August Sheltermaker
| Architecture+Philosophy |
 |
| Friday, September 16 7:00pm in RMIT Building 8, Level 11, lecture theatre 68, to the right of the lifts 360 Swanston St, Melbourne, Australia FREE EVENT |
| Peter Cowman on ‘Living Architecture’ |
| In this stimulating presentation, architect Peter Cowman takes us on a mystery tour within the quasi-secret world of architecture.
From Newgrange to New Age, from tree house to temple, we are invited to explore architecture inside and out. Within this juxtaposition of time and space are to be discovered threads, emerging from the past and snaking forward to inform an invisible future. This insight leads us inwards to where dreams and expectations are forged. It is here, we come to realise, that the experience of architecture is conceived and a missing link between architecture+life awaits discovery. |
|
|
| Architecture+Philosophy is an independently curated, flexible public program providing a unique opportunity for a space of exchange between the two disciplines In 2011, the series is supported by the School of Architecture and Design, RMIT University, and by Mediated City, DRI (Design Research Institute), RMIT University. |
| Peter Cowman is an architect, teacher, writer, eco-builder and director of the Living Architecture Centre |
| Newgrange & The New Science |
 |
| Under the title ‘Newgrange & The New Science’ author Kieran Comerford lures us inside that eponymous neolithic giant of the Boyne Valley, illuminating its darkness with intuition and skillful insight. |
| As probing as any solstitial light event, this timeless experience leads us from the ordinary to the extraordinary, from the present to the past – then back again. When we finally emerge from this incredible journey it is to discover that our consciousness has shifted allowing us to experience the world afresh. |
| No time is wasted or sacred cow spared. Male domination is dispatched so swiftly we hardly have time to catch a breath. Next, the world as we know it is deconstructed as we spiral off into space-time, cruising the invisible realms of emptiness and atoms, gravity and dark matter. From this high altitude we are invited not only to experience the world anew but to feel its vibrations deep within ourselves. |
| Before we know it the earth moves once more beneath our feet! Crustal displacement shifts the poles, changing our perspective and laying the foundations of modern civilisation and the science which dominates it. Vision quests, devas, orgone energy, elemental beings or magical ritual have no place in this world. We experience this absence as emptiness. To fill this void we must balance reason with intuition, opening the wellspring of knowing within our hearts. |
| Intention is the key to renewing ourselves and resonating with the Universe. It is by such means that we can order our world and orient ourselves meaningfully within it. |
| A paradigm shift of this nature is well within our grasp. Kieran Comerford clearly shows us the way. The epitome of the ‘modern man’ – learned, insightful, loving and considerate – he reaches out a hand which we should immediately grasp. Buy and read this book, change your life and the world will soon follow. |
| Real Estate Ransom |
| Real Estate 4 Ransom is a new documentary about global property speculation and its impact on the economy. Real Estate 4 Ransom considers changing motivations behind property investment and challenges the notion that the Global Financial Crisis was caused by bank lending.
Shot over 5 years, the film portrays many of the big picture issues world politics are grappling to deal with from an economics perspective. The 40 min documentary looks at whether genuine freedom has been delivered by the democratic system. The inefficiencies of the economic system are investigated and the impact this has on potential homeowners and small businesses. The documentary argues that with a simpler tax system, entrepreneurs have a better chance to succeed and the average Australian has a better chance of owning their own home. What role did real estate play in the crashing of the global economy? Co-Directors Karl Fitzgerald and Gavin Emmanuel have crafted a 40 minute documentary which features high profile economists, international guests, local homebuyers and renters, all who discuss their take on the state of Australia’s economy. Animations, music and a little humour are used to make economics interesting. |
| EconoSpace Open Days |
 |
| If you’ve wanted to experience an EconoSpace now is the time. |
| With EconoSpaces on view in northern and southern hemispheres, a defining line is being drawn symbolizing the potency of such small buildings. |
| The more that it is realised that unsustainable consumption is an inevitabile consequence of mortgage-financed home ownership, the more people will want to free themselves of such shackles. |
 |
| Learning how to build ecoloigically and pyschologically sound, low-cost shelter is a necessary precursor to such liberation. |
| Here is a simple building which can easily be made in the average backyard. |
| This is the ideal way to learn what are relatively simple skills. |
| The back garden is also the ideal place in which to learn them. |
 |
| You can even make your EconoSpace in such a way that it comes apart allowing it to be moved to another site some day. |
 |
| And best of all? |
| It’s a shed. |
| A very fine and beautiful passive solar eco dream shed, to be sure. |
| But a shed nonetheless as far as the planners are concerned, so there’s no need to get planning permission or a building permit. |
| The Open Days will allow you to not only experience one of these buildings but also to talk to the people who made them. |
| They might just let you in on the secret of how a small building such as the EconoSpace might change your life in the nicest possible way. |
| MORE INFO ON ECONOSPACEMAKING INCLUDING THE HOW-TO-DO-IT DVD |
   |
| GREEN-DOOR LEITRIM, IRELAND |
| 9 – 11th SEPTEMBER 2011 |
| Organised by Inspirational Homes Leitrim |
| Visit the original EconoSpace built by Gareth Phelan (above, right) and film director Johnny Gogan’s EconoSpace (above, centre). |
 |
| You can even buy a short film that includes Gareth telling his sheltermaking story. LIVING ARCHITECTURE DVD |
| You can also get a look at Gareth Phelan & Ciara Barrett’s home made up of 2 conjoined EconoSpaces! (below, pictured under construction) |
 |
| Inspirational Homes Leitrim’s Green-Door event will also provide access to a number of other buildings embodying Living Architecture principles. |
| Check their website for further details |
| SUSTAINABLE HOUSE TOURS |
| CASTLEMAINE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA |
| Saturday Oct 15th |
| Organised by Mount Alexander Sustainability Group |
| LIVING ARCHITECTURE CENTRE OPEN HOUSE |
| Sunday October 16th 11am – 4pm |
| Yapeen, Castlemaine, Vic, Australia |
| Organised by the Living Architecture Centre |
 |
| This is a chance to visit the EconoSpace I’m constantly charmed by. |
 |
| Made largely of recycled materials plus clay and straw and lovingly assembled by a dedicated band of students and volunteers, this little beauty is a mere 10sqm+. |
| Constructed on a budget of $5000 this building gives to lie to expensive eco-products. |
| Directions to the venue will be available on this website in advance of the event. |
 |
| Anima Mundi |
| Will you survive the transition of human industrial civilization happening now due to peak oil and climate change? Can you see the forest for the trees, the earth for the dream, the universe for the seed? Anima Mundi is an innovative documentary about the planetary animal called Gaia and the human animal we deny, we deny at our own peril, yet a peril that is perfect in design.
FEATURING |
| Revolutionary Energy Machine |
|
The Lutec 1000 has been granted patents in at least 60 countries around the world, including the US, China and India.
Engineers John Christie and Lou Brits, who have endured intense criticism after they first unveiled their invention in 2001, are now preparing to construct a prototype of their revolutionary power device they hope to market within the next two years.
|
| The Town That Disney Built |
 |
| Thousands longing for the wholesome safety of 1950s America have bought into a tightly regulated Florida town constructed by the Disney Corporation. But recent deaths and foreclosures have shown the dark side of their southern idyll. |
| Bird House Boom |
 |
| SUKADANA, Indonesia — Along the spine-jarring road that runs through this city on the South China Sea, in between the sparse, waterlogged shacks of corrugated aluminum and wood, colorful buildings have begun to sprout. |
| They tower over their low-slung surroundings with dollhouse facades, colored in baby blues, sunshine yellows and ruby reds.
Sukadana, a small coastal city in western Borneo, is in the midst of a building boom. But the new houses are not for people … |
| NEXT SHELTERMAKER – EQUINOX |
July 2011 Sheltermaker
| Solar Powered Sheltermaker |
 |
| This is the LAC’s new home located in the town of Dunolly, central Victoria, Australia. We’ve just had a bank of solar panels installed, feeding solar generated electricity into the grid. |
| The house is strawbale, passive solar, designed and built by Alanna before I was even dreamed of. Now it is home to us both as we plot our way forwards in this rapidly changing world. Even on a frosty morning (it is winter here) the internal temperature never varies much. Very impressive. |
| We can walk into the centre of Dunolly in 5 minutes where banking, internet, public transport, toilets and postal services are available as well as a mobile library. We get ‘Daly Dollars’ at the hardware shop when we spend more than $15. There is also an excellent bakery in town! |
 |
| Daly Dollar (The poor reproduction is to prevent counterfeiting. Ed.) |
| During the Gold Rush Dunolly had a population over 30,000. Nowadays there are less than 1000 residents and there is no evidence of any kind of rush! |
 |
| The parcel of land we are living on is almost 3 acres and is perfectly flat. Alanna and I are in the process of developing a plan for the property based on the concept of small mortgage-free houses with integrated food production and waste management facilities. |
| Integrating geomancy, permaculture and living architecture is already producing interesting results. What’s emerging is the clear need to address the impasse which currently bedevils many ‘sustainable’ initiatives. |
| This is where things are a bit stuck right now – lodged in Transition Land, stuck between past and future times. Luckily this place is easily accessible and has a name – it’s called the ‘Here & Now.’ |
| In the Here & Now everything is possible. Dreams can rendezvous with reality and space can indulge its love of time. |
| At the moment we are preparing for the spring planting – setting out and constructing raised beds for potatoes, millet, squash, silverbeet and whatever else takes our fancy. |
 |
| Growing food and constructing shelter love the Here & Now. Before you know it you’ve been sucked in and its lunch time. Nothing for it but to satisfy your hunger with some greens from the garden and some homemade bread. |
| This kind of simplicity is scary. Your entire life flashes before you repeatedly. Its like discovering oneself naked inside a freshly baked world. |
| The shelter component of the ‘Dunolly Plan’ (working title) will be informed by the experience of constructing the mini-EconoSpace. |
| Mini-EconoSpace Update |
 |
| The mini-EconoSpace has now been painted with ochre paints which I made under the (remote) direction of my good friend Gerard Greene. The walls look good enough to eat. |
| The Swedish Mud paint on the exterior woodwork is particularly enticing. |
|
 |
| I’ve also constructed a lean-to at the back using the type of truss which I have developed on the Irish EconoSpaces.
The trusses are connected to the roof rafters and to the wall frames. This eliminates the need for a post to support the outer edge of the roof – a real bonus. |
 |
| These cantilevered trusses span 2 meters! |
 |
| More lean-to with trusses in Leitrim … you can clearly see here the benefit of not having posts in the way! |
 |
| I’ll put a laundry sink under this lean-to and a compost toilet. |
 |
| This charming little building has so far cost less than $4000 – about €3000. |
| Localvores |
 |
| In keeping with cutting edge sustainable living practices we are becoming ‘localvores’ – that is, people who eat food produced within a short radius of where they live. |
 |
| This is our Localvore Store, located in the nearby town of Maldon. |
| World Environment Day |
 |
| We did our bit for World Environment Day on June 5th, helping out at the Maryborough Sustainability Group stall at the nearby Carrisbrook Market. |
| Pictured below are Terry and Richard enjoying a break from the large crowds who mobbed the stall … I don’t think! |
 |
| Richard astride his homemade grain grinder during a lull in proceedings |
| Sustainable Fun & Games in Sydney |
| I’ll be in Sydney in August.
I’m putting it out there to give a presentation and/or workshop on the topic of Sheltermaking and its relevance to sustainable living initiatives. This article - ‘Inside Zone Zero’ – gives a taste of sort of thinking that will be on offer. |
| I’m looking for a bit of a challenge, to connect with people who want to move beyond Transition Land to someplace more real and exciting. |
 |
| I’ll be free for sustainable fun and games in Sydney on the weekend of August 26/27/28th 2011. Waiting to hear from you here! |
| Gasland |
| Observe the latest madness in earth violation techniques.
Watch Gasland and be appalled. I’ve seen a lot of crazy stuff in my life but this fracking has to be the worst madness ever.
Coming to a shale deposit near you – soon! |
| Far North Queensland |
| Just back from a stimulating trip to FNQ, taking a break, convening workshops and picking up the vibe. |
| In sustainable circles, as elsewhere, Transition Land Rules.
There’s also interesting stuff happening, such as The Digger Street Post Consumerist Arts Coommunity. |
 |
| We hunkered down after a communal meal and I did my thing exploring the inside of architecture. |
| This had peculiar relevance to the Digger Street Community who have torn down the boundaries separating 3 adjoining properties and made food gardens. They have also torn out partitions in the houses to make more creative use of space and are poised for stuff to happen. |
| I enjoyed myself and even had my boundaries pushed a little! Someone asked my why, if I was so against stereotypes, was I promoting a stereotype i.e. The EconoSpace. |
| Excellent question. But really, a cheeky one, I thought. I haven’t had to break into a sweat for a while. But I liked the stimulus, the challenge. Honest and direct.
If we don’t get pushed a bit we get stale. Too much hugging and not enough pushing. If we’re giving birth to a new eco-era then pushing is where its at. And my answer? The EconoSpace is a staging post on my way to somewhere* else. |
 |
| On my way to somewhere else … architecturally speaking |
| *This somewhere else looks like being Dunolly where I can indulge in some post-sterotypical post-consumerist sheltermaking in peace. |
| Spirit Houses |
| Post-stereotypical, post-consumerist notions inevitably were part of the Spirit House Workshop which wrapped up the Architecture & The Meaning of Life Programme. |
| The workshop fulfilled its promise from the beginning. |
 |
| On an early evening stroll we discovered that the summer floods had marooned a wealth of timber in the trees by the creek. |
 |
| We salvaged a load of this. Perfect spirit house material reflecting the eternal cycle of life. |
 |
| Spirit House Dedication |
 |
| Part of our Here & Now |
| The Architecture & The Meaning of Life Programme was a great buzz and has pushed me forwards in ways that I can only be thankful for. |
| I am keen to get stuck in even deeper than before such is the promise of what I am feeling. Watch this space! |
| DreamSpace |
| I as fortunate on my visit to FNQ to visit the Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival. |
| This made me feel alive in ways I will remember forever. |
| White fella culture has nothing to compare. |
 |
 |
| Chillin’ at the Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival |
 |
| Open House – traditional aboriginal shelter |
 |
| Sustainable materials … branches, leaves, fiber, bark, love, time |
 |
| The end can easily be closed in … |
 |
| Bark acts as an external waterproofing layer |
 |
| The inside |
| Mona Mona |
 |
| This is another aboriginal design which I am lucky enough to have become involved with.
A Meeting Place for All People. |
 |
| This is my feeble effort to isolate the geometry of the structure so that it could be set out on-site. |
| I also got to a chance to witness The Dream which inspired it courtesy of the designer George Reilly.
His vision is to make a meeting place, centered on the fire, to allow people gather and share. The structure will be located at the Mona Mona community near Karunda, north of Cairns. |
 |
| Modelmaking. George, right, Ramon, centre and Robert, left … ponder The Dream in miniature. |
 |
| Laying The Dream upon the Earth. Geometry meets The Real World. |
 |
| The work crew. From left to right - Jay, George, Alanna, Lisa, Peter, Ramon and Robert. |
| Further details of this on-going project will be detailed in forthcoming Sheltermakers |
| A 100 % Ecological Demise |
 |
| WHEN SWEDISH eco-minded entrepreneur Susanne Wiigh-Mäsak departs this life, she will be turned into compost to help grow a shrub she has already selected .
“It is the Rhododendron Cunningham White, a delicate pink shade when it opens, later turning white. I can think of no better way to continue the circle of life than to return to the soil and nurture it,” she says. |
| Walnut Books |
| This news is a little sad.
A message from Nora: |
| Well folks it’s been a tremendous adventure but I’m sorry to announce that this Summer will be the last hurrah for Walnut Books, as we will be packing up our shelves and closing at the end of July. The decision to wrap things up reflects no loss of love for the business but times have changed and the kind of books and information we supply are now much more widely available than when we started out almost 15 years ago – great news for sustainability awareness generally but tough for tiny independents like ourselves to compete. I must send huge and heartfelt thanks to all our enthusiastic and lovely customers, suppliers, authors, and friends – dealing with and meeting all of you has been the best part of the whole enterprise and I have loved every minute of it.
Now is a very good time to grab yourself a bargain as we will be clearing our remaining stock with discounts from 20% -70% over the next month or so! Have a look in the Specials section on the website or drop by the shelves in Andina to stock up on all sorts of rare and wonderful titles before we go. Wishing you a productive and happy Summer, Nora Gaffney Walnut Books donates a portion of the price of every book sold on our website to EcoLibris, so for every book bought one tree gets planted! Further details here |
 |
| WWW.WALNUTBOOKS.COMWalnut Books ,9A Castle St ,Cork ,Ireland
tel: 00353 (0)21 4340348 email: info@walnutbooks.com Find us on Facebook here! |
| Next Sheltermaker …. late August/September |
