Nov2011 Sheltermaker
| Living Architecture in Christchurch, NZ |
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| Your eyes do not deceive you. This building is indeed leaning! One of many in the centre of Christchurch that await demolition.
The entire city centre has been devastated by earthquakes turning it into a no-go area … |
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| Despite the trauma and destruction the people of Christchurch are ready for the task of rebuilding. A ‘container mall’ has now been built, forming a new city centre. |
| Sight of the widespread devastation raises an interesting question … ‘why are modern buildings so hard to deconstruct?’ |
| Watching the deconstruction process reveals much about the thought form which shaped these monuments in the first place! Clearly no thought was ever given to the possibility that they might need to be removed at some point in the future. |
| What was so evident as one engaged with this challenging environment was the strength and resilience of people. It is indeed the human spirit which brings places alive – and keeps them alive. |
| Lots of fun was had during the 3Events in Christchurch … more on these in the next Sheltermaker |
| MARYBOROUGH MUD HOUSE RESTORATION |
| SATURDAY 12th & SUNDAY 13th NOVEMBER |
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| DIRECTIONS |
| Built by students 30 years ago to a design-type from Niger in Africa, this structure was constructed without the use of timber formwork or scaffolding. |
| Featuring both a dome and a barrel vault, this charming building was constructed at no material cost! |
| The Restoration will be led by James Henderson of Henderson Clayworks. James is Australia’s leading expert in all aspects of clay construction. |
| Bring… work clothes – shovels – wheelbarrows – buckets – mattocks/picks – a sense of humour |
| Permaculture Living |
| Saturday November 26th |
| 2 – 5.30pm |
| Eco-Building on A Shoestring |
| With Peter Cowman |
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| HOW TO DO IT WHERE TO START THE INSIDE+THE OUTSIDE EMOTIONAL, TERRITORIAL+ GENDER STUFF HEART+SOUL ISSUES COSTS MATERIALS CONSTRUCTION PLANNING+MORE |
| Plus, Afternoon Tea & |
| Farm Tour of Dryland Temperate Permaculture Gardens |
| Permaculture design strategies for dryland temperate gardening in the Goldfields |
| With Permaculture Pioneer Alanna Moore |
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| Limited to 12 participants
$45 |
| BOOKING |
| To secure your place it is advised to pay the booking fee of $20 NOW with balance payable on the day … |
| You can also pay the booking fee by bank deposit or Money Order
For details contact the Living Architecture Centre |
| SPIRIT OF PLACE |
| A stimulating weekend programme of talks, films & workshops |
| FRIDAY-SUNDAY
DECEMBER 2nd-4th 2011 |
| Magpie House
48 main Street Upwey melway 75a8 (opposite station) Melbourne |
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| Friday Dec. 2nd 7.30pm ‘Sense of Place’ |
| Talk presented by Alanna & Peter $10 |
| We can discover the subtle qualities of landscapes and buildings by developing a sense of place and learning ways to explore the intangible realms, the spirit of place. Not solely the province of feng shui masters, the art of divining environmental energies is a part of our palette of sensory perceptions, and anyone can participate. |
| Saturday Dec. 3rd. 2-5pm |
| ‘Architecture & The Meaning of Life’ |
| Exploring the connections between people, places, their lives and their homes. Bring along plans or photos of your house on the day! $40/Couples$60/Concession$35 |
| Saturday Dec. 3th 7.30pm |
| FILM NIGHT with Peter & Alanna |
| Screening of documentary about & Living Architecture: ‘Building On The Edge’ Plus, ‘A Thirst for Ireland’, Alanna’s film on Geomancy in Ireland $10 |
| Sunday Dec. 4th 10am-1pm |
| ‘Divining Earth Spirit’ |
| Workshop with Alanna |
| Experience Earth Spirit. Learn how to engage deeply with Nature.
Divine the subtle dimensions of life & place |
| The Earth is alive! and we can connect to her lifeforce and nature’s invisible realms with simple techniques developed from the ancient art of dowsing. Also known as divining, the exploration of environmental energies covers a wide spectrum these days, looking at aspects ranging from nature spirits to technological radiation stresses, as much as the ‘ley lines’ (Earth currents) that effect health and wellbeing. Learn simple, easy techniques of pendulum dowsing. Discover the problem of geopathic stress and how to do remedial Earth acupuncture, and much more! |
| Sunday Dec. 4th 2-5pm |
| Eco-Building On A Shoestring |
| Seminar with Peter $40/Couples$60/Concession$35 |
| The Why, The How & The What If? Plus … Emotional, Terrirorial+ Gender Stuff; Heart+Soul Issues; Costs, Materials, Construction+ Planning+More! |
| Sunday Dec. 4th 2-5pm |
| Field Trip with Alanna (for advanced students)to local places of interest $30/Couples$50 |
| Discover and connect with the local spirits of place! First, we’ll decide on interesting places to visit (by car pooling) in the vicinity, then discover by dowsing any significant features at them, as well as practice Earth healing techniques, where needed. |
| Booking/Enquiries HERE or 03 9005 5833 |
| MELTDOWN |
| In the final episode of Meltdown, we hear about the sheikh who says the crash never happened; a Wall Street king charged with fraud; a congresswoman who wants to jail the bankers; and the world leaders who want a re-think of capitalism. |
| The financial crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing over 30 million people into unemployment and bringing many countries to the brink of insolvency. |
| Listen to some interesting stuff about Values and to the former Prime Minister who says ‘if the Chinese or Indian economies falter, the present financial mess will seem like a picnic’ |
| ORIGINAL LIVING ARCHITECTURE |
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Grass-cutting ants build gigantic nests – underground cities where up to seven million insects live and tend a fungal garden that feeds their young. Scientists have now discovered how the ants build nests that stay at the right temperature for this precious fungus to grow. The ants build porous turrets, specifically to ventilate the nests … READ MORE |
Fatherhood Leads to Drop in Testosterone |
| A new study suggests that men’s bodies evolved hormonal systems that helped them commit to their families. |
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| ME & MY GIRL … STILL THE BEST OF FRIENDS |
| Testosterone, that most male of hormones, takes a dive after a man becomes a parent. And the more he gets involved in caring for his children — changing diapers, jiggling the boy or girl on his knee, reading “The Cat In The Hat” for the umpteenth time — the lower his testosterone drops. |
| It’s all true! |
| My own experience of parenting is such that I feel that men should be fighting for the right to be hands-on parents! |
| Why? |
| Because its so much fun, not to talk of stimulating, fulfilling and life-focussed. |
| And, of course, it’s not at all macho. |
| Because so many men cannot handle their hormones they have excluded themselves – and other men – from the the parenting scene. |
| Wake up guys! |
| READ MORE ABOUT THE STUDY |
| The Coast of Utopia |
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| By MAXINE SWANN The new antidote to civilization is a squatters’ community in Uruguay where modern conveniences are few, but good vibes abound. |
| Cabo Polonio, a remote beach village in southeastern Uruguay, sits on a green peninsula between the Atlantic and a desert landscape of shifting sand dunes. Strewn across the grassy promontory are a single lighthouse and a few hundred whimsical dwellings. Rasta-colored flags serve as wind vanes, tinted glass bottles are embedded in walls, and exteriors are painted with pictures of suns, cow spots, rainbows and a Klimt-like rendering of a woman. One stands out as particularly fanciful. It’s more sculpture than cabin, constructed from panes of glass, wood, plastic, bamboo blinds and green plexiglass, with tall, lush plants growing out of the floor. |
| Read more: T Magazine: The Coast of Utopia |
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| Next Sheltermaker – December |
Equinox Sheltermaker Sept. 2011
| ECO-BUILDING ON A SHOESTRING: |
| SEMINAR |
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HOW TO DO IT +MORE
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| Where? 592 Muckleford-Yapeen Road, Yapeen, Castlemaine Directions |
| When? 11am – 1pm on Sunday October 16th 2011 |
| How Much? $25 |
| Limited Places - booking essential |
| Booking |
| Or, book and pay by Direct Deposit to:
Bendigo Bank |
| Or, by Money Order to: |
| Peter Cowman, 18 McKinnon Road, Dunolly, Vic 3472 |
| Can’t make the Seminar? |
| Then come to the Open House from 2pm – 4pm in the afternoon and experience first-hand an amazing eco-building handbuilt for $5000 |
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| By Donation |
| LIVING ARCHITECTURE IN NEW ZEALAND |
| TALK, CHALK & WALK THE WALK |
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| TALK 7-9pm Friday October 28th Christchurch ‘Architecture & The meaning of Life’ |
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| CHALK 11am-4pm Saturday October 29th |
| The co-creation of a mandala ‘The World As We Know It’ on a vacant Christchurch lot |
| In association with Gapfiller, Christchurch |
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| WALK THE WALK 1.30-5.30pm Sunday October 30th |
| A hands-on workshop exploring the dynamics of creating and living the architecture of our dreams. |
| New Brighton Community Gardens, in association with New Brighton Project |
| Further details of these Events are being finalised and will be published under LIVE Courses on this website over the coming weeks |
| ARCHITECTURE+PHILOSOPHY |
| A talk delivered by Peter Cowman as part of RMIT Architecture+Philosophy 2011 Programme Melbourne, Australia September 16th 2011 |
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| Change is the real challenge of Sustainability, particularly meaningful change in respect of how we live our lives. The role which architecture plays in this is significant. |
| In the false economy of endless growth buildings have become the repositories of status and wealth, serviced by overworked homeowners lured into debt by false promises, trapped in a cycle of endless consumption from which there can seem to be no escape. |
| Such situations arise because people have sold their time, the very source of their life energy. |
| To free oneself from such a burdensome life it is necessary to reclaim ownership of one’s time and consequently one’s space, to learn to balance the head and the heart, to find accord with natural cycles and rhythms, to learn the vocabulary of the invisible in order that we might communicate and give voice to what we feel inside. |
| Just as we have an invisible world inside us, buildings too have an invisible world inside them. It is the harmonisation of these two worlds which empowers us to live the fullness of our lives. |
| To read more … |
| DOWNLOAD COMPLETE ARTICLE .pdf
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| FINANCIAL MELTDOWN |
| In this first episode (of four) of Meltdown, we hear about four men who brought down the global economy: a billionaire mortgage-seller who fooled millions; a high-rolling banker with a fatal weakness; a ferocious Wall Street predator; and the power behind the throne.
The crash of September 2008 brought the largest bankruptcies in world history, pushing more than 30 million people into unemployment and bringing many countries to the edge of insolvency. Wall Street turned back the clock to 1929. But how did it all go so wrong? |
| An excellent documentary from Al Jazeera |
| HITTING THE BOTTLE HARD IN THE PHILIPPINES |
| Every now and again a simple idea comes along which brings a smile to all of our faces … |
| An environmental group in the Philippines has developed an innovative way to create larger and cheaper school classrooms for children while remaining environmentally friendly.
My Shelter Foundation has helped build rooms using recycled plastic and glass bottles in the northern Philippine province of Laguna in an effort to mitigate a growing climate change problem. |
| ANDY SMITH’S ECONOSPACE |
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| Andy is building this EconoSpace in his back garden using the EconoSpaceMaking DVD. |
| He has also been making good use of the EconoSpaceMaking Forum as he progressed. |
| Pretty tasty looking, huh? |
| He is now preparing to infill the frame with clay-straw. |
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| Touching the Spirit of Place |
| Friday November 18th, 6.30- 9pm |
| Port Macquarie NSW |
| An introduction to Environmental Dowsing with international geomancer and author of seven books, Alanna Moore.Includes a short session of introduction to the practical use of the pendulum, then a slideshow presentation taking you visually into the geomancer’s world. |
| Fee: $15 Bookings: see below |
| Divining Earth Spirit |
| 1-day Workshop |
| Saturday November 19th, 9am -4pm |
| Port Macquarie NSW |
| Introduction to energy dowsing for environmental energies and enhancement of homes and gardens.
Discover the energetic fabric of nature, the spiritual qualities of the landscape and how to enhance plant growth energetically, with the ancient art of dowsing. A hands on, practical training day. |
| Fee $125 |
| Attend both of the above events for $130 |
| Booking |
| Maggie Adkins
Phone 02 6559 4564 or, 0420 314 837 Or, email her at earthwomandreaming@bigpond.com |
| Earth Dowsing & Energy Gardening |
| With master dowser Alanna Moore |
| Saturday October 29th, 10am – 4pm |
| Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand |
| A day of practical dowsing to develop sensitivity to environmental energies and learn how to harness them for benefitting plant growth, animal wellbeing and harmony of place |
| Fee: $85 |
| Booking |
| David Baird Phone 03 453 1239 Or, email trees99@actrix.co.nz |
| Next Sheltermaker: November |
