base. Then, the oven was built on top of this in just a couple of days. |
| Working with the clay and fire was pure joy. The feel of the moist earth was exciting. I remembered playing this intently as a child. Care-free. Judgment-free. Later, when the oven was fired up to dry it out, magic happened. The night receded into the background and a sense of ease descended around the oven. Continue Reading » |
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. Continue Reading » |
Architecture LIVE 13
| Architecture LIVE 13 |
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| After a crazy month of sheltermaking, including a LIVE EconoSpaceMaking Course and a visit from RTE1 Nationwide, the Irish EconoSpace is bundled up against the northern winter for the duration of my time in Australia. |
| The silver wings of ‘St. Arthur’ fly me across Europe to the threshold of new adventures. |
| Lost in the hushed confines of Frankfurt International Airport, I contemplate this future as documented in The International Herald Tribune. Continue Reading » |
Mid-Summer-Winter Sheltermaker 09
| Mid-Summer-Winter Sheltermaker |
| COPOUT15 |
Should this not read: COPOUT15 ? |
| For anyone hoping for collective sanity from world leaders, Copenhagen has been a disappointment. |
| It is clearly now up to people to set their own trajectories into the future. |
| Stepping outside the system has never been more inviting. |
| Establishing a degree of control over one’s needs for food and shelter is pivotal to the success of this. |
| Joining forces with like-minded people is also essential. |
| A new decade of the twenty first century awaits our choices. |
| We cannot rely on political leaders to make these for us. Continue Reading » |
09 Samhain Sheltermaker
| 09 Samhain Sheltermaker |
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| Now that I am back in the antipodes the Australian dreamtime is working its magic on me. |
| After a deft leap from Ireland via Singapore, Perth and Sydney, delivering workshops along the way, I have come to earth in central Victoria where it is spring. |
| Gradually I am shedding layers, like an old snake or a chrysalis. |
| From this birthing a new me is emerging. Continue Reading » |
09 Equinox Sheltermaker
| EconoSpace Goes Nationwide |
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| An RTE1 Nationwide crew spent a day on-site last weekend recording the in’s and out’s of the EconoSpaceMaking process. The focus of the crew’s attention was the reality of creating mortgage-free shelter. |
| With a dozen students in attendance – from as far afield as Scotland – the film crew had plenty to absorb: from clay slip making to a weary student enjoying an open air firebath! |
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Sian Cowman demonstrates the intricacies of making clay slip |
| They also filmed students getting into the sheltermaking zone – making peter-posts, floor beams and clay-straw. The more intrepid climbed ladders and gantries in pursuit of mystery. |
| The finished Nationwide programme will be broadcast later this year on RTE1. |
| Students and film crew alike were fed from the garden enjoying a range for organic greens. The success Alanna has had with growing this summer is well described in the picture below. |
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Alanna with her cabbage, Big Max |
| Discover Alanna’s growing secret here: |
| Forthcoming EconoSpacemaking Course obtains |
| Adult Arts Education Grant |
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| Hot on the heels of the Nationwide bash the Sligo-Leitrim Adult Arts Education Programme announced its commitment to grant aid the preparation of the EconoSpaceMaking Course. Work on this is well advanced. |
| This DVD based Course will comprise text, drawings and video allowing anyone, anywhere to create their own EconoSpace. This dynamic material goes right to the heart of the sheltermaking mysteries. |
| If you are serious about sustainability you need to follow this course! |
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| A dedicated online EconoSpaceMaking Forum is also being set up as part of the Course. This will allow students to share information and skills as well as discussing their sheltermaking insights. |
| The Course will be available in late November. |
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| Architecture LIVE |
| The silver wings of St. Arthur fly me across Europe to the threshold of new adventures. |
| Lost in the husned confines of Frankfurt International Airport, I contemplate the future. |
| The International Herald Tribune documents the state of the world. Obama adressing the UN. Dire predictions regarding sea level rise for low-lying Vietnam. Deforestation in the Congo basin. Sober editorials. Ads for expensive timepieces. Share price lists. Travel news. |
| We feast on bread and cheese chased with a crisp courgette plucked from the garden this morning. This is our connection to the past, to the silent EconoSpace shielded from the worst the winter weather might bring to the Irish northwest. |
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| My focus is now turning to central Victoria where the ‘baby’ EconSpace awaits my return. I plan to fill this with clay straw and love. As the gravity of the Irish EconoSpace slackens its antopidean mate strengthens is hold. |
| My impending return to Australia vigourously stimulates my interest. I look forward to reconnection with the look and feel of the earth, with the unabashed good humour of the people, with the dreaming lore of the natives. I want to surrender to this allure, to allow it carry me to a place from where I might return renewed to my own dreaming land. |
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| Invisible Architecture Tour |
| Meanwhile, alongside the EconoSpace work, the Invisible Architecture dream is coming to life. |
| This exploration of the invisible aspects of buildings kicks off in Singapore before heading for Perth, Sydney and finally, central Victoria. |
| This journey will form the basis of a book on the same theme. You can follow this unfolding here, at livingarchitecturecentre.com |
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| This energising mix of theory, fact and real life drama is an invitation to not only imagine your dream house but to experience it in all of its many dimensions. |
| This journey will encourage you to rediscover the architect of your childhood dreams and nurture this faculty back into life. |
| You will also learn how your dreams and reality might together be used to shape a sustainable future for people and planet. |
| SUNDAY OCTOBER 11th 2009 – 10am to 4.30pm |
| THE CHANNON HALL, MILL STREET, THE CHANNON, NSW FEE: $80 – Couples $145 BOOKING & ENQUIRIES: PHONE – 02 6689 1578 Email – bcarter61@optusnet.com.au ONLINE – HERE |
| 10sqm EconoSpace |
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| Being back in Oz will give me a chance to revive the 10sqm EconoSpace which I put under wraps last April. |
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| With the frame, windows, doors and cladding in place it’s all ready for its clay straw filling. This will be fun – me mixing it up with Australian dirt! |
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| My adventures in this department will be regularly posted under Architecture LIVE |
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| Next Sheltermaker – Samnhain |
Architecture LIVE 12
| Architecture LIVE 12 |
| A visit to the Climate Change Camp to deliver an EconoSpace workshop confirms my worst fears. These are epitomised in a dream I later have of people pretending they have been drowned. A refusal to be fully alive appears to be at the heart of resistance to change. |
| The journey back and forth to the camp is through a countryside bereft of appeal. Towns, fields and houses resist efforts to meaningfully connect with them. The people scattered amongst this wasteland do indeed appear to be half-dead. This, I suppose, is the seed that birthed my dream. Continue Reading » |
Architecture LIVE – ClayStraw Mixing
| A bird’s eye view of the clay-straw mixing process … |
| Thanks to Matt for this overview. |
Architecture LIVE 11
| Architecture LIVE 11 |
| I make the first door frame and install this. This portal offers access to the enigmatic interior of the frame. From there I view the broad exterior over which a gathering moon presides. I dream then of being immersed in clay slip, pressed upon and forced into a dark chamber where indeterminate debris pummles my body. |
| I take this as an allegory for my life, encouragement to push myself out into the world to source the straw which is becoming increasingly vital to the sheltermaking. I juggle this commitment with bouts of filming and travel planning, recognising in that endeavour the pull of the antipodes on my soul. Continue Reading » |
09 Lughnasadh Sheltermaker
| LUGHNASADH SHELTERMAKER |
| In the Irish year autumn begins on August 1st. This is the harvest month, the time for gathering-in, for thanksgiving, for celebration. |
| This is also the time when we must acknowledge the imminent ascendancy of the dark side of the year, must relinquish our attachment to the long days which nourish our creativity. |
| ARCHITECTURE LIVE |
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| Summer at the Living Architecture Centre has been filled with work on the EconoSpace. The frame has been roofed, windows and door frames have been inserted, the sub-floor has been laid and the clay-straw infilling is currently underway. Continue Reading » |
