ECO tour UK -BI's version

On wed (16.04.08) morning, FE, IR, AB and me visited the exhibition at the Sommerset House. It shows activities carried in a London area to raise awareness about environmental planning initiatives. It has an appealing presentation designed to bring the visitors nearer from the experience of developing the city under such principles. I don’t see contents that I have not seen before, but they touch my emotions. Discussing about the relative importance of integrating all aspects of sustainability, FE stresses the risk of remaining at the surface of technological possibilities while I think we have not reached real integration yet.

In the afternoon we visited the BedZED, which I had been promoting the last three years. It’s clean and well marketed. Visiting the house makes me feel I could happily live there, but the absence of community life and the sincere limitations in environmental and water as well as public space matters make me think it can be done much better. On the other hand, the value of the built experience is worth the visit, makes the effort of realization closer to my possibilities.

On thu morning AB, IR and me visited the Ecohouse, where a very detailed explanation brought a big contrast to the rather poor one we got at the BedZED. Local, low profiled, self-made permacultural and landscaping experiences were beautifully brought together at a small scale, with refurbishment solutions and a clear educational commitment. As a result, the place makes sense and shows a humble but very positive output.

On the afternoon we went to the Brocks hill centre, made for demonstration purposes. It includes an outstanding bioclimatic design and many appliances to gain energy from all renewable resources. Very children friendly, nice café and several meeting facilities with a wide and general programme. A huge park around with exploring games and forestry and gardening recovery activities. Places for bird and landscape watching. Actually, beautiful, but makes you wonder if such investment is worth.

On the show room of the center we did several dynamics to fix priorities among vectors of sustainability and get their inner connections. Using the brain, but also the body and the senses, we gave colours, forms, emotions and weight to the vectors. One was left as we run sort of time: governance. On the following night I had a dream: the walls of a church were decorated with frescoes explaining the vectors and its content. It was displayed a bit as a via crucis, esthetically appealing, balanced, integrated in the built space. Then time started running and age came to the walls and frescoes. Coatings and support materials cracked and got stained and dirty. Repairs were done more or less gently. Type fonts were substituted and some of the vectors were changed in place or words. Rust and dust and decay came upon them until you couldn’t read last two, community and sustainability. And temporary posters were hanged over the originals, printed in ordinary paper, tasteless but recovering the message.

We had travelled to Shrewsbury, where we enjoyed dinner at an Indian restaurant. We packed early to Ludlow, were Colin Richards was expecting us at the conservation office of South Shropshire county.

Fri morning was spent chatting with him about their experiences involving community in heritage management. This was coupled with environmental care and local economic promotion. We had a walk to see these effects on the place and the people and impressions showed a healthy life up there. Urban set up was fantastic and nature around even better. Social life seemed vibrant and both traditions and innovation alive. We also talked about our jobs and how to exchange knowledge and vision and empower people through best practices. After meeting several chairmen of the most varied associations we came back to the office and pick the planning officer for a visit outside. In the pic, how to put a modern toilet inside a VXI century church.

The afternoon took us to three sustainable developments: Craven arms, Bishops Castle and the Living village. Each one surpassed the former visits in terms of its effects on quality of life and resulting life style. Scale and approach was closer and closer to the persons living there and care of the built and natural environment more and more effective.

Craven arms is a 20 social ecohousing project, very blue and simple, affordable and immediate, without great ambitions, next to the train station, for the workers of the area. Is not specially nice looking nor extremely energy efficient, but it gains warmth, light and electricity from the sun and allows a very low carbon life style. It works.

The living village is a private initiative slowly growing to 50 units in a lovely hilly set up, with shared allotments and public spaces. Building standards are very high but well balanced, not technology driven, but rather common sense and focused on the comfort of the residents. Still, their complain is complicated maintenance. It felt cousy and homely, familiar, free, healthy, effective. We even had the luck to meet Bob the foreman who talked about values and ethos.

IG and me said farewell to AB on her train to Southhampton as we headed back to London. On the train we still finished the homework we had started at the cafe on the M&S: what we have done and how did it feel.

Beautiful trip. Intense. Enriching.

for another kind of version of the tour, check the upcoming cutrevideos.