I'm making a smaller installation for SupportPakistan

At the moment I got a happy task from Caroline at Engineers Without Borders, which makes me feel I can contribute on a minor scale for a major project. It is to make a small installation in the same dimensions as the bigger houses, to be shown in TV and on stands. And if I had the money, I'd travel down to Pakistan immediately and help them out! They are planning to set up some hundred thousands of this straw bale house below, to shelter people in the cold mountains during the winter. This installation by the way, is making its way to danish tv-stations very soon to be presented, and it is to show the people donating money where their money goes. I think many people like this project, because it is so specific and practical. I am happy that they are getting more publicity to collect more money for this important project of theirs.

Eco in Denmark: The green sculpture at Aarhus Festival !

On September 4th, I went on daytrip to The Aarhus Festival, an annual celebration of the city and its growth and expansion in primarily cultural and social directions. Aarhus in Denmark is a city known for its cultural design, in which for instance norwegian city Drammen (one of my hometowns, and which has become very famous for its expansion in "city wellness" and moving from industrial city into cultural city) has its inspiration from on cultural developement and city infrastructure strategies (at least from what I learned at Cultural Admin- studies in Telemark University College in '08).

Aarhus has now become, very similar to Drammen, enormously proud of their social togetherness. Culture, we must not forget, is very connected to environment and, individual. Cultural design, is based on knowing that there is "culture" everywhere when there is more than one person in the same environment making a task. So, you might say, pride is also a result of togetherness-structure, and not necessarily a human individual feeling. Even though, no one can take away your feel of liberty when walking down a clean car-free street and with your hands full of money, shoppingbags or an ice cream. But, the point is that the ice cream, and the shoppingbag, and your money, is not in your pocket at all - they're designed to be in the area of the cultural infrastructural design that somebody created as a city.



A storytelling tent, an art installation with light design inside



What this has to do with ecology? Quite alot. City developement tells alot about ecology, in fact it is just flagship by flagship structuring our feeling of not only togetherness, but mostly freedom and simple living. The feeling of being completely free of duties and mess, and with planted trees among roundabouts and little plastic lakes popping up here and there. It is simply designed after your heartbeat. And, very much in the time of this time. The green times.

Aarhus has got it at least in the sentence of knowing, except from being just another town. And here is their proud sculpture:

The text zoomed-in on the green sculpture of Aarhus

The text on this sculpture says: "The Green Pavillion" - With this unique sculpture, Skykon A/S wishes to signify Aarhus' green image. The Green Pavillion is developed in a sensational material of bio degradability consisting of soya beans, cork, flax and corn in material, which will contribute on a major scale in developing new equipment for composite production in the wind mill industry. A pleasure for all of us. You might touch this sculpture!"

The green thing was standing on a grass field in the section called ParallellUniverse Festival, a music concert area of free entrance sa part of the Aarhus Festival, supporting fair football as well as upcoming artists. I could listen to some very nice electronica by Dj Foxfire, a very good one I must say! The danish are some hiphopper-gangsta-lovers.:) The fair football included people passing by to join. There was also a FairTrade-shop for coffee and drinks with volunteers working. A nice section, too.

Reading corner, free seats and concert scene

Eco in Denmark: Brushing some lime plaster on walls

In the first few days here at Friland, I started as mentioned with whitewashing (or not clearly), more specifically mixing and painting with lime plaster on the external walls at my host. It was both a lesson in building stairs to reach the upper levels of the wall as well as climbing them, and of course this very simple technique. The cal is calcium carbonate, which is a chemical form of calcium hydroxide and sand, where water is added 4 times 1 to make the plaster slake. The result after brushing is below:

House's wall before lime plaster



Voila! A completely white, bright house!:)

Eco in Denmark: Sailboat ride and black dolphins!

On September 2nd, a crew from Friland went on boat ride from Ebeltoft harbor, to move the sailboat from one location to another. It was beautiful weather and with my hidden enthusiasm for boats there was not a chance I would stay on land. On the boat was the two older men who owns it, three inhabitants of Friland (Morten,Cathrine and little Birk), and three wwoofers (from Switzerland,Australia and Spain). The humor was high, the food alittle unprepared and improvised, and we kept talking about everything from philosophy to real practical ecology, world unity, the value of wwoofing and energy from constructions. Well worth the trip, also for the less shallow conversations. To our happy surprise, we spotted two black dolphins swimming and jumping pretty far from the boat! We couldn't capture them on camera, as they seemed to leave, but through spyglasses we could see them clearly. Dolphins are able to swim along the boats as the social creatures they are, but hopefully we can see them again one time.

Birk and his cool viking-costume

To float is to move sustainably

Eco in Denmark: Arriving at ecovillage Friland, Djursland



Boat ride on Sept 2nd in a 4 hour sail with other wwoofers and hosts.

About time for some updates. Arriving at "Friland" (Freeland) in Djursland on August 30th and now it is the 5th of September, and many exciting things are going on here already. Right now, I am at the fantasy house of Einer's, who cannot stand squares -so all his equipment and house is formed un-square (soon to be uploaded!), and my previous host until September 4th, was Caroline and Tahir from Pakistan as posted below in the supportlink. 

Arriving at ecovillage Friland, I first started whitewashing the outside wall of my host with calc and water mixed, to cover the brownish straw bales. The house also hosted a kitchen garden, as Friland stribes to become a hundred percent self-sustained as households. Their goals are pretty ambitious, both self-sustained, but also free from all loans. And most of them, has houses and area built for less than 300.000 DKK, which includes material. There is about 100.000 for material, and 200.000 for VVS,watersupply and common area costs. The host I first arrived to is on phase 2 of Friland, which means they are houses in building after phase 1 is almost finished. Phase 3 is in planning, and right now I am just gazing at the open yellow field there. Even though there are plenty more "fantasy buildings" here than at Fri & Fro in Odsherred where I was at first, I'd say I am still waiting for that badass hippie, and most of those who came here are simply average danish families, mostly with first-born children, often from the city and tired of the noices there, and the big wavy skirts and rasta-hairdos are still nowhere to be seen... hmm. Surprising, even here.

My current host's greenhouse, where I am working