COHABITAT GATHERING201 1

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful,

committed citizens can change the world;

indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

— Margaret Mead

COHABITAT GATHERING

201 1

Cohabitat Gathering 2011 is implemented

under the project „Integrated System for

Social Economy Support”.

Project co-financed by the European Union

under the European Social Fund.

COHABITAT GATHERING1st April 201 1

Forum 76 Business Centre al. Marsz. J. Piłsudskiego 76Łódź

Inspiring the evolution

of spaceship ‘Earth’

COHABITAT GATHERING

overview04

Spaceship ‘Earth’ is home to hundreds of millions of organisms. One of them is man.

Each of them has an essential role in sustaining the phe-

nomenon of Life. All share a common space (co-habi-

tat), combined in a complex network of relationships and

interdependence.

The first edition of the cohabitat gathering festival will be held

under the title: ‘inspiring the evolution of spaceship Earth’.

This is a major step towards creating a platform for a rapidly

growing community of conscious networks. It is also an invi-

tation for creative development through the implementation

of the ‘new’ technologies and solutions, which will guarantee

sustainable development in the future. All you have to do is

not disturb.

Natural systems and mechanisms operating on Earth gov-

ern all life processes. Intelligent use of these patterns makes

it possible to create solutions which are fully balanced and in

harmony with the local community.

Spaceship Earth was so

extraordinarily well invented and

designed that to our knowledge

humans have been on board it

for two million years not even

knowing that they were on board

of a ship.

— Richard Buckminster Fuller

Inspiring the evolution of spaceship

‘Earth’

overview 05

The time has come to take care of our current and future living space.

Invited lecturers and special guests will present an extreme-

ly wide range of ideas, technology, philosophy and expe-

rience in the field of constructing a new generation of hu-

man habitats. They will speak about building with straw and

earth, the design of autonomous ecosystems, water treat-

ment, food production, design theory, human settlements,

open-source machines and creating partnerships for the de-

velopment of these trends. We will also show places in the

world where the construction of the habitats has proved to

be a great success.

For the first time in history it

is now possible to take care of

everybody at a higher standard of

living than any have ever known.

(...) All humanity now has the

option to become enduringly

successful.

— Richard Buckminster Fuller

All heads, one task.

The task is multidisciplinary, so at the festival you will find

representatives of many professions and interests: research-

ers, professionals and enthusiasts. We are also expecting

representatives of local governmental and nongovernmen-

tal organisations.

COHABITAT GATHERING

overview06

overview 07

The time has come to take care of our current and future

living space.

08

COHABITAT GATHERING

program

Line-up

Bjorn Kierulf Passive houses from natural materials / 20

Gernot Minke Strawbale structures and green roofs / 21

Max Vittrup Jensen Big Bale Building / 23

Zbigniew Bać Habitats — philosophy of space arrangement / 24

Teresa Kelm, Jerzy Górski Earth building techniques —

ecology and modern standards / 25

Gernot Minke Architecture and earth structures / 22

09:00

10:00

10:20

10:40

11:00

11:20

11:40

02 structure

Paweł Sroczyński Cohabitat — Re:evolution in a life space / 12

Marcin Jakubowski Global Village Construction Set:

Building Civilization from the Ground Up / 13

Robert Błaszczyk Barkowo 13 Project —

ecovillage and Permaculture Centre / 14

Mateusz Józefowicz Habitats on Mars / 15

Agnieszka Orzechowska Natural building techniques

development — a model partnership in Łódź / 16

Jakub Kronenberg Social participation in a local development —

the Sendzimir Foundation / 17

12:30

12:50

13:10

13:30

13:50

14:10

14:40

01 vision

registration

tea break

break

12:00

09

Radosław Barek Use of native and regional traditions in a modern

habitat’s building process / 36

Jarosław Szewczyk The uniqueness of Podlasie

cordwood masonry / 37

Danuta Kupiec-Hyła, Maciej Hyła

Modern clay building techniques in Polish conditions /38

Marcin Mateusz Kołakowski Challenges of low-tech / 39

Andrzej Młynarczyk The Zero Zone — how your perception can

change the world you live in / 40

Robert Palusiński Optimal and sustainable ways of decision making

in intentional communities and ecovillages / 41

program

15:30

15:50

16:10

16:30

16:50

17:10

17:30

18:00

18:20

18:40

19:00

19:20

19:40

20:00

Wojciech Majda Permaculture and creation of

modern habitats / 28

Andrzej Czech Eco-Frontiers Ranch — polish example

of offgrid building / 29

Steve Read Design of permacultural systems / 30

Monika Podsiadła How turn the surrounding of your house into

a beautiful garden / 31

Łukasz Nowacki Solar Habitat Project —

a step towards living tribes / 32

Carl Giskes Healthy work space — clay applications in offices

and public buildings. / 33

03 life

04 reflection

the end

purga band concert ( www.purga.pl )

tea break

15:00

afterparty — purga1/04/201121:00—3:00Centrum na GdańskiejGdańska Street 81, Łódźpurga.pl

myspace.com/purga.sounds

Formed in 2009, Purga band was inspired by the

idea of shamanism, the wisdom of tribal cultures

and their function and evolution in contemporary

western culture. The first concert was accompa-

nied with a lecture about Amzazonian Curanderos

and sacred medicinal properties of plants used in

Ayahuasca ceremonies. In its work, the band uses

traditional instruments: didgeridoo, African and sha-

man drums, flutes, lyre gurdy, as well as contempo-

rary music: synthesizer, electric violin melody.

Speakers01 vision

PawełSroczyński

(cohabitat group)natural architecture atelier

architect

An architect utterly devoted to the enterprise of constructing autonomous human settle-ments of new generation — Cohabitats. The founder of cohabitat group. The originator and the co-organizer of ch gathering 2011. The au-thor of pioneering projects on natural buildings technologies. He’s supported constantly the development of Polish movement for this new paradigm since 2008. The organizer of work-shops and lectures.

We entered the age of information. The old

methods of activities based on industrial

models are going to fail in the present. We

need the re-evolution! The new awareness,

the idea on how to re-unite with systems

that support life on the Earth. We need the

solution that would enable us to continue to

follow the path of evolution and to use the

potential resulting from a synergy between

human beings and nature.

By the end of decade the Cohabitat Group

wants to offer people an opportunity to live

in habitats — natural settlements based on

rules of how ecosystems work. The methods

they want to accomplish their aims are

education and open-source technologies.

The settlements would be able to generate

basic resources essential for living (water,

food, energy).

During the presentation, there’ll be

referred the history of Cohabitat Group, their

achievements and unusual plans for the

nearest future.

Cohabitat — Re:evolution in a life space

12

COHABITAT GATHERING

vision

MarcinJakubowski

open source ecology

researcher, inventor

Marcin came to the U.S. from Poland as a child. He graduated with honors from Princeton and earned his PhD in fusion physics from the Uni-versity of Wisconsin. In 2003 he founded Open Source Ecology in order to make closed-loop manufacturing a reality. He began develop-ment on the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS), an open source DIY tool set of 50 dif-ferent industrial machines necessary to create modern civilization. Marcin’s recent accomplish-ment is his selection as a TED Fellow for 2011.

The presentation summarizes our work on

the Global Village Construction Set (GVCS).

The GVCS is an open source, low-cost, high

performance technological platform that al-

lows for the easy, small-scale, DIY fabrication

of the 50 different technologies that it takes

to build a sustainable civilization with mod-

ern comforts. The GVCS lowers the barriers

to entry into farming, building, and manufac-

turing and can be seen as a life-size Lego-like

set of modular tools that can create entire

economies, whether in rural Missouri, where

the project was founded, the mountains

of Oregon, or in the heart of Africa. We are

pushing the limits of thinking and practice of

how the GVCS can break the feasibility and

cost barriers of building truly sustainable

and resilient communities from the ground

up, including complete economies based on

local resources.

Global Village Construction Set: Building Civilization from the Ground Up

13vision

RobertBłaszczyk

barkowo 13 project permaculture pionieer

Robert Blaszczyk is fascinated by the top-ic of permaculture, mainly natural crops, natu-ral construction and alternative energy sourc-es. He has gained experience in India and Thailand under the leadership of Christian Shearer (Pany Project), and received a Diploma of Permacultural Design from Steve Read (L’Université Populaire de Permaculture) in Albania. He visited many self-sustaining habitats, permacultural farms and eco-settlements in the world; now returned to Poland to spread per-maculture in his ancestors’ country.

A project for creating a settlement on the ba-

sis of ethical principles of permaculture, from

which the main three are:

• taking care of the Earth. Permaculture as

a design system based on natural systems.

This involves respect for all flora and fauna,

responsible management of natural resourc-

es, not wearing them unnecessarily or quick-

er than they would manage to renew

• taking care of people. Taking care of their

health, self development, their own needs,

but also thinking about everyone else: em-

pathy, tolerance and respect for other peo-

ple’s needs. This also applies to care for fu-

ture generations and providing them with

conditions for normal growth.

• fair distribution — we have only one Earth

which we share with other people, other spe-

cies and future generations. This requires

a re-evaluation of approaches to unlimited

consumption, especially when it comes to

the natural resources. We should work to-

gether to provide everyone with equeal ac-

cess to resources, to satisfy the basic neces-

sities of life.

Barkowo 13 Project — ecovillage and Permaculture Centre

14

COHABITAT GATHERING

vision

MateuszJózefowicz

Trained to be an archaeologist; an organiser of robotics projects and solutions for extreme en-vironments, conducted in cooperation with Nicolaus Copernicus University, Technical University of Warsaw, Wroclaw and Bialystok, Industrial Research ...Institute for Automation and Measurements, Polish Academy of Sciences. A participant of projects for astronau-tic nongovernmental organisations in cooper-ation with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and Ministry of Economy. An activist of international structures of the Mars Society and a supporter of the Polish Space Agency establishment.

The main theme of his lecture will be Mars.

Besides the Earth, Mars is the only planet in

our solar system, which allows maintenance

of technical civilization and the existence of

our species. It has an atmosphere, seasons,

diurnal cycle similar to Earth, and a sufficient-

ly large mass. First of all, Mars has resourc-

es that make a potential colony self-sufficient.

Technologically, this planet is within human

reach, but the main obstacles seem to have

mental and political background.

Among the various benefits of the

Columbian expedition to Mars, we should

mention the change of reference scale. Such

a broadening of horizons will allow us to look

from a different perspective on our home

planet, its environment and our role. The so-

lutions developed for the Mars may well be

applicable to the Earth. On the other hand,

to reach the Red Planet we need to practise

and test some solutions on the planet Earth.

And we will — in Torun, in a test Martian habi-

tat Mars Society Poland.

mars society polska

researcher

Habitats on Mars

15vision

AgnieszkaOrzechowska

undp coordinator of local partnerships, respon-sible for creating a coalition for social econ-omy and stimulating groups at risk of ex-clusion to create social economy entities. A graduate in Sociology and Russian Philology at the University of Lodz, a specialist in the field of sustainable development and global ed-ucation; a coach, specialising in creating and managing projects, building local partnerships and diagnosing social problems.

In 2010 we established the local partnership

for the development of natural building con-

struction in our country, as a result of coop-

eration between the Cohabitat Group and

United Nations Development Programme

Design Office in Poland. The aim of the co-

operation is to strengthen this sector of con-

struction industry and to support the groups

that work in this field. As activities here are

feasible through the integration of various in-

stitutions and groups so we decided to invite

research-scientific centres, firms, non-govern-

mental organizations, unoficial groups and

public institutions to join the cooperation.

As a part of the partnership we motivate

scientists to conduct research and to set up

projects supporting the development of nat-

ural building construction, we encourage

companies to invest in this branch of econ-

omy, we cooperate with government offic-

es in order to approve natural building mate-

rials. There’s a variety of tools and methods

used to accomplish our goals: workshops,

conferences, the Internet websites, research,

exemplary building sites, etc. We’re going to

show the initial results and plans for the near-

est months to be accomplished by the part-

nership and the chances to use the natu-

ral building for marginalised and vulnerable

groups during the presentation.

undp — project office poland

coach

Natural building techniques development — a model partnership in Łódź

16

COHABITAT GATHERING

vision

JakubKronenberg

A board member of Sendzimir Foundation, as-sistant in the Department of International Exchange at University of Lodz. His area of in-terest is the connections between economy and environment. His book, “Ecological eco-nomics and industrial ecology” was issued by a prestigious publishing house Routledge. He is an editor of the first Polish guidebook for sustainable development. He has undertak-en numerous science internships in France, Switzerland, UK and Kyrgyzstan. In 2001—2003 he worked as a consultant on environmen-tal management in the undp Umbrella Project. In his spare time he likes watching birds and traveling.

Development strategies are often associ-

ated with extensive documentation, full of

high-sounding phrases — “platitudes”— which

could equally well apply to any city, any mu-

nicipality, or even any company. Are these

documents going to contribute to develop-

ment? Although it is hard to disagree with

most of their legitimate demands, they are

rarely related to local characteristics, partic-

ularly to local needs. To talk about local de-

velopment, you need to ask the opinions

of people who will be affected by thes de-

velopments. There are many ways of allow-

ing the local comunity to become activity in-

volved in researching devlopment strategies.

Documents developed this way are not only

more likely to get support of local commu-

nities, but their implementation is also like-

ly to be monitored with greater interest by

the residents. The projects for sustainable

local development run by the Sendzimir

Foundation use many of these tools such as

simulation of participatory public debate,and

strategic workshops isis.

university of lodz

researcher, traveller

Social participation in a local development — the Sendzimir Foundation

17vision

All humanity has now the option to become

enduringly succesful.

All humanity has now the option to become

enduringly succesful.

Speakers02 structure

20

COHABITAT GATHERING

structure

Bjorn Kierulf

createrra

architect

Bjorn (1968) is a Norwegian living in Slovakia for over 20 years. He has a formal education in Industrial Design, and won several National Awards for his designs in the years 1993—2001. Together with his architect wife he has been spearheading the ph development in Slovakia since 2007, when they built the first certified ph. Since then their company createrra has de-signed and partly built over two dozen ph. The Company is also renowned for its extensive use of natural materials in the building process.

The ideal combination to save energy and

build healthy houses is to care not only

about passive standard but also about ma-

terials which are used for construction and

surfaces. I will present two different exam-

ples of building systems, which include both

aspects.

First example consists of solid wooden

panels, insulated on the outside with blown

in cellulose and woodfiber boards, on the in-

side reed mat with earth plaster. Panels are

prefabricated in Germany and they were de-

veloped to serve as loadbearing walls and

ceilings with possibility of easy installation of

cables and with different finished wooden

surfaces. Effective building process lower the

costs of house. Wood and earthen surfaces

help to keep higher humidity content in the

air during the winter time, when it is drop-

ping down due to ventilation.

The second example is a building with pre-

fabricated straw bale walls. This is more al-

ternative material, but the way of prefabri-

cation makes it possible to compete with

conventional building methods. Panels are

produced in Lithuania, the quality is high and

the even surface of walls are easy to plaster.

We are developing details and technical so-

lutions that could make strawbale houses in

passive house standard affordable.

Passive houses from natural materials

structure 21

Gernot Minke An architect, scientist, experimenter. A profes-sor at the University of Kassel, where he directs the Experimental Building Faculty. An author of over thirty books and over 200 scientific articles on the innovative use of traditional building materials. Gernot Minke began work-ing alongside the famous Frei Otto, the author of light membrane roofs built for the Olympics in Munich. Since the ‘70s main areas of his re-search and design work are natural and afford-able building techniques.

Strawbale construction and green roofs

are two of leading topics for anyone follow-

ing the development of eco-architecture.

However, it is less well known, that those

two system can be combined in search for

the ideal ‘green’ building: not only in one lec-

ture, but also on the construction site. Why

should one try?

Strawbale, a building technology using

baled straw, has been rapidly gaining pop-

ularity since the seventies. Key for this suc-

cess are the proprieties of straw bales as a

building material (natural, renewable, high-

ly insulating, with low embodied energy and

low cost) that make it a perfect choice for

the challenges of sustainable design. The ad-

vantages of green roofs have been known

in Scandinavia for centuries: they protect

buildings from both winter cold and summer

heat and they absorb rainwater.. and they

are beautiful. Modern development of thin

earth roof systems allowed for easier ap-

plication and reduced cost of green-roofs.

Recent research shows also evidence on

green roofs absorbing high-frequency elec-

tromagnetic waves, thus reducing the ad-

verse effect of the built environment on hu-

man health.

kassel university

architect

Strawbale structures and green roofs

continuation on page 22 >>

22

>> continuation of page 22

COHABITAT GATHERING

structure

Building with earth is one of the oldest and

most widespread solutions for rising struc-

tures ranging from simple shelters to archi-

tectural wonders like Chinese Wall. Even to-

day this material has a great importance:

ca. one third of human population dwells in

earthen buildings. Earth is often available on

site and it is possible to build with it using un-

trained labour. It is also a truly ecological ma-

terial: excavation, transport and construction

consumes relatively little energy. If unfired it

is fully an easily recyclable. Moreover, earth

helps to maintain stable interior humidity in

the building, creating a healthy micro-climate.

Many building techniques employing

earth exist: adobe, earth blocks, rammed

earth, and cob are just some of the more

popular. Preserving and developing knowl-

edge about them might have a real impact

on solving housing demand on a global

scale.

Architecture and earth structures

23structure

Max Vittrup Jensen

permalot

natural builder, networker

Originally from Denmark, Max holds a B.Sc. In Human Ecology and a M.Sc. in Environmental Management. He spends most of his time within the field of Natural Building and Per-maculture Systems Design, be it as educator, consultant, builder or visionary. In year 2001 he initiated the NGO PermaLot which manages an organic land trust of 17 hectares and an educa-tional centre in Czech Republic. He’s the lead organizer of the bi-annual European Straw Bale Gathering in 2011

Recent new development in straw bale con-

struction includes the approach of using the

newer rectangular big bales [BB] about 1 m

x 0.7 m x 2.2m. The BB lend themselves to-

wards the original “Load-bearing construc-

tion”, where the unsupported bale walls are

topped with a bond beam dimensioned to

hold an additional story or simply the roof.

The Big Bales allow for fast-mechanized con-

struction of the exterior walls, and consti-

tutes a complete wall with inner and outer

skin, along with insulation.

Labor costs are reduced considerably as

the wall raising becomes a couple of days of

mechanized process, with a roof that may

be pre-constructed and crane lifted onto

the building, and rendering done (predomi-

nantly) mechanized. Add to this local availa-

bility, eliminating long distance transport, or

high energy production. Environmental im-

pact is very limited; In effect it is fully possi-

ble to construct a BBB as a biodegradable

house, all depending on the overall design

and choice of additional material within the

building.

Big Bale Building (BBB)

24 structure

ZbigniewBać

wrocław university of technology

architect

Professor at the Faculty of Architecture at the Wroclaw University of Technology. A chairman of the Scientific School habitat-y (since 1985) An organiser of international conferences, work-shops, seminars and summer schools. An editor of a yearbook habitat-y. A chairman of the Com-mittee of Architecture and Urban Planning Sci-ences (since 2003), a member of the Serbian Academy of Architecture (since 2006). An own-er of an architectural office habitat (since 1989) A winner of numerous Polish and international architectural competitions (38 prizes).

Habitat developed as a revival movement at

the turning point of 1985 at the Faculty of Ar-

chitecture of Wroclaw University of Technol-

ogy, in the Department of House Design.

The author of this paper is the initiator and

the founder of academic school of Habitat.

There was presented an initial definition as

well: “habitat as art and ability to organize the

human living space. Thereby habitat is more

a kind of philosophy than a set of design

principles, it’s incessant discussion on shap-

ing a living environment for a man and it’s

also an attempt to create some philosophical

basis, the aim of which is showing problems

that we should deal with.”

Having this definition as a basis, there were

characterized essential features of human

habitat, being perceived not only as a part of

natural environment, but also as a part of the

cultural one.

Shared work with representatives from

other scientific fields has been one of vital

assumptions since the research on habitat

started. It’s been perceived as a prerequisite

for keeping balance when examining various

phenomena that appear in time of genuine

creating the living environment for a man.

Habitats — philosophy of space arrangement

COHABITAT GATHERING

25structure

TeresaKelm

A professor at the Faculty of Architecture at the Technical University of Warsaw. She conducts seminars and classes, inter alia green architec-ture design. During her several years’ residence and teaching in Africa (in Algeria) she became interested in earth building techniques. After that period she conducted research work in the United States. With her team she held a tri-al production of adobe bricks and compressed earth blocks. In 2006—2009 the team made an experimental building, designed in a mod-ern rammed earth technology.

An experimental building made in raw earth

technologies was built in Pasłęk. Project

preparations and implementation of the

building were possible thanks to the mon-

ey grant of Ministry of Science and Higher

Education in the years 2005 to 2008,

gained by the authors of the project.

The object was designed to demonstrate

methods of constructing a raw earth build-

ing and then to allow the research and ob-

servations on the behavior of the struc-

ture during its existence. Through the ad-

dition of a greenhouse, the building was

designed as a passive (energy-efficient)

building, based on solar energy. Structural

and external walls were built in the rammed

earth technology, internal layer was made

of hay-clay bricks, and al other internal nor-

mal walls were made of adobe blocks.

Earth building techniques — ecology and modern standards

warsaw university of technology

architect, researcher

All heads,

one task.

Speakers03 life

All heads,

one task.

28

COHABITAT GATHERING

life

WojciechMajda

polish institute of permaculture

permaculture pionieer

Wojciech Majda is a blogger. For over two years he constantly writes a blog of the Polish Institute of Permaculture. He was also the first person in Poland to establish the Permacultural Workspace — to be able to merge his passion and knowledge (maybe even a slight madness) with professional experience in the field of per-macultural design. On his blog http://permakul-tura.net/ he shares with his readers ideas on permaculture, agroforestry, animal husbandry and ecology.

The author will talk about issues related to

a wider implementation of permacultur-

al projects. He will also share his experienc-

es of translating often exotic and foreign in

our culture, theory into practice. He will bring

a process of setting up a very interesting

project on a borderline of ecology, agrofor-

estry, and permaculture, and explain using

the permacultural design process in a gar-

den or an enterprise or farm. In his view, by

using knowledge of mainstream science, we

can create self-sufficient and sustainable hu-

man settlements.

Permaculture and creation of modern habitats

29life

Andrzej Czech

natural systems

natural scientist

A huge fan of renewable energy, water recy-cling and biomimicry. An owner of a consulting firm Natural Systems dealing with innovative ways to reduce human impact on the environ-ment. A doctor of biology at the Jagiellonian University, naturalist. He lives and works in the Bieszczady Mountains, at the Eco-Frontiers Ranch, a unique project that combines the pro-duction of renewable energy, organic farming, ecotourism and nature conservation.

The idea of independence from standard util-

ities usually doesn’t cross our minds until we

are unexpectedly cut off. In the face of cli-

mate change and expensive commodities

we are in danger of experiencing lack of elec-

tricity or water much more often. Water recy-

cling and providing housing units with their

own sources of renewable energy can signif-

icantly reduce the negative impact architec-

ture has on the environment.

The Eco-Frontiers Ranch with its own en-

ergy supply system works completely inde-

pendently of the grid. All electricity is pro-

duced on site by two wind turbines and

photovoltaic panels while hot water is heat-

ed in solar panels. Thanks to a well-designed

internal network,including a wide selection of

energy efficient electrical appliances, trans-

mission losses are reduced to a minimum .

The ranch also implements a system of rain-

water collection and water recycling technol-

ogy known as Wastewater Gardens. Six years

of uninterrupted operation of the Eco-Fron-

tiers proves that the independence of the

network in Polish conditions is possible. Ap-

plied solutions can be replicated and proc-

essed according to individual needs.

Eco-Frontiers Ranch — polish example of offgrid building

30

COHABITAT GATHERING

life

SteveRead

l’université populaire de permaculture

permaculture teacher

The Permaculture teacher, he runs courses on designing, both in French and English. He works as a consultant advising on building and managing permaculture systems. He conducts research in offshoot systems of food produc-tion and their functioning in the temperate climate zone. He’s envolved in three projects at present: Kerzello in France, the ecovillage Dut-lar in Turkey and 5 Acres in England. He’s been a director in Université Populaire de Permacul-ture for many years. He’s one of co-founders of the French Association of Permaculture.

Permaculture is a science and art that we

can use to re-design our human world to cre-

ate one that that functions better , in eve-

ryway , and when we put our designs into

place our human world will be more and

more in harmony with the natural world .

I don’t intend to speak a lot about the so-

cio-ecological difficulties that face us except

to say that we have the solutions but we

seem to lack the motivation to put them

into place.

Permaculture is about solutions, about ob-

servation of natural systems and ourselves, it

is about intelligent design and it is about in-

stalling these designs . It is about deigning

and building a better human world and it

starts at home.

Design of permacultural systems

31life

MonikaPodsiadła

g.e.n.teacher

Monika Podsiadla is a teacher by education and she’s interested in alternative education. Being a keen permaculture gardener she loves to share her practical expertize and experience. She’s a precursor of permaculture in Poland. She’s been running her own garden in which she’s been cultivating plants and experiment-ing for a dozen of years or so. She’s a member of G.E.N., too. She’s taken part a few times in conference meetings of Ecovillages in Europe. As a fieldworker working for Ekologiczne Stowarzyszenie ‘’Dla Ziemi’’ she’s carried out ecological programs for natural gardening and ways to keep the environment clean.

Gardening among others generates so

much joy, peace and involvement of one’s

whole body and senses in it. Food ‘’produc-

tion’’ shouldn’t be a matter of overriding im-

portance in our relations to the Earth and its

fruits. Everything we gather in summer and

autumn becomes a gift we get for our in-

volvement, feelings, fulfillment in nature.

By observing natural enclaves of plants

and animals we support their creativity and

diversity. Masanobu Fukuoka proved that

there’s no need to apply invasive methods

of farming or to use chemical substances.

A natural garden and natural cultivation can

yield, with our slight effort put in it, at least

as much crops as industrial farming, and the

quality of natural food is in every respect

much better that the food produced by us-

ing any other methods. If we take care of our

garden by using our hands and simple tools,

we’ll get the synergetic connection with

plants ant their fruits will sustain the health

of ours and oour friends and family in some

special and mysterious way.

How turn the surrounding of your house into a beautiful garden

32

COHABITAT GATHERING

life

ŁukaszNowacki

(cohabitat group) atelier of permaculture systems

permaculture pionieer

The pioneer of Permaculture, the futurist and the ecological designer. He specializes in eco-hydrology and biotechnology of ecosystems. He’s been fascinated by an idea of autono-mous settlements and biohabitats since child-hood. The promoter and researcher on “ living machines”, alternative energy sources, archilo-gy and permaculture. He’s also interested in the concept of biomimicry and the theory of sys-tems. He draws the inspiration from achieve-ments of following masters and sources: Buck-minster Fuller, John Todd, works from New Alchemy Institute. Ideologically he’s connected with the Cohabitat Group.

What are characteristic features of living sys-

tems? We have to determine three of them

when discerning features of ‘living creature’.

First feature is growth and development. Sec-

ond one is obtaining the energy from the

Sun. Third one is functioning in an open sys-

tem of biogeochemical cycles that benefit

a living organism and the system. We all are

a part of a bigger system. Each of us is a cell

in some organ’s tissue and organs compose

the living organism. The organisms com-

pose an ecosystem by occupying a living

space. The ecosystems compose a larger

whole! The Earth, a spaceship, on the board

of which we’re travelling across the universe.

The Earth is a shelter for billions of living

tribes. The tribes of plants, animals and fungi,

the tribes of spirits and inanimate matter.

We’re witnessing the birth of new tribe that

issues new challenges to itself.

Such an answer that meets one of chal-

lenges mentioned above is SolarHAB, a pro-

totype of fully autonomous shelter. It came

into existence as a result of research with-

in a range of Archilogy, i.e. a synergy of archi-

tecture and ecology. The design is based on

how natural ecosystems work and SolarHAB

converts wastes into food, purifies sewage so

that it gets back the quality of drinking water,

produces its own fuels, food and energy.

Solar Habitat Project — a step towards living tribes

33life

CarlGiskes

tierrafino

architect

Carl Giskes, a globetrotter born in Germany. The Director of Tierrafino. For several years heworked closely with Joseph Beuys, an artist. In Kassel Carl Giskes met an earth architect, KlausJohannes Eckert, an admirer and a student of the Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathy. Havingfound his teacher, Carl Giskes started to pursue a defined goal: to learn how to work with clay.Currently living in Amsterdam, Carl Giskes sees no end to his work: ‘It has always been my wish to modernize the use of clay. With this I am giv-ing clay its place in today’s world.’

After travelling on foot in Africa in early 70’s,

I returned back to Europe. Living in modern

houses again was difficult. I couldn’t sleep

surrounded by gypsum plasterboards. The

idea of living in a primitive house appealed

to me more than ever before. I came in

touch with earth building in 1981 under the

supervision of Klaus Eckert. I moved to Am-

sterdam in 1986. Building new eco houses

in the heart of a constantly modernized city

wasn’t easy. To give people the feeling of nat-

ural houses I started with clay plasters. Some

of the benefits of clay: a more active feel-

ing, less sickness, no toxins in the air, a bal-

ance of humidity, heat accumulation, help to

maintain proper ventilation and feeling of a

nature. We spend ¼ of our lives in the work-

place, so it became important for me to de-

velop materials that are suitable for offices.

Our governments should participate in the

development of natural and healthy interiors.

We started to cooperate with architects to

design public buildings like tax offices, muse-

ums, City hall with clay as a natural solution

to make it comfortable and healthy for peo-

ple to work in.

Healthy work space — clay applications in offices and public buildings

Inspiring the evolution

of spaceship

‘Earth’

Speakers04 reflection

COHABITAT GATHERING

36 reflection

RadosławBarek

poznan university of technology

architect

An architect, artist, lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture at Poznan University of Technol-ogy, co-initiator of The Traveling Architects Association. Barek also develops clay based building techniques, in particular traditional ways of bulding used in contemporary residen-tial housing.

Modern architects increasingly search for in-

spiration in regional traditions. This happens

mainly in terms of design, less of materials

and construction techniques. Understanding

traditional techniques for specific solutions,

details or analysis of plans and sections may

be an inexhaustible source of inspiration for

contemporary architects. How to recognise

the characteristics of regional architecture,

its advantages adapting to local climatic con-

ditions? - this research area slowly becomes

the main knowledge needed for creation of

new objects with the use of local materials.

Use of native and regional traditions in a modern habitat’s building process.

JarosławSzewczyk

reflection 37

MSc. at the Faculty of Architecture, Białystok Technical University (1996); PhD. at the Fac-ulty of Architecture, Warsaw Technical Uni-versity (2006). The author of 17 papers about building with earth and cordwood mason-ry techniques, including a book “Budown-ictwo z polan opałowych — cordwood ma-sonry” (Oficyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Białostockiej, Białystok 2010). He loves old ver-nacular hut stoves in the Podlasie region, which are analysed in his next book “Piec w tradycyj-nym budownictwie ludowym Podlasia” (Ofi-cyna Wydawnicza Politechniki Białostockiej, Białystok 2011).

Since the end of the 20th century, one of the

most unique of the low-tech building con-

structions focused the public interest. The

technique was cordwood masonry, or stack-

wall, in which a wall is built with small piec-

es of wood instead of bricks, and with earth-

en (clay) mortar instead of cement or lime.

Stackwall buildings are still in existence in

Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Mich-

igan, USA; and in Southern Quebec and On-

tario, Canada. In Europe, cordwood walls

used to be a rarity; nevertheless, they have

been mentioned to be occasionally found in

a few countries, such as Czechia, Russia, Swe-

den and Norway.

But surprisingly, cordwood walls can be

occasionally found in the Podlasie region,

N-E Poland. The investigations performed

between 2003 and 2010 have revealed 250

stackwall buildings. Paradoxically and unex-

pectedly, they seem to form the largest con-

centration of old stackwall buildings in the

world. The author is going to present exam-

ples of Podlasie stackwall buildings, reveal

the uniqueness of the construction and to

assess the technique not only as the source

of vernacular heritage, but also as working

and practical technology for the contempo-

rary low-tech architecture.

bialystok university of technology

researcher, architect

The uniqueness of Podlasie cordwood masonry

38

COHABITAT GATHERING

reflection

DanutaKupiec-Hyła,Maciej Hyła

krakow university of technology,“domy z tej ziemi” association

architects

D. Hyla — a graduate of the Faculty of Architec-ture, Cracow University of Technology (1968), PhD (1987) of the University of Krakow.M. Hyla — a graduate of the Faculty of Architec-ture, Cracow University of Technology (1961). Interested in clay building techniques since college. In the 70’s, studied the prewar and postwar clay buildings in Malopolska region, and along with his wife began to design and implement a new generation of clay building techniques.Together they are authors of many works and projects, and dozens of articles in both professional journals and scientific pub-lications. They also published a guide book

“Light clay houses”.

In the post-war Poland, clay was a fully sup-

ported by the state answer for a building ma-

terials shortage. Some of the buildings, still in

a perfect shape remind us of that period. Af-

ter a long time of lack of interest, clay build-

ing techniques seem to be coming back, but

for another reason — as an exemplary eco-

friendly way of building.

It is a pity that in the Polish reality, only in-

vestors with a high level of environmental

consciousness agree to design clay projects,

more as a hobby than a serious investition

Our projects, buildings and workshops effec-

tively popularise this method of building.

Modern clay building techniques in Polish conditions

39reflection

MarcinMateuszKołakowski

Doctor of technical sciences in architecture and urban planning, engineer, journalist, lec-turer at the University of Lincoln, UK. Studied at the Silesian Technical University, Universität Hannover and Bartlett School of Architecture UCL. He has worked as an architect in the UK, Germany and Poland. In his PhD thesis “Cultural and psychological context of low-tech architec-ture”, he analyses the latest movement in eco architecture advocating joined research meth-ods linking architecture with psychoanalysis and critical theory. He runs http://archilove.pl

The low-tech movement proved to be able to

be an avant-garde of new technological and

formal solutions. For the past 30 years, this

movement played the role of a bridge be-

tween green ideologies and the scientific and

industrial world. Perhaps a more important

role of the movement lies within the realm of

culture. In what Christopher Lasch labelled

‘narcissistic culture’ of today, some aspects of

the low-tech movement might be seen as at-

tempts at breaking the narcissistic-techno-

cratic system of values and creating a posi-

tive alternative. Low-tech relates to a different

perception of architecture — not as objects,

but as a process; alternative approach to

the building process — not specialization, but

co-operation; and an innovative way of us-

ing architecture — cohousing. The low-tech

movement, however, is subject to many

threats, both external (institutional and legal)

and, unfortunately, also internal. The tenden-

cy of low-tech architects to create small en-

closed circles of people sceptical about the

scientific and industrial worlds is one of the

threats. The narcissism of hi-tech might coex-

ist with the narcissism of low-tech. Such a sit-

uation could hamper the popularisation of

valuable solutions that promote sustainability

in architecture.

lincoln university

architect

Challenges of low-tech

40

COHABITAT GATHERING

reflection

AndrzejMłynarczyk

g.e.n.eco designer

He studied agriculture, sociology and design at Fine Arts Academy in Gdansk. He complet-ed Alternative Design in Folkecenter Thy in Denmark in permaculture, in biological sewege treatment, biobuilding and acquiring renewa-ble energy. He’s a member of G.E.N. — the Glo-bal Ecovillage Network and he’s taken part in forming a few eco-communities in Europe. He’s supporting a few such projects in Poland. He settled in the alternative artistic enclave

“Dąbrówka” in the Village near Lublin. He’s been running a permaculture garden for a dozen of years, in which place he holds workshops once a year.

There’s no place for part to whole relation in

a holistic perception of the world. Through

exceeding rational cognition we start acting

from wholeness, from one’s heart — without

dividing and assessing and categorizing. The

world becomes our friendly shared domain

where nothing and no one is excluded. We

support life, development, shared activity, we

free ourselves of fear as there’s nothing to

oppose, nothing to fear in the awareness of

wholeness.

The sphere of thought and intellect, when

it’s subjected by the dictates of heart, finds

positive ways and harmonious creative so-

lutions for joy and shared good. Greed and

cupidity disappear. If our ego is an illusion,

then all aims we think up are the illusion as

well. We become calmer and more humble

when realizing it. We allow nature, the Great

Mother, to meet all our existential needs.

We don’t exploit the earth, just the opposite

— we can make it flourish, we can live in gar-

dens rather than concrete cages of urban es-

tates that keep sickly and frustrated people

being the slaves of rational and logical sys-

tem of hierarchy and violence.

The Zero Zone - how your perception can change the world you live in.

41reflection

RobertPalusiński

Robert Palusiński, a president of Deep Democ-racy Foundation, facilitator, trainer, coach and psychotherapist trained in the process-oriented psychology. A team member of the Academy of Process-oriented Psychology. In the years 1998 - 2002 he studied at the Research Socie-ty for Process Oriented Psychology in Zurich. A translator and author. Conducts training, facil-ity groups, meetings, decision-making process-es, meetings; social activities with groups or in-dividuals of social exclusion.

In a traditional democracy, by voting “re-

mains” minority which “loses” the vote. This

creates a minority of overt or covert opposi-

tion. Alternative communities created in the

60s and 70s of the twentieth century have

sought to develop a way to agree a decision,

which would eliminate the marginalisation of

minority votes. Usually it was a painful and

often ineffective way of trial and error. How-

ever, these experiments were not in vain. Sev-

eral methods, which are in use by hundreds

of members of intentional communities

and eco-villages around the world were de-

veloped. These are for example: sociocracy,

decision making by consensus and deep

democracy.

Deep democracy is an approach success-

fully used in Findhorn Ecovillage- one of the

oldest existing communities and eco-villag-

es around the world. The deep democracy

creates a space in which every vote, opin-

ion, attitude or value are equally important.

Opposite views are included (inclusion) and

treated as favorably influencing innovation

with a potential (as a hidden knowledge), on

the overall implementation of the decision.

deep democracy foundation

coach

Optimal and sustainable ways of decision making in intentional communities and ecovillages.

COHABITAT GATHERING2011

creative manager: Paweł Sroczyński p.sroczynski@cohabitat.net

partnerships: Agnieszka Orzechowskaagnieszka.orzechowska@undp.org

media contact: Wojciech Owczarzakwowczarzak@gmail.com

translations: Martyna Płokarzpl.martyna@gmail.com

Mariusz Sarnicki sarnicki.lux1974@gmail.com

graphic design and typesetting:Martyna Bargielmartynabargiel@gmail.com

many thanks to:Maciej Jagielak, Monika Sierakowska, Maciej Reimann, Łukasz Nowacki, Bartek Spławski

patronage:

partners:

organizers: GRUPA COHABITAT