beneath the wheel... hermann hesse

the inspiration behind the direction of this semester has been heavily driven by the literature that has inspired me in the last few months... hermann hesse has had a particular impact on my thought and his commonly adressed theme of education and indeed educational institutions is what is driven my idea for the script for the final presentation...

the book which will be readapted for the purposes of this assignment is called "beneath the wheel" and i have included a quick plot summary to give the basic idea of the premise of the storyline. 

"Hans Giebernath lives among the dull and respectable townsfolk of a sleepy Black Forest village. When he is discovered to be an exceptionally gifted student, the entire community presses him onto a path of serious scholarship. Hans dutifully follows the regimen of study and endless examinations, his success rewarded only with more crushing assignments. When Hans befriends a rebellious young poet, he begins to imagine other possibilities outside the narrowly circumscribed world of the academy. Finally sent home after a nervous breakdown, Hans is revived by nature and romance, and vows never to return to the gray conformity of the academic system."

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25905.Beneath_the_Wheel

this storyline will be adapted in my case with the monastery itself replacing han's rebelious friend - in particular a narrative will be established between a full time elder of the woodfordia site and an apprentice / scholar confused with his direction. the animation will break down the 5 elements (eating, dwelling, making, moving, breathing) into different segments of their day together - and show how the monastery provides those living within it's walls a greater sense of consciousness...

inspiration... peter zumthor

alternatively to the openness of stutch the design requires an element of "introspectiveness" to be incorporated into the design - furthermore a key element that draws the eye to the heavens...

this chapel was formed through using old logs to create the formwork for the rammed earth pillar... then burnt out to leave the hollow core... this is very similar to the premise behind the chimney stack which around the entire village revolves around...

in terms of use of material and spatial outcomes this is such a beautiful exemplar to work from - furthermore driven heavily by the theory of "phenomenology" - as mentioned throughout my blog the ideas of heidegger are instrumental to my thought this semester...

inspiration... peter stutchbury

the paddock house by stutch really emphasises the element of porosity, openness and "touches the earth lightly" in a way i would like to pursue in my design... 

very open floor plan - simple structure and the use of simple materials - such a beautiful attatchment to the landscape - the blurring of inside and outside... 

this typology will be incorporated in the 2 sides of the courtyard that open up to the landscape - allowing a connection through the village to the activity and landscape - the "extrospective" element...

the design continues...

i feel as though a real sensibility between open and closed - inside and out - hard edge and soft are bebgining to develop... here is where the plan sits now

the pagoda has been substituted for a fire place, which around the main activities of the "monastery" revolve... a meeting place for discussion

also in the corner you can see the beginnings of the section and understanding of the scheme in a different way...

kahn inspiration

two louis kahn quotes that are powerful in their sense of connection to what i am trying to achieve here...

 

‘the school and the dormitories are a unit, like a monastery. corridors are avoided by having deep porches, off all the dormitory rooms, where tea is served and things are discussed. the school is around a court which has in it an amphitheatre. everything here is planned around the idea of meeting.’

– kahn on IIM – ahmedabad.

 

"i think of school as an environment of spaces where is good to learn. schools began with a man under a tree, who did not know he was a teacher, discussing his realization with a few who did not know they were students . . . the existence-will of school was there even before the circumstances of a man under a tree. that is why is good for the mind to go back to the beginning, because the beginning of any established activity is its most woderful moment."

– kahn on the first school

 

 

 

 

 

 

the evolution of a courtyard...

the diagram above is to explain further the developments in the programme and their meaning...

all decisions have been made in regards to addressing the 4 elements


1. a sense of introspectiveness (a deeper understanding of one's self) - the courtyard

2. a sense of extrospectiveness (a connection to the world around us - others) - open floorplan - external views

3. a connection to earth (an understanding of our relationship with the ground below) - touching the earth lightly - reading the contours of the land - the now

4. a connection to the heavens (an understanding of our ephemarilaity) - a centrepiece drawing the eye inwards and upwards - the future

----------------

the first diagram shows the courtyard and its establishment of the element of introspectiveness

the second is the opening up of 2 sides to establish the sense of extrospectiveness

the third looks at the tapering of the court to create a focal point - "the pagoda"

the fourth then looks at this with a deeper level of porosity - freedom + flow

the fifth includes a tree at the opposing end of the courtyard to reintroduce the circular sense of the court - eternity

zoning

the following diagram further highlights the way the "monastery" is beginning to form a zoning heirarchy - as per in the buildings looked at in the exemplar analysis - all working around the central courtyard...

 

you can see also how there is a focal point to the arrangement that is beginning to develop...

porosity...

an exploration into a further level of porosity within the programming...

there needs to be a further level of openess to the design response - opening up oppurtunities in which the landscape is celebrated...

the contour + programme "a courtyard is born"

after a few hours of pushing and pulling lines on the yellow trace....

a baby floorplan layout begins to develop - a courtyard is born!!!

a sense of zoning is beginning to develop also - keeping the big 5 together yet all revolving around the central courtyard and cloister...

eating, dwelling, moving, making, breathing

the contour...

as mentioned a couple of times now the connection to earth is one of the 4 key elements highlighted to increase conciousness... therefore the building programme needs to be derived from a sense of connection to the contours and run of the land.

i feel as though by looking closely at 2 particular contours within the site and deriving movement off these a sense of connection can be established. the drawings below begin to look at how these contours may shape the overall design response.

further developed the building envelope can begin to take a very early shape...

site

in terms of touching the earth lightly the site shown above was made for a range of decisions...

- walkability around the woodfordia area due to the contour wrapping around a majority of the area, meaning the residents of the monastery can travel large distances without too much struggle...

- views down the valley connecting to the earth - as mentioned in the 4 elements post discussing the need for the proposal to have an attachment to the earth.

-a close proximity to the woodford festival site without encroaching on it - meaning the full time residents are not completely swamped every year and provide a visual cue from a small disatnce to visitors of the festival.

-access to a water source that runs adjacent to the selected area - for obvious reasons.

-an area in which regeneration of the local trees is required adding to the "breathing" intent of the proposal - also meaning minimum impact on the greater site by choosing an area which is already slightly "scarred"

-elevated site to catch breeze, light and other elements required for comfort and connection to site and place - additionally monasterys have typically been placed in elevated sites - closer to the heavens...

programme + consciousness

it is important then that a programme is established...

based loosely around the monastery / abbey exemplar analysis a loose programme has been established which aims to address the 5 pieces of the puzzle that have been carrying throughout the semester...

eating, moving, dwelling, making, breathing

a question of why???

“why are there beings at all instead of nothing? that is the question. presumably it is not arbitrary question, "why are there beings at all instead of nothing"- this is obviously the first of all questions. of course it is not the first question in the chronological sense [...] and yet, we are each touched once, maybe even every now and then, by the concealed power of this question, without properly grasping what is happening to us. In great despair, for example, when all weight tends to dwindle away from things and the sense of things grows dark, the question looms.” 
martin heidegger - being and time


this question - why are there beings instead of nothing? - is the ultimate question in my opinion...

only through trying to understand this, achieving a level of consciouness, can one prepare for a fulfilling life... the woodfordia proposal is important as it aims to arm the apprentice an oppurtunity to explore this through a connection to the earth and simultaneiously to ones self...

4 elements 4 consciousness

through my exemplar analysis I have arrived at a point of realisation that the overall scheme must incorporate an adresses 4 elements within the human consiousness and that relationship with the environment...

the 4 motivating elements must address...


1. a sense of introspectiveness (a deeper understanding of one's self) - the courtyard

2. a sense of extrospectiveness (a connection to the world around us - others) - open floorplan - external views

3. a connection to earth (an understanding of our relationship with the ground below) - touching the earth lightly - reading the contours of the land - the now

4. a connection to the heavens (an understanding of our ephemarilaity) - a centrepiece drawing the eye inwards and upwards - the future

 

 

in a sense parralels could be drawn between this and the notion of the 4 elements - earth, wind, water, fire...

 

 



exemplar analysis - japanese buddhist temples

the japanese style of buddhist monastery also followed with the theme of the courtyard determining the spatial heirarchies and overall form.... additionally however in this case is the significance of the pagoda.

 

 

 

the pagoda is the home of sacred texts and artifacts and works on a verticality that emphasises its importance in the overall planning of the precint... this is something interesting in terms that it draws the eye upwards and towards the heavens (enlightenment) not merely inward and introspectively...

 

 

 



 

 



exemplar analysis - himalayan buddhist temples

in my exemplar research i came across this wonderful pdf which immediately falls into line with my analysis of monastery typologies around the world...

at a glance there is one huge element that draws parallels... the courtyard

it seems as though, at this very early stage of research - there is an attachment to this internal - external spatial arrangement that causes those within it to achieve a heightened sense of enlightenment.

intriguing... the courtyard (in planning sense again) holds more impact then the key building - in this case the pagoda...

exemplar analysis - the bora ring

although not a monastery as such, thinking about the cloister space in the abbey - i immediately thought of the bora-ring. the main ceremonial space within indigenous australian culture.

last semester i spent a great deal of time looking into this element of indigenous australian culture and its spatial hierarchies. immediately the introspective nature of the courtyard and cloister draw amazing parallels... additionally, the boar ring was constructed by digging soil from the centre of the circle outward to form mounds - similar to how the buildings in an abbey precinct form the spatial arrangement...

here is a diagram i did last semester to describe the bora-ring...

the kakka (meaning something wonderful) is at the centre of the ring and where all initiations of young men took place, as well as any other ceremonies. whilst in terms of built form very different to the abbey - this notion of perimeter and spatial arrangement begins to form an interesting parallel...

exemplar analysis - "the abbey"

in moving forward, it is important to look back - to where we have come from... therefore the next section of the blog will focus on my exemplar analysis. 

in understanding the dynamics of a monastery / seminary I feel it important to analyse the layouts and workings of these building typologies around the world.

the firs one i have decided to look at is the traditional "abbey"

the abbey is broken up in to very distinct zoning that focus around a central courtyard - girt by the "cloister" - or main circulation space of the gathering of buildings. this is done to create an element of "introspectiveness" for those within the abbey.

when analysed closer against our 5 elements - the typology can be broken down concisely...



eating, dwelling, making, moving, breathing

the key point that resonates with me with this abbey typology is the very ordered structure of the buildings and their strong relationship to the inside courtyard - in planning sense - even more strongly so then to the cathedral, or key building within the composition. 

the importance of the "cloister" or movement space is integral also as this is where monks and visitors were immediately drawn for conversing and thinking... resonating strongly with my own ambitions of the "consciousness" element of the woodfordia project.

it will be interesting to compare this against monasteries of other religious denominations and cultures... hopefully this can inspire my own built form and spatial relationship...

http://talleypcb.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/dscf0128.jpg?w=717&h=538

above is the incredible courtyard space at westminster abbey... a truly inspiring and incredible space - regardless of your religious inclination...

elders without voices....

“For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone. They are like lonely persons. Not like hermits who have stolen away out of some weakness, but like great, solitary men, like Beethoven and Nietzsche. In their highest boughs the world rustles, their roots rest in infinity; but they do not lose themselves there, they struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing only: to fulfil themselves according to their own laws, to build up their own form, to represent themselves. Nothing is holier, nothing is more exemplary than a beautiful, strong tree. When a tree is cut down and reveals its naked death-wound to the sun, one can read its whole history in the luminous, inscribed disk of its trunk: in the rings of its years, its scars, all the struggle, all the suffering, all the sickness, all the happiness and prosperity stand truly written, the narrow years and the luxurious years, the attacks withstood, the storms endured. And every young farmboy knows that the hardest and noblest wood has the narrowest rings, that high on the mountains and in continuing danger the most indestructible, the strongest, the ideal trees grow.

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach, undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

A tree says: A kernel is hidden in me, a spark, a thought, I am life from eternal life. The attempt and the risk that the eternal mother took with me is unique, unique the form and veins of my skin, unique the smallest play of leaves in my branches and the smallest scar on my bark. I was made to form and reveal the eternal in my smallest special detail.

A tree says: My strength is trust. I know nothing about my fathers, I know nothing about the thousand children that every year spring out of me. I live out the secret of my seed to the very end, and I care for nothing else. I trust that God is in me. I trust that my labor is holy. Out of this trust I live.

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree has something to say to us: Be still! Be still! Look at me! Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. Let God speak within you, and your thoughts will grow silent. You are anxious because your path leads away from mother and home. But every step and every day lead you back again to the mother. Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all.

A longing to wander tears my heart when I hear trees rustling in the wind at evening. If one listens to them silently for a long time, this longing reveals its kernel, its meaning. It is not so much a matter of escaping from one's suffering, though it may seem to be so. It is a longing for home, for a memory of the mother, for new metaphors for life. It leads home. Every path leads homeward, every step is birth, every step is death, every grave is mother.

So the tree rustles in the evening, when we stand uneasy before our own childish thoughts: Trees have long thoughts, long-breathing and restful, just as they have longer lives than ours. They are wiser than we are, as long as we do not listen to them. But when we have learned how to listen to trees, then the brevity and the quickness and the childlike hastiness of our thoughts achieve an incomparable joy. Whoever has learned how to listen to trees no longer wants to be a tree. He wants to be nothing except what he is. That is home. That is happiness.”

a passage from "wandering" by hermann hesse

this is the most beautiful piece of writing I have ever come across and resonates strongly with my feeling towards my woodfordia proposal - i won't go into it too much more as I feel as though it is time to begin moving out of the theoretical realm and into some more solid architecture - however I will continue to revisit this throughout the design process for clarity and vision.

the importance of elders

i think it is very important to note that the idea of the seminary is by no means a religiously driven notion - rather the exchange of knowledge between peers - overseen by "elders"- a type of people we struggle to understand in western culture but invaluable in terms of out level of "consciousness"


peter stutchbury mentions this in his book under the edge also...


"our elders are those who have travelled long distances and gathered wisdom, we should orient ourselves around those who are most important to our path, yet also pay respect to those that have taken the the time to evolve. lessons need to be comprehended and passed on so that tradition is and acquired wisdom is not lost to bright light and fast cars. the simple word that explains this process is respect."


in a woodfordia context i can see a new paradigm developing - where we look to the past but forward at the same time -simultaneously... to create a new path into the future. consulting with our "elders" -such as indigenous australia who have many great lessons to teach in regards to "consciousness" and attachment to "being"

consciousness and knowledge

“I call that man awake who, with conscious knowledge and understanding, can perceive the deep unreasoning powers in his soul, his whole innermost strength, desire and weakness, and knows how to reckon with himself.” 

Hermann Hesse, Narcissus and Goldmund


as i have spoken about in recent posts i feel as though a pursuit of increased consciousness in regards to the issues facing all of us is the only way that we can really change the momentum of the crises that we are currently experiencing.

before semester i read a book that has become very powerful to me - by hermann hess - narcissus and goldmund - which documents the meeting of two kindred spirits within the walls of a seminary. without going into too much detail, the two key characters are very different people in terms of personality but drawn to each other as they help increase the others understanding of the world - a heightened level of consciousness.

it is the early chapters set in the seminary though that resonate with me in terms of the future of this project. those that populate the seminary are an eclectic mix - although in a christian environment there is a range of life paths being undertaken and the seminary provides the forum for learning and understanding. the descriptive nature of the author takes the reader within the walls of this highly educational facility that looks further than education in terms of pure documentation and facts. instead it looks at the heightened "consciousness" of those enrolled.

seminary in etymological terms

seminary 

mid-15c., "plot where plants are raised from seeds," from L. seminarium "plant nursery," figuratively, "breeding ground," from seminarius "of seed," from semen (gen. seminis) "seed" (see semen). Meaning "school for training priests" first recorded 1580s; commonly used for any school (especially academies for young ladies) from 1580s to 1930s. Seminarian "seminary student" is attested from 1580s.

the raising of seeds - what a wonderfully appropriate description of how i envision woodfordia developing from a seed - becoming a breeding ground for new thought. 

i feel as though perhaps woodfordia in my mind is a "seminary of consciousness" of sorts. something that i would love to pursue from this point on in the design process... creating a place of residence and living, understanding and teaching, DEVELOPing those 5 mantras.

Eating, Dwelling, Making, Moving, Breathing...

a centre in which apprentices can devote time to becoming more in touch with these basic elements of human existence...

adaptability - us + them... a case of consciousness???

i have been pondering the idea of what allows some species, or even individuals within a species to be more adaptable to their environments than others, and furthermore what that really means.

in a lot of reading that i have done in the past couple of years the idea of "consciousness" plays a significant role in helping us understand why things happen, and also why we choose to do these things - live a certain way or make particular choices.

to simplify what i am talking about and to draw it back to the previous posts i have made about the adaptability of native australians, we can look at the way in which a tribe would choose a particular dwelling space at particular time of the year in relation to climatic factors. 

in summer months a camping ground would be selected upon the premise of proximity to water, ample shading, access to breeze - access to food resources and finally there would be a decision made to move onward once the resources in the area became scarce and unable to replenish themselves. there was a certain level of consciousness involved in every decision made - therefore establishing a strong report with the environment around them - a responsibility to the mother earth that fed, housed, clothed them. each member of the tribe had an immediate relationship - not only to one another - but also to the landscape.

in terms of eating, dwelling, moving, making, breathing - it seems obvious that the indigenous australian was far more in sync with the decision making process involved in every daily activity and how through engaging with the landscape they ensured the most comfortable lifestyle possible. additionally there was a spirituality involved in this relationship.

compare this to the current western model in which we live and it begins to become apparent that it made be perhaps our lack of "conciousness' in what we consume and do that has resulted in a non-sustainable life cycle.

we move in fossil fuel vehicles which require the earth to be dug up from beneath us, our food comes from farms 1000's of kilometers away on trucks and boats which run on pollutants also, our houses require air conditioning and touch the earth heavily with little consideration of the climatic zones they are within, we make things and buy and sell to other corners of the earth - cut down trees for palm oil plantations and so on etc...

for me until this level of "consciousness" is addressed then the "sustainability" issue can not be appropriately dealt with. we continually look for high tech solutions to high tech problems - however many of us do not even comprehend the smallest details of our daily life, such as "where does my meat come from?"... 

my vision for woodfordia is starting to shape - addressing the human connection to the elements of 

eating, dwelling, moving, making, breathing

in their apparent simplicity - how complex they have become - we need to start a shift in "consciousness" of people to enforce change... that is what the "think farm" needs to become! thinking in terms of "conscious thought" rather than developing new technologies as such...

the aboriginal nations

in terms of describing the difference between indigenous and western inhabitants of this incredible country, perhaps no other image can be as powerful... we can see that australia was once divided by hundreds of aboriginal nations that derived their boundaries - and in particular size from the overall area required to sustain the people of that particular nation.

for example those in coastal regions on the east coast of australia, with an abundance of resources require much smaller areas to survive as opposed to countries in the more harsh central australian desert regions.

we see immediately that in comparison to the political state lines that we live by in todays western culture the mapping was purely driven by means of survival and the self-sufficiency of the tribe. 

wealth in this case is based upon survival - not money...

"it is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change." 

charles darwin

reading - environmental adaptability

this reading raises a topic of discussion that has recently become very important to me. the notion of permanence and ephemerality within the environments we create, not just as architects - but as human beings as a collective.

in western culture we like to refer to "sustainability" as a new notion that has gathered a great deal of momentum in the last 20 years especially. however i find this insulting and ignorant of the lifestyles and cultures that inhabited, and continue to inhabit the world today - indigenous cultures that had a strong attachment to the world surrounding them - people that lived harmoniously within the landscape, without exhausting resources and responding to the natural factors influencing them.


"now we reverse the inquiry to discuss, not the adaptability of the organism to the environment, but that of the environment to the changing purposes of the organism."


through technological advancements and the rapid exchange of information - mankind has become able to easily manipulate the world around him. whether it be by the use of a halogen light to brighten a poorly lit room, air conditioning to cool a non ventilated office in the CBD or even the use of a refrigeration unit to preserve our processed meat. in general we are out of sync with what adaptability really is in its purest sense.

Peter Stutchberry discusses the notion of indigenous australians and the way they lived within the landscape as an exemplar of adaptable living.


"the traditional indigenous australian house is the landscape. it is usually temporarily occupied and located near a water source. invariably there is some shelter but essentially it is rooms in the environment for

cooking, talking, making, sleeping. (very much like our big 5 themes)

privacy is not a priority. as the room is big for what is fundamentally sharing - it is not a place for selfish behavior"

under the edge - page 22


one would consider this form of living extremely simplistic in its nature, however as we become more sensitive to the landscapes around us we begin to realise the complex network of systems working even in, what on face value, could seem like a very basic environment - such as an arid desert setting.

the reading talks about the nature of adaptability of environments in terms of levels of complexity...


"from an analogy with biology, it might be suspected that highly specialised forms would be relatively in-adaptable, while forms of little differentiation and low structure would be the ones that from which future development will most easily proceed. thus a simple square house of one room would be more adaptable than a more intricate design fitted about the special habits of a particular client.

but simpson points out the fallacy of this notion even in the course of biological evolution. we are accustomed to associate unadapted, and therefore extinct species with "over-specialised" ones."

also that -

"that specialised organism, man, has so far proved himself to be the most adaptable creature going"


i understand the logic behind the authors statements - but at the same time argue that the adaptability of man hinges not upon his reliance on the complex systems of the environment around him - which for 60,000 years allowed indigenous australians to flourish in this country. but instead on his artificial, and indeed still very complex systems, that work in complete disagreeance with the environment around him.

what we have established in this western model is 2 very complex systems working in complete juxtaposition at all times. in early posts i have discussed the notion of finding low-tech solutions to future sustainability issues... working with the complex systems inherent in the environment around us without forcing against it is the only way to achieve balance i feel. similar to the way the traditional owners of this land did for so long.

INTERMISSION - PROJECT 1 - INDIVIDUAL PROJECT ONE STATEMENT

project one became quite a difficult prospect for the group i feel, whilst we took a lot of things into consideration and did our best to bring them all together - i feel as though ourselves (and many of the groups) only managed to scratch the surface...

there was a lot of things in the work that i was very proud of -especially in the sense of the vision we has for this collaborative society, in which people could use their skill sets for the benefit of the WHOLE group as oppsed to individually.a dynmaic like this would be very hard to achieve as there would need to be an entire mentality shift which could be too hard for first or second generation residents of the community.

I feel as though the longer it managed to continue for, the stronger the community would become. breaking away from the ties that we currently have to banks, mortages, supermarkets etc etc. one thing that we needed to address more-so was the way we were going to deal with the removal of "cash" from woodfordia.

whilst it could be achieved wihin the community it would make thigns very difficult when dealing with the outside world. selling technologies or products from the think farm would require the exchange of cash i think - then this cash could be used to pay back the money outstanding to purchase woodfordia from the council. only through pure ownership of the site do i think that woodfordia can truly self actuate and become self sufficient.

in its very essence living in a woodfordia that isnt purely owned is non self-sufficient - unfortunately the only way to achieve this is through the acquisition of cash and then payment to the council.

all of this needs more thinking but i feel as though we have begun and started forging a future vision based around the elements eating, dwelling, making, moving, breathing that provide a platform from which to build and constantly refer. in the future stages of the project it will be important to refer back to these for direction and reference.

i am looking forward to following b.o.b on the remainder of his journey towards the end of semester and creating a woodfordia with him that could become an exemplar for many others like it into the future...

woodfordia 500

The 500 Year Plan

- We recognise, appreciate and graciously receive gifts from our ancestors. We understand these are the gifts of lore and the celebration of our existence.

- We aim to gift future generations a clean slate: an organisation unencumbered with financial social or environmental debt.

- We’ll cultivate a convention of decision making, strengthening through time, that will resonate in our work and nurture our future.

- We’ll plant a forest of goodwill and benefit from its shade.

- We will build with the eyes of artists.

- We’ll provide space for our descendants to meet the challenges of their generations with vigour, courage and imagination and encourage them to celebrate their journeys with levity and frivolity.

The 500 year plan lives in our minds. It is our myth. It is a vision for how we might be and sensed by all who feel our welcome.



I think this particular vision resonates deeply with what the group are trying to achieve in our Woodfordia proposal... the importance of collaboration and unity in decision making...

in a sentence i feel as though this is extremley appropriate to what we are aspiring for...



 

Moneyless Man...

Moneyless man reveals how to live a cashless life without starving

Separation between stomachs and the soil means most food comes in plastic packets, but eating for free can be fun

• My year of living without money
• I live without cash – and I manage just fine

 

 

Mark Boyle, the moneyless man, collecting food. Photograph: Charlotte Sexauer

When I began living without money 18 months ago, the most common question people asked me was "How on earth are you going to eat?". An understandable remark, but an insight into the burgeoning degrees of separation between the stomach and the soil.
For most of us, food comes in plastic packets from the supermarket. A friend, who runs tours of an organic farm for school children, gives much anecdotal evidence of this. One week, while pointing to a rosemary bush, he asked the kids if anyone knew what it was. After 20 seconds, one 12-year-old raised his hand and proclaimed it to be "corned beef". Worse still, none of the others laughed.
The answer to this FAQ is in the query itself – I eat from the earth. Food is free, and indiscriminately so. The apple tree doesn't ask if you've got enough cash when you go to pick its fruit; it just gives to whoever wants an apple. We are the only species, out of millions on the planet, that is deluded enough to think that it needs money to eat. And what's worse, I often observe people walking straight past free food on their way to buy it from all over the world via the supermarket.
There are four legs to the money-free food table. The most exciting, and my favourite, is foraging, which originally meant to wander in search of food and provisions, but is used these days to describe the act of picking and eating wild foods. Although this can take a lifetime to learn, anyone can start today. I'd recommend picking up a pocket-sized book called Food for Free by Richard Mabey (sourced for free via Read It Swap It) or perhaps taking a weekend course with people such as the BBC's "roadkill chef" Fergus the Forager, before hitting the hedgerows.
At the moment look out for giant puffballs, bristly ox-tongue and rocket, the latter often found in the cracks between walls and paths in cities. If you need any more excuse to hit the coast, now is the perfect time to collect seaweed. The real beauty of wild food is not only that it's highly nutritious and ecologically sound, but that picking it is also a fantastic excuse to go adventuring with friends.
Great Britain has been tamed, so its remaining wilds could no longer feed its population. This makes the next leg – growing your own food – crucial, both in terms of tackling climate change and rebuilding a resilient local food network. Whether it be on your kitchen windowsill, in your back garden, or on the allotment, start with whatever you can manage. Choose crops you love eating and if you are time poor, choose varieties that require little work. Not only will you reduce your food miles and packaging, you'll also get to eat food that tastes of your own sweat, a flavour no spice can match.
Growing and foraging all your calorific needs is a huge task, especially without fossil fuel inputs such as fertiliser. This is where the third leg comes in: bartering. Bartering can either be an exchange of food, especially in the summer when many people have gluts of one crop or another, or an exchange of skills for food you can't get elsewhere without money. In many ways barter is just an awkward form of money and lacks the deeper benefits of doing something completely for free (such as you do with close family and friends), and it brings up the age old problem of "the double coincidence of wants", where both parties have to have something the other desires. But it has got huge benefits. Not only does it localise the economy, it helps build bonds between neighbours, leading eventually to communities that are more resilient to external shocks; societies where friendships, not cash, are seen as security.
The fourth leg of the food-for-free table is waste food. Skipping – jumping into skips – is one form of this, but I prefer to build relationships with small businesses that throw perfectly good grub away, either because of insanely rigid laws or their own quality standards. By choosing this method, you save yourself the task of looking through a bin and you get to build a relationship with another local who, in almost all cases, feels terrible about chucking out edible food (one third of all food in UK is wasted) at a time when one half of the world's population goes hungry. Whilst I don't tend to eat much waste food myself – it makes up roughly 5% of my diet – I do go skipping regularly. It's a lot of fun and I distribute the harvest to those who need it. Using waste food is far from ideal, as it is hardly building a sustainable model that the rest of the population could replicate. But while we continue to fly food from all over the world just to make it into a UK skip, I feel our first obligation, to both the farmer and the hungry, is to get it out of bins and into bellies.
So Milton Friedman – if the Guardian is available online beyond the grave – I hate to break it to you, but there is such a thing as a free lunch.
• Mark Boyle is the founder of the Freeconomy Community and has lived moneyless for the last 18 months. His book, The Moneyless Man, is out now, published by Oneworld - sales from the book will go to a charitable trust for the Freeconomy Community