Andrew Mark Ensor 2007 Diploma Architecture: Dissertation University of Westminster, London Supporting www.creativecommons.org

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Abstract Is it through the technological instrumentalisation of our landscape that mankind has alienated itself from the natural world from where it came? How would it be possible to re-engage with Nature from the midst of our alienated landscapes? Climate change has been acclaimed as mankind’s greatest long term challenge. The reality of this threat is increasing year on year, with an annual death toll in the thousands. We realise we have disturbed Gaia, and that action needs to be taken but it would seem that the course of action is unclear. Is it possible that our direction is unclear because we have lost touch with nature and ourselves though alienation, as described by Marx? Hegel illustrates the elusive, paradoxical subject of Nature and leaves us wondering whether the human Spirit is part of nature, or alien to her. Matters are further complicated if we consider nature has a Spirit too, as suggested by Lovelock’s Gaia Theory. Our course of action seems to hinge on this unanswerable riddle. This essay sets out to discuss the issues influencing our advanced capitalist society, to shed light on the cause of this dislocation of perspective towards our position within nature. Drawing on the writings of James Carrier and Martin Heidegger, this essay will consider the influence of our landscape and environment – natural and otherwise – and plot its influence upon our behaviour, as we build up towards an ever more alienated existence from our natural environment. After examining historic examples of cultures in search of the human Spirit presaged in Nature, I will then identify key activities attempting to turn the tide of this form of alienation. In particular the quasi-activist group in London, the ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’. This essay then concludes by contemplating the long term future of the movement, and its possible outcomes, towards an existence engaging with the concept of Nature.

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Contents

Abstract……………………………………………………. iii List of Illustration………………………………………..... vii Acknowledgments………………………………………… viii Why all the Worry Over Global Warming?......................... 1

Our Greatest Threat? Common Sense

Nature…………………………………………………….. 7

The World We Perceive What is Nature? All Life on Earth

Landscape of Engagement…………………………..……. 15

Positive and Negative Feedback Our Landscape In Choosing a Natural Landscape In Choosing a Technological Landscape

Alienation…………………………………………………. 21

The disembodiment of the Spectator and Spectacle An Alienated Viewpoint

Spirit and Nature………………………………………….. 25

Presaged in Spirit; Presaged in Nature Natural Farming Man and Nature Connected

Digging in the City………………………………………… 34

Emerging from the Belly of the Beast Cultivating our Landscape Guerrilla Gardeners Civil Disobedience Dig for Victory

Bibliography……………………………………………..... 49 Appendix………………………………………………….. 55

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List of Illustrations

Front Cover: Beard, K. Beetle on circuit board

Image 1, What problem: Hurricane Katrina Satelite

Image 2, Nature: Adastra, Earth and Stars

Image 3, Landscape & Engagement: Merandon, T.Cyborg

Image 4, Alienation: Flach, T. Businessman looking out window,

forest view repeated on laptop

Image 5, Spirit and Nature: Saquar , J.L. Sunlight shining through

misty woodland

Image 6, Digging in the City: Luedke & Sparrow. Mature man bent

over shovelling earth in garden

Image 7, CPULs: Viljoen, A. & Bohn, K. CPULS Plate 8

Image 8, Guerrilla Gardening New Cross: Reynolds, R. & Ensor, A.

Image 9, Mayday 2000 Parliament Square: Renee, L.

Image 10, Where has it gone: Veiga, L. London Skyline

Back Cover Image: Ministry of Agriculture. Dig for Victory.

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Regards to gardeners: digging, planting and sowing in the city.

To those who, instead of grumbling and shouting at the

television, get out on the street and do something about it,

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Why all the worry over global warming? It seems to me that,

with the current massive gas price increases, we should welcome a

reduction in the need to switch on the heating. Also, if it leads to

more polar ice melting, then great! That will mean more fresh water

available to fill our reservoirs. What’s the problem?1

A reader’s letter in London’s Metro newspaper

1 Trumper, J. Catastrophe? Bah! The Metro 16 March 2006

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Our Greatest Threat?

With the fairly recent death of Bob Hunter,2 co-founding activist of the global environmental group

Greenpeace,3 it almost seems ironic to hear James Lovelock's apocalyptic view on climate change:

‘We are past the point of no return,’4 in The Independent newspaper eight months later. The

synchronous nature of these two events, coincidental as they may seem, raises a great number of

questions as to what went wrong. Did Hunter fail? Was the message not heard? Why did the masses

not listen? 'We are in our present mess through our intelligence and inventiveness'5, continues

Lovelock, atmospheric physicist and ex-NASA scientist6. Like drug addicts, we have ignored the

warnings and the “inconvenient truth”: is it possible that the path we thought would lead us to peace,

strength and stability has locked us into the downfall of society as we know it?

The threat of climate change hardly needs reiterating; it is accepted in most nations that climate

change is a man-made crisis. However, under the Bush administration, the USA has only recently

accepted that man-made actions are the cause of global warming; 7 their delayed acceptance led

America to infamously fail to ratify the Kyoto Treaty.8 Chat shows, newscasts, podcasts, movies,

newspapers and magazines across the western world and beyond are raising the green question; “How

are we going to get out of this mess?” on virtually a daily basis. The proposition of rising sea levels9,

backed up by constant stories of melting ice caps10, glaciers11, sea ice12 and increased flooding13,

leaves little to the imagination; particularly for those who suffer the trauma of annual flood damage

and the expensive residue of hikes in household insurance left when the tides subside. Rises in sea

level and a mean temperature increase are predicted to disrupt weather patterns leading to an increase

in hurricanes, explaining the ferocity of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.14 Katrina gave us a taste of the

economic and social devastation that is likely if climate change is not addressed. US oil prices

spiralled15 as the New Orleans refinery was flooded along with the rest of the city; leaving a tragic

scene of destruction in its wake. Social degradation, debauchery and anarchy prevailed as gangs,

2 Vidal, J. The Original Mr Green The Guardian 04 May 2005 3 Greenpeace is an environmental NGO founded in 1971, whose funding is entirely though individual donations. The organisation was

started after a small group of environmentally concerned Americans took to the sea in a barely sea-worthy trawler to position themselves in a nuclear testing zone in the Pacific Ocean. This attracted great media coverage and prevented the bomb from being tested. This initial direct action was to be a model for Greenpeace’s ethos of non-violent direct action to highlight environmental injustices. [ibid.]

4 McCarthy , M. Environment in Crisis: 'We are past the point of no return' The Independent 16 January 2006 5 Lovelock, J. The Revenge of Gaia London: Penguin 2006 p6 6 Orrell, D. Gaia Theory: Science of the Living Earth [online] http://www.gaianet.fsbusiness.co.uk/gaiatheory.html [accessed 25 October

2006] 7 Townsend, M. & Harris, P. Now the Pentagon tells Bush: climate change will destroy us The Guardian 22 February 2004 8 Karon, T. When it Comes to Kyoto, the U.S. is the "Rogue Nation" Time 24 July 2001 9 Lovgren , S. Warming to Cause Catastrophic Rise in Sea Level? National Geographic News 26 April 2004 10 Highfield, R. Arctic ice cap 'will disappear within the century' The Telegraph 05 October 2005 11 Lean, G. Cracking up: Ice turning to water, glaciers on the move - and a planet in peril The Independent 22 October 2006 12 Milmo, C. Polar bears' hunting season threatened by break-up of ice sheet The Independent 15 September 2006 13 Smith, L. Flood threat 'puts cities at risk of becoming Britain's New Orleans' The Times 23 August 2006 14 Henderson, M. Global warming linked to increase of hurricanes The Times 16 September 2005 15 Healey, J. Storm worsens oil, gas problems USA Today 29 August 2005

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violence and looting16 became the fabric of the new social structure, with citizens liberated from the

watchful eye of the Louisiana judicial system.

Apart from those directly affected by these disasters, the rest of the world watches while sitting

comfortably in front of our television screens in the warmth and safety of our living rooms. The

similarity of these disasters to scenes from movies and video games could enable us to detach

ourselves from the reality of these terrible events, rendering the devastation as mere background

wallpaper to our daily lives. The implications of climate change are devastating, as demonstrated in

the flooding in Bangladesh in 2004; how could one safeguard against the strength of natural forces?

The increased frequency of these disasters could send our economic system into collapse which is a

thought maybe too incomprehensible for most. Tony Blair has announced that climate change is the

greatest long term threat facing mankind17, while the World Health Organisation has quoted that one-

hundred-and-fifty-thousand people died as a direct result of climate change during the year 2000;18 a

figure not including indirect deaths. Climate change is serious, so why do so few of us treat it with the

seriousness that it demands?

Common Sense

The greenhouse effect was first considered in 1824 by Joseph Fourier and later quantified by Svante

Arrhenius in 189619 in his paper: On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature

of the Ground. In this essay, Arrhenius demonstrates a connection between the carbon dioxide content

of the atmosphere and the warming of the planet, since the atmosphere acts like the ‘glass of a hot-

house’.20 However, it was not until 1971,21 nearly one-hundred-and-fifty years after Fourier’s first

insights, that the environmental organisation Greenpeace was founded by Bob Hunter and friends,

reflecting a growing concern towards the way our society has developed creating a damaging effecting

on both humanity and the environment.

With all this compelling evidence mounting up, indicating the extent of mankind's impact on the

planet – let alone common sense and a wealth of traditional wisdom ingrained in our belief systems –

why then is it that the majority of people do not acknowledge the importance of Nature, and our

inseparable symbiotic relationship with it? Furthermore, among the fraction of the population who are

conscious of these issues, why do so few actually act on this information? This essay sets out to

discuss the issues influencing our advanced capitalist society to shed light on the cause of this

dislocation of perspective towards our position within nature. This essay does not attempt to determine 16 Jonsson, P. Katrina Survivors Combat Looting CBS News 28 March 2006 17 Tempest, M. Blair Faces the Liaison Commitee The Guardian 03 February 2004 18 World Health Organisation, Climate Change [online] WHO 2000 http://www.who.int/heli/risks/climate/climatechange/ [accessed 23

October 2006] 19 Wikipedia Greenhouse Effect [online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_effect [accessed 25 October 2006] 20 Arrhenius, S. On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground Philosophical Magazine 41, (237-276)

pi 1896 21 Greenpeace International The History of Greenpeace

[online] http://www.greenpeace.org [accessed 25 October 2006]

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the reason for the failing of mankind, as important a subject as this is to consider – that is the job for

philosophy, theology and individual contemplation. Many writers have attempted to address the ‘fall’,

with the inevitable conclusion coming to rest upon self-interest and greed. It could be appropriate to

cast a blanket accusation of such a nature on this subject, suggesting that we adopt a more primitive

lifestyle – as concluded by Freud22 – but this would provide little discussion for an architectural essay.

In a more productive and architecturally-directed manner, this essay will consider the influence of our

landscape and environment, natural and otherwise, and plot its influence upon our behaviour as

urbanisation builds up towards an evermore alienated existence from our natural environment. I will

then identify key activities attempting to turn the tide of this form of alienation, in particular the quasi-

activist group in London, the ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’. This essay then concludes by contemplating the

long term future of the movement, and its possible outcomes, towards an existence engaging with the

concept of Nature.

To hypothesize: is it through the technological instrumentalisation of our landscape that mankind has

alienated itself from the natural world from where it came? Would this trajectory lead us towards a

point at which we might no longer recognise nature as our beginning? Would this sense of alienation

exacerbate reluctance to act, as the significance of our environmental predicament becomes

increasingly misunderstood? How would it be possible to re-engage with Nature from the midst of our

alienated landscapes? And furthermore, from the depths of our misunderstanding – why would we

want to re-engage?

The extent of change we make to our lifestyle can only represent our understanding of the wider and

deeper issues surrounding the philosophy of nature. The Finnish word for city (kaupunki) is a

derivative for the verb to trade (kauppa), immediately indicating the priority of the inhabitants. It

could be argued that if we truly understood the importance and value of nature we would truly live in

harmony with it. William Golding, speaking about Lovelock’s theories, commented that ‘scientists [in

common with over half of the world’s population23] are usually condemned to lead urban lives, but I

find that country people still living close to the earth often seem puzzled that anyone should need to

make a formal proposition of anything as obvious as the Gaia hypothesis. For them it is true and

always has been.’24

22 Freud, S. & Strachey, J. Civilization and Its Discontents New York: W W Norton & Co 2005 p91 23 United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Urban and Rural Areas 2003 UN [online] 2004

http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications [accessed 29 December 2006] 24 Lovelock, J. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth Oxford: Oxford University Press 2000 p10

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The World We Perceive

The relationship between mankind and the environment that we exist in is an elusive topic of study,

providing no clear definition or conclusive boundary. Our window into our surrounding environment

depends upon an abundance of influences. Any statement that a reputable study can produce can only

be speculative with respect to the author’s own individual interpretation of his or her relationship with

nature; i.e. representative of any one point in time framed by a forever evolving cultural and social

background. It has been commented that the ‘way we perceive the world around us is not uniform for

all people at all times, but rather each of us sees it in his or her own way.’25

Prior to the emergence of science as a subject of study, and arguably a modern day religion, our belief

systems were represented and understood through religion. Both these belief systems –science and

religion – have given societies a stringent set of guidelines to follow, which would have been passed

down from generation to generation in written and vocal form. Essentially, because world religions

have evolved from different cultures, experiences and geographical locations, so too do cultural

attitudes differ towards the concept of nature. Western society has an inherent Christian background

which influences our collective attitudes towards nature. ‘To the Christian [Nature] was interpreted as

the world freshly created and, as far as human life was concerned, man before the Fall’.26 Science sees

nature as a series of events to be described; with the doctrine of mathematics being the language of

nature it could almost be said that science is the natural religion. However, the ideal of science is the

complete objectification and ‘as far as is possible, the elimination of the human equation.’27‘The

Buddhist perception of nature in Japan approached two essential techniques for fulfilling the goal of

enlightenment …the contemplation of paradise in symbolic creation and physical involvement.’28 This

involves asceticism and pilgrimage, requiring extended periods of time in engagement with ‘pure

land’. For example; the ‘marathon monks’ of Mount Hiei undertook extraordinarily grueling tasks by

running nearly forty-thousand miles in one thousand consecutive days up and down the mountain.

This is followed by a death-defying nine-day fasting of food, drink and sleep. Having survived this

feat, they finish by running for a further three-hundred days. This engagement with themselves and the

landscape is said to endow them with profound illuminations in search of enlightenment.

25 Redman, C. Human Impact on Ancient Environments Arizona: University of Arizona Press 1999 p6 26 Boas, G. Nature Dictionary of the History of Ideas, University of Virginia [online] 2003 http://etext.lib.virginia.edu [accessed 07 July

2006] 27 Boas, G. Nature Dictionary of the History of Ideas, University of Virginia [online] 2003 http://etext.lib.virginia.edu [accessed 07 July

2006] 28 Tobias, M. A Vision of Nature Kent: Kent State University Press 1995 p91

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Nature confronts us a riddle and a problem, whose

solution both attracts and repels us: attracts us, because Spirit

is presaged in Nature; repels us, because Nature seems an alien

existence in which the Spirit does not find itself. 29 G.F. Hegel

29 Miller, A. Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature Oxford: Oxford University Press 1970 p3

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What is Nature?

In his statement in the introduction to his famous paper Philosophy of Nature, G.F. Hegel highlights

the paradoxical nature of the concept of ‘Nature’. He suggests that the Spirit is both presaged in

Nature, while also deity alien to Nature. His statement entirely revolves around a belief in the

existence of the human ‘Spirit’, which in turn evokes questions of religion and further more the

elusive study of the relationship of the human ‘Spirit’ and the physical body. This paradox is also

considered by Blaise Pascal; ‘But what is nature? For is custom not natural? I am much afraid that

nature is itself only a first custom, as custom is a second nature.’30

It could be argued that on one hand, with the Spirit being presaged in Nature, anything the human

spirit applies itself to is Nature itself, thus the idea of trying to act naturally or obeying nature’s law is

a nonsense, and any hypothesis sympathetic to reconnecting with nature is fundamentally flawed from

the outset. Marshall McLuhan proposed in his book The Medium is the Message, that everything we

fabricate is an extension of our body; e.g. cloths are an extension of the skin, and a spade is an

extension of hands and feet.31 In other words, Spirit and Nature are inseparable. However, if this is the

case, it would suggest that the human Spirit is governed by fate and does not possess the liberty of free

choice. This attitude could lead to an ethos devoid of right or wrong as it would suggest that whatever

action one takes is part of Nature’s binding law. One could go on to consider murder as a part of

Nature – although few juries would accept this as a defense, and the convict might have to accept a life

sentence while still considering this to be fate. Returning to the first side of Hegel’s statement; if the

human Spirit is presaged in Nature – suggesting that Nature is our default primitive state – and we

believe that we hold the liberty of free choice, it would seem our present state has arisen from a

number of wrong choices in disagreement with the Spirit. It could be suggested that if we followed our

Spirit then perhaps we would be both physically and spiritually presaged in Nature?

The counter-side of Hegel’s paradox suggests that Spirit is alien to Nature. Again, this in turn brings

up another paradox. If the human Spirit is alien from Nature, then anything the human Spirit applies

itself to is not natural; although what could be more natural than breathing, sheltering, foraging or

migrating? As Hegel writes, ‘need impels us to turn nature to our advantage, to exploit and harness.’32

Our alien relationship to Nature could explain why human action has tended to pursue evasion of

Nature’s binding rhythms through our use of technology. The house remains clean and hygienic

inside, while outside is seemingly chaotic and dirty. Evolving from the realms of science fiction lays a

desire as extreme as evasion of old age, and ultimately death – both part and parcel of Nature’s cycles;

what could be more alien? In turn, attempting to act naturally becomes a logical statement but acting 30 Pascal, B. Pensées Christian Classics Ethereal Library [online] 2005

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/pascal/pensees.iii.html [accessed 18 December 2006] 31 Kappelman, T. Marshall McLuhan: "The Medium is the Message" LeadershipU [online] 2001

http://www.leaderu.com/orgs/probe/docs/mcluhan.html [accessed 28 December 2006] 32 Hegel, G.F. Hegel’s Philosophy of Nature Vol 1 London: Rouledge 1970 p194

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naturally would be alien. ‘What could be more paradoxical than the attempt to restore nature …by

means which are wholly dependent on human interference?’33 Achieving a natural relationship with

Nature, to any degree of perfection, would be entirely impossible as we could only ever hope to make

blind or naïve attempts at this.

This essay makes no attempt to prove or disprove the existence of the human Spirit, fate or their

relationship with the physical environment. ‘The question, “what is nature?” can always be asked and

never completely answered.’34 It does however attempt to highlight and consider the disregard for the

physical environment, and bring to the discussion glimpses of cultures and ideas in which the human

Spirit has presaged in Nature, but also cases in which the human Spirit is alienated from Nature.

All Life on Earth

James Lovelock’s Gaia theory presents an interesting interplay with Hegel’s paradox. Lovelock

indicates on a number of occasions his understanding of Gaia as a living organism.35 He argues that it

possesses all the tell-tale signs of a living organism, but because of her sheer size we find it

incomprehensible. His description could lead one to wonder whether Gaia possesses a Spiritual aspect

as well.

Lovelock was trained as an atmospheric physicist, and was employed by NASA during the 1960’s to

devise a means of determining the existence of life on Mars. Lovelock approached the project by

examining how one would determine the existence of life on Earth. He considered that life would only

exist in the presence of energy with tell-tale entropic signs. For entropy to reduce there needed to be

some kind of conveyor medium; transferring energy from life form to life form, such as soil, the

oceans or the atmosphere. Energy traces would be left in these mediums altering their chemical

makeup leaving a volatile composition. Mars has no oceans and an inert atmosphere indicating a dead

planet: unwelcome news for the space research programme.36

Gaia – named after the Greek Earth goddess – draws on cybernetic theory, suggesting that all life on

Earth is part of a grand non-linear feedback system. The theory proposes that Gaia regulates her

climate to be fit for life,37 in the same way that our body sweats when too hot, and shivers when too

cold; regulating our temperature at the optimum level of 37.5ºC. After further research, Lovelock

uncovered a great number of these systems, where organisms manipulate their immediate environment

in minute ways, but collectively creating the fine balance that enables life to exist on Earth. In this

sense Gaia is alive – an idea ringing true with the spiritually aware, corresponding to interpretations of 33 Habgood, J. The Concept of Nature London: Darton, Longman & Todd 2002 p5334 Hegel G.F. Philosophy of Nature Vol 1 London: Rouledge 1970 p194 35 Lovelock, J. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth Oxford: Oxford University Press 1979 pxii 36 ibid. pp1-7 37 Orrell, D. Gaia Theory: Science of the Living Earth [online] http://www.gaianet.fsbusiness.co.uk [accessed 25 October 2006]

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Mother Nature and God. While still viewed as controversial, Lovelock’s Gaia Theory is valued

because it has inspired new debate, experiment and understanding of Earth and our environmental

predicament.38 As new evidence is uncovered, and data collected, it seems as though Lovelock’s

prophetic view is becoming true. Spiritual or not, the planet is warming up, and becoming warmer at a

progressively alarming rate. If one part of the control variables in a negative feedback system becomes

defunct, then Gaia will lock into a positive feedback meltdown; no longer regulating itself, but

amplifying the outcome – the result is fever.

Ocean algae systems that affected climate change by pumping down carbon dioxide

and made clouds …as the carbon dioxide abundance approaches 500ppm, regulation

began to fail and there was a sudden upwards jump in temperature. The cause was the

failure of the ocean ecosystem. As the world grew warm, the algae were denied nutrients

by the expanding warm surface of the oceans, until eventually they became extinct. As the

area of ocean covered by algae grew smaller, their cooling effect diminished and the

temperature surged upwards. 39

‘Climate change “irreversible” as Arctic sea ice fails to re-form’,40 reads a recent newspaper headline.

‘Albedo’ feedback observes that snow reflects almost all sunlight falling on it. As the snow melts, it

leaves uncovered ground, which absorbs the sun’s heat – thus melting the ice and amplifying the

problem. One would assume that there are an unquantifiable large number of positive feedback

systems that are as yet undiscovered. While albedo feedback draws on basic physics principles,

Lovelock demonstrates a number of complex systems, at both micro and macro scales, whose

contribution to global warming initiate at different stages of warming – once positive feedback has

begun their contribution will become inevitable. For example, the frozen peat bogs in Siberia contain

solidified methane. These bogs total an equal land area to that of France and Germany combined. As

the bogs thaw out up to 70bn tonnes of methane will be released into the atmosphere. Current global

warming predictions are based on current emissions and do not consider the idea of additional

greenhouse gas reservoirs becoming opened up and released into the atmosphere. Methane is 20 times

more powerful a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide and scientist believe these climate change sinks

will lead to a 10-25% increase in global warming, once melted. The thawing process has already

begun.41

38 Lovelock, J. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth Oxford: Oxford University Press 1979 p10 39 Lovelock, J. The Revenge of Gaia London: Penguin 2006 p32 40 Conner, S. Climate change 'irreversible' as Arctic sea ice fails to re-form The Independent 14 March 2006 41 Sample, I. Warming hits ‘tipping point’ The Guardian 11 August 2005

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If we don't take action very soon, we could unleash runaway global warming that will be beyond our control and it will lead to social, economic and environmental devastation worldwide… There's still time to take action, but not much.42

Tony Juniper, Friends of the Earth

42 ibid.

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Positive and Negative Feedback

If we are part of Gaia and our surroundings are also, this puts a new perspective on the way we relate

to the natural environment, and the landscape we inhabit, emphasizing our symbiotic relationship.

While it is easy to observe our influence on the external environment, the extent to which our external

environment influences us is perhaps not so apparent. The environmental psychologists Andrew Baum

and Stuart Valins back up this idea of external influence on our lives: ‘Our behaviour is a product of

the physical and social environments that we inhabit.’43 In 1997 Baum and Valins performed a

detailed study into the arrangement of student accommodation and its effects on their behaviour. By

comparing two types of accommodation, firstly a ‘corridor’ style layout, resembling a series of

regimented cells, and secondly a ‘suite’ style layout, where a repeatable cluster is used comprising of

bedrooms arranged around a communal living room. The corridor layout predominantly isolated the

occupants, and provided little space for interaction. The occupants displayed little control over the

spaces, resulting in more undesired interactions and restricted the development of community and

collective ownership of the spaces. The suite layout maintained privacy, but also provided a gradient

between private and collective spaces. This aided the development of community and collective

ownership of the space, facilitating a higher level of control over the spaces resulting in more desired

interactions.44 Baum and Valins’ findings indicate that there is a strong connection with the

arrangement of space and the resident’s wellbeing and behaviour; in this case depression, course drop-

out rates, control over desired interactions and the formation of friendship groups and community.

Reading this in relation to Hegel’s paradox, it would suggest that on the one hand, if the human Spirit

presaged in Gaia, then our behaviour would be a product of Gaia – our environment. This would back

up Baum and Valins’ assertion and Lovelock’s Gaia theory, as our behaviour would be a

personification of Gaia’s negative feedback system. However, the question of the existence of fate

versus individual desire and ambition would still be unanswered. If freedom of choice were so, then it

would stand to reason that when presented with an action which defines Gaia, we have a choice to

comply or to follow our own will. Thus if the situation arose where we were becoming alienated from

Gaia, we would be out of touch with nature and would struggle to understand her – let alone maintain

her balance. One could also argue that if there were no free choice and all action is reaction to Gaia,

then the impending threat of climate chaos would crush society as we know it and balance would be

restored – completing the negative feedback loop. Again, on the counter side of Hegel’s paradox, if

the Spirit is alien to Gaia, understanding how to maintain the balance would be an objective in its own

right, and an alienated existence would further hinder achieving this.

Our Landscape

43 Baum, A. & Valins, S. Architecture and Social Behaviour Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum 1997 p19 44 ibid. p20-23

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Our landscape, as defined by Barbara Bender, is basically “the world out there’ as understood,

experienced, and engaged with through human consciousness and active involvement.’45 Could it be

these experiences and interactions that give our external environment meaning and relevance? These

experiences turn space into place. Christopher Tilley suggests that these interactions may

‘choreograph time and space and create a sense of belonging through assuming a particular material

form in which inhabitants both present themselves to others and present themselves to themselves.’46

Thus our landscape is provocateur for forming shared and individual experiences of identity and

community.

Similarly to the individual’s interpretation of nature, ‘even as experienced by a single person

[landscapes] are multiple and contradictory'47 and framed by our ever changing social and cultural

background. Taking into account that our landscape comprises of our experiences and interactions –

which shape our identity and behaviour – it becomes paramount to focus our attention on the material

which forms our landscape.

In Choosing Natural Landscapes

It would be difficult to dispute the mental and physical health benefits gained by spending time in the

countryside. Open space and the uninterrupted rhythm of the landscape provides a contrast from the

hustle and bustle of city life. A stronger sense of community is the typical picture painted of a relaxed

rural lifestyle. Clean air and rain, exercise and a healthy diet of fresh vegetables, and the cultivation of

plants and vegetables is known to have positive effects on well-being; this kind of physical and mental

stimulation is often described as therapeutic. Our landscape influences our state-of-mind; this in turn

influences our social interactions, which makes up our landscape. This self influencing circle results in

either a positive or a negative state-of-mind, suggesting that it would be beneficial to nurture a green

landscape

The relationship between psychological well-being and vegetation has never been proven

scientifically. However, the colour green, and a dappled light caused by a woodland canopy has been

suggested to encourage a less stressful state-of-mind. In a recent experiment by Virginia Lohr,

participants were asked to complete a simple computer task in a closed environment, with and without

the presence of house plants. Lohr’s results indicated a prolonged attention span and a reduction of

blood pressure when plants were present in the room.48 During the 1800s, although not uncommon to

present day attitudes, members of the Parisian bourgeoisie increasingly saw the rural landscape as

something to visit and value, leading to the rise of tourism.49 While the importance of being idle can

45 Tilley, C. Identity, Place, Landscape and Heritage Journal of Material Culture Vol. 11 (1/2) p7 2006 46 ibid. p14 47 Carrier, J. Mind, Gaze and Engagement Journal of Material Culture Vol. 8 (1) p 11 2003 48 Lohr, V. Interior plants may improve worker productivity and reduce stress in a windowless environment Washington State university

[online] http://www.plants-in-buildings.com/whyplantsstressreduction [accessed 30 December 2006] 49 Carrier, J. Mind, Gaze and Engagement Journal of Material Culture Vol. 8 (1) p 8 2003

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be imperative, the need to evade the city raises interest, particularly if this activity becomes

increasingly popular. This would suggest that the city is not providing everything to maintain an

optimum inhabitable environment. The arising value that the Parisians placed on the countryside, as a

self-gratifying tourist destination, indicates an increasing division between city and country. A

situation rebuked by Ebenezer Howard, who envisioned a ‘stable marriage between city and country,

not a weekend liaison.’50

In Choosing Technological Landscapes

With the march of development and technological progress, it could be considered that our landscape

of engagements, particularly in the urban environment, have become increasingly orientated around

the ‘unnatural’ material of the machine world. We wake up to the sound of an electronic dawn chorus,

prompting us to draw the curtains that protect us from sunrise. Stepping into the bathroom, we gain

access to all manner of technological brushing, spraying, washing, drying and hygiene gadgets

preventing micro-colonies of ‘nature’ from developing on our bodies. Into the kitchen for breakfast –

thankfully microwave ‘pop-tarts’ never caught on – we catch a glimpse of the morning news on the

television before climbing into the car to be transported to the office etcetera etcetera. This is a story

probably all too familiar to a large proportion of the developed world’s population. Our landscape is

immersed in technology. Even Blake referred to the “Satanic Mills” littering the countryside, in his

poem Jerusalem, written in 180451 at a time when England was presumably a significantly more

‘green and pleasant land’ than it is today. However, ‘the issue is not that machines are evil nor that

they have taken over, but that in constantly choosing to use them over every other alternative, we

make many other unwitting choices’52 We all know the powerful effect television has in silencing a

room of people, or the aggravation experienced from navigating a city such as London by car, when it

could be argued that it is often quicker, and overall more beneficial, to travel by bicycle. While

television provides an excellent medium for engaging huge swathes of the population, unifying the

country, and providing up-to-date information, in choosing to allow the television to occupy our

leisure time it leaves little space for stimulating or exercising one’s own creative imagination through

either social engagement or artistic expression.

50 Little, C. Greenways For America Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press 1990 p15-17 51 Blake, W. The Complete Poems London: Penguin 2004 p514 52 Feenberg, A. From Essentialism to Constructivism: Philosophy of Technology at the Crossroads San Diego State University [online]

2004 http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/feenberg/talk4.html [accessed 07 July 2006]

13

Martin Heidegger observes the impact of our technological landscape:

We have become little more than objects of technique,

incorporated into the very mechanism we have created. …An

“objectless” heap of functions replaces a world of “things”

treated with respect for their own sake as the gathering places

of our manifold engagements with “being”.53

M. Heidegger

Marshal McLuhan provocatively summed this up by declaring that ‘technology has reduced us to the

“sex organs of the machine world”.’54 In his critique of Heidegger’s Question of Technology Andrew

Feenberg suggests that while technology poses a real threat to society, the important issue is purpose

and instrumentality. He highlights this issue using Heidegger’s example of the Greek craftsman,

carving a wooden chalice, compared to the damming of the River Rhine by a modern engineer.

Feenberg explains that the craftsman, by sculpting a form, symbolically brings out the ‘truth’ in the

material and the application. Whereas the engineer obliterates and ‘de-worlds’ the potential of the

material ‘and “summons” nature to fit into his plan’55 in a manner that one could associate with Super

Studio’s futurological extrapolations.56 Feenberg seems to imply that for the craft of technology to

become in balance with nature, it needs to search and express ‘being’, through human purpose. This

implies that there is a spiritual process at work when one applies technology in this manner. However

Heidegger concluded that ‘there is no escape but retreat’,57 and in his last interview he explained that

“Only God can save us’ from the juggernaut of progress.’58

53 ibid 54 Feenberg, A. From Essentialism to Constructivism: Philosophy of Technology at the Crossroads San Diego State University [online]

2004 http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/feenberg/talk4.html [accessed 07 July 2006] 55 ibid. 56 Super Studio existed during the 1970’s and produced a controversial critique challenging the objectification of the built environment

through text, illustration and they’re well known ‘de-humanised’ furniture. See Lang, P. Menking, W. Super Studio: Life Without Objects Milan: Skira Editore 2003

57 Feenberg, A. From Essentialism to Constructivism: Philosophy of Technology at the Crossroads San Diego State University [online] 2004 http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/feenberg/talk4.html [accessed 07 July 2006]

58 ibid.

14

The Disembodiment of the Spectator and the Spectacle

This lamentation towards progress is also reflected by James Carrier when he says; ‘the rise of modern

society has put people at a distance from [the natural] environment and has affected the ways they

think about it.’59 Carrier implies that disengagement with nature has alienated us from it. His example

of the bourgeois Parisian ‘tourist gaze’ highlights that while they were in search of nature, they were

not engaging with nature on a very practical level. They were consuming nature as a commodity, to be

accepted and interpreted on their terms, and vacated once they had finished with it – nature had

become something to observe from afar.60 Tim Ingold further suggests that such people no longer

engage with their environment ‘as though they had themselves stepped outside it, posing as mere

spectators’.61 Inherently a society progressing towards this state would be increasingly alienated from

nature and their landscape – even so far as to become alienated from life itself. Thus it stands to reason

that a society progressing towards this state would struggle to understand the importance of the human

relationship to nature.

This alienated viewpoint has prompted discussion about man’s relationship with nature in many fields.

Discussion of this relationship is of great interest to architects, whose diverse research pursues space,

landscape and habitation. If architecture is our fabricated landscape, and fabricated space becomes our

‘nature’, those who actively appropriate, manipulate and change our landscape, play an important role

in exploring and re-presenting this relationship. While architects do not hold ultimate possession of the

production of space – by any stretch of the imagination – the responsibility given by division of labour

rests upon them as specialists in this area. This reiterates the importance that the architect searches for

cognition and engagement with his or her landscape.

An Alienated Viewpoint

It could be observed that speculation upon nature in this manner, is only possible because one can

externalize their position within Nature – becoming a spectator. Marx deals with the concept of

alienation in a paper entitled ‘Estranged Labour’ of 1844, and then developed in later writings. He

describes four types of estranged labour:

1) Alienation of the product from the producer

2) Alienation of the act from the product

3) Alienation of nature from men

4) Alienation of man from his species-being (a term referring to the meaning of being

man himself)62

59 Carrier, J. Mind, Gaze and Engagement Journal of Material Culture Vol. 8 (1) p 9 2003 60 ibid. p 8-10 61 Ingold, T. Culture, Nature, Environment. In: Croll, E. and Parkin, D. (ed) Bush Base: Forest Farm London: Routledge 1992 p52 62 McLellan, D. Alienation in Hegel and Marx Dictionary of the History of Ideas, University of Virginia [online] 2003

15

In his essay, Marx implies that a society whose means of production follows a regime based on the

division of labour, manifests a state of alienation within it.63 According to Marx, any labourer under

this regime works towards a situation where he no longer understands what he is doing, who he is, or

what he is there for. ‘So much does the realization of labour appear as loss of reality that the worker

loses his reality to the point of dying of starvation.’64

It is recognised that Marx wrote this manuscript with the intention of challenging the means of

production. However, his critique on alienation holds relevance in understanding an attitude of

alienation from nature as highlighted in point (3). Marx suggests that alienation from one of the four

identified categories would simultaneously exacerbate alienation from the other three. If it is through

estranged labour that man alienates himself from his work, and thus from his species-being, then

alienation from nature is conclusive as nature is embodied in man. ‘To say that man’s physical and

mental life is linked to nature simply means that nature is linked to itself, for man is part of nature.’65

This is proactively addressed by Hegel: ‘This alienation would cease when men became fully self-

conscious and understood their environment and their culture to be emanations of Spirit.’66

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu [accessed 07 July 2006]

63 Marx, K. Enstranged Labour 1844 Marxist Internet Archive [online] http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm [accessed 30 November 2006]

64 ibid. 65 Marx, K. Enstranged Labour 1844 Marxist Internet Archive [online]

http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/labour.htm [accessed 30 November 2006] 66 McLellan, D. Alienation in Hegel and Marx Dictionary of the History of Ideas, University of Virginia [online] 2003

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu [accessed 07 July 2006]

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Presaged in Spirit; Presaged in Nature

It has been proposed that the boundary of what is considered ‘nature’ is indefinable at a collective

level; so to the individual, the threshold would occur at many different stages of engagement. Thus it

becomes understandable that at every step of mankind’s journey towards development, there would be

a voice in opposition, calling on it to adopt a more ‘Natural’ lifestyle. This is expressed in both

religious and secular belief systems, indicating that the notion surpasses any institutionalised

instruction. The Jewish belief system suggests that by taking the Nazarite vow – set out in the Torah in

the Book of Numbers 6:4 – the Nazarite devotee refrains from cutting their hair, drinking wine or

coming into contact with dead bodies; this was considered a profound lifestyle statement. It has been

speculated that John the Baptist was a Nazarite,67 because he lived in the desert, wore camel skin

clothes and ate honey and locusts. By refusing to indulge in developed society, the devotee is said to

become closer to God by setting themselves apart. 68

Henry Thoreau’s masterwork, Walden (1854), tells his personal story as he moved out of society and

withdrew to live in a simple log cabin in the woods by Walden pond in Massachusetts. His intention

was to clear his Spirit, and be rid of all those things that society had brought upon him, that weighed

him down – thus by liberating himself from this entanglement, he felt that he could focus himself on

life69.

67 Parry, H. Positive Deviants London Institute of Contemporary Christianity 2006 [online] http://www.licc.org.uk [accessed 20 October 2006] 68 Wikipedia Nazarite 2006 [online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/nazarite 69 Rockford E.T. Why did Thoreau live in the woods? The Thoreau Reader 2001 [online] http://thoreau.eserver.org/answer.html [accessed 19 December 2006]

17

I went to the woods because I wished to live

deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I

could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to

die, discover that I had not lived.70

H.T. Thoreau

70 Thoreau, H.T. Walden; or, Life in the Woods New York: Dover Publications 1995 p59

18

Examples such as Thoreau and the Nazarite vow represent a notion of reflection upon society’s

relationship to ‘development’; the result would seem to suggest a return-to-nature lifestyle. In both

cases the main intention is not to contemplate the concept of Nature, but the contemplation of the

human Spirit. Thus, upon brief speculation, both cases would appear to conclude that existing in a

state in Nature is a requisite to embracing the human Spirit. Present day attempts to return-to-nature

appear to derive predominantly from a desire to find nature, although a spiritual affiliation is generally

present. Becoming increasingly publicized, communitarian organic farms are attracting more and more

people who feel this alienation from nature needs to be addressed. Meanwhile devotees to the

capitalist regime see these farms as ‘hippy cults’, and a form of escapism from the reality that they

know.

Inhabitants of these farms – such as Tinker’s Bubble in Somerset – practice a frugal way of life,

engaging with nature on a much higher level than residents of more technologically developed

communities such as London. They orientate their lives around working the land for their livelihood

and wellbeing; placing a more direct dependency upon Gaia. At Tinker’s Bubble, occupants grow

vegetables and fruit, keep hens, make yogurt and cheese from the milk produced by their dairy cows,

and they press their own apple juice and coppice the surrounding woodland.71 They are an entirely

fossil fuel free community living in self-built low impact buildings and tents. In 1999, after a long and

arduous struggle, they were awarded five-year temporary planning permission.72 They have been

declared a success, albeit a fairly inefficient one, and have set up a network to aid others trying to set

up similar return-to-nature existences.73 While self sufficiency is an aim, their means of production has

not completely abolished the division of labour. They sell their apple juice and surplus produce to the

local villages and markets appealing to sustainability enthusiasts, health conscious people and the

bourgeois, enticed by the specialist individuality of their produce. With this little money they are able

to buy clothes, materials, and tools and allow themselves the odd luxury.

With the exception of and Samson their Shire-horse, to some extent the technological

instrumentalisation of their landscape still exists; a wood fired steam engine is used to mill timber, and

a whole host of manual tools have been purchased to help their efforts. With the exception of the

steam engine, their landscape of technological engagement comprises of simple instruments which

could be considered to express ‘being’, through human purpose – as described by Feenberg. While it

would appear that the residents at Tinker’s Bubble are using far more ‘natural’ methods of farming,

when compared to today’s conventional methods, it never-the-less involves a high level of labour and

human intervention to produce and sustain a staple crop to survive on. One could argue that this is not

therefore true natural farming, as agriculture is not a natural process. To be precise, the only truly 71 Economads Tinker’s Bubble [online] http://economands.com/log20020524-20020531 [accessed 20 March 2006] 72 Fairlie, S. Tinker’s Tailored Living The Guardian 19 January 1999 73 Economads Tinker’s Bubble [online] http://economands.com/log20020524-20020531 [accessed 20 March 2006]

19

‘natural’ farming is that of hunter-gatherers.74 Unfortunately there are few places one could describe as

such a ‘Garden of Eden’ left in the world where this is still possible.

Natural Farming

One method of ‘natural farming’ is taught by Masanobu Fukuoka, whose progressive attitudes towards

technological regression are outlined in his manifesto The One Straw Revolution. This owes its title to

the idea sown by a single straw of rice which Mr. Fukuoka saw while walking in his fields one day,

which – to his surprise – not in a sunken paddy field; the healthy rice seedling had sprouted in a field

of long grass and weed. From then on Mr. Fukuoka did not flood his fields, as has been done

traditionally for centuries; and his search began to understand the natural patterns of his natural

landscape began.

Realizing that the rice had been self-sown from the wind, blowing the ripened rice grains onto

unsaturated land, he decided to sow the rice directly to the surface of the field in autumn, instead of

plowing and sowing in spring. The rice fields are inter-sown with barley and clover, and the weeds

remain – creating a more bio-diverse, natural habitat. Mr. Fukuoka calls his natural farming methods

‘do-nothing’ farming as the objective is for as little intervention and labour as possible. He does not

use any machinery or chemicals, or even plough his fields or spread prepared compost – yet he

produces comparable yields to that of traditional or chemical techniques. While chemical methods

reduce labour requirements, and thus wages, they ultimately do not return any nutrients back to the

land. Initial yields are high as the land is still fertile, but as this resource is exploited, farmers are

forced to apply additional man-made additives to maintain yields. The result is that eventually the land

becomes dead. Traditional methods, or organic methods as they are know today, require more labour

intensive processes – they respect biodiversity and local ecologies by not using any chemical

additives. Prepared compost is spread on the land, and crop rotation is used to improve soil conditions;

however Mr. Fukuoka suggests that this can only ever maintain the quality. The ‘do-nothing’ method

reduces labour while the soil quality improves over time, improving in fertility, structure and water

retention; thus increasing the yield.75

Some of these ideas are similar to permaculture techniques;76 however Fukuoka’s attitude towards

farming suggests a more spiritual perspective. It demands that practitioners strive to understand the

natural rhythms of nature – one could say – the nature of Nature. This, he reiterates, ‘requires

knowledge and persistent effort …by cooperation with nature rather than trying to “improve” upon

74 Korn, L. in Fukuoka, M. One Straw Revolution Emmaus: Rodale Press 1978 p xviii 75 Korn, L. in Fukuoka, M. One Straw Revolution Emmaus: Rodale Press 1978 pp xv-xxi 76 Permaculture is Bill Mollison’s holistic solution for long term sustainable agriculture. Permaculture rebukes mono-cultures and involves

creating integrated ecologies seeing waste as a resource. His progressive ideas are often championed by the green movement

20

nature by conquest.’77 This is why Mr. Fukuoka and his students ‘live in this semi-primitive manner’

because he has found that this way of life enables him to gain a greater understanding of nature and

‘develop the sensitivity necessary to farm by his natural methods.’78 It becomes an intense battle to

adjust the local biological landscape to provide an environmental system tilted in the favor of the

crops. This can take years of dedicated work as the aim is no longer the plants themselves but the

whole landscape. Additionally, most farming landscapes have been subjected to chemical farming

methods adding further complexities and a long term commitment to healing the unfruitful land.

Mr. Fukuoka’s claims of ‘do-nothing’ farming raises questions to his definition of labour. While on

the one hand he suggests even the ‘Sunday farmer’ can utilize his methods79 – he also talks of years of

dedication and striving for understanding. This could imply that the labour he refers to is solely

physical labour, and when he refers to ‘doing nothing’ it is mental or spiritual observation occupying

his hours – time to stand and stare. Feuerbach refers to this as his ‘species-being’, or to simply exist as

man himself. Mr. Fukuoka does not claim to be a religious man, although his conversations often

include Buddhist, Taoist and Christian theological and philosophical discussions. It would appear that

Mr. Fukuoka’s time is divided between a physical and spiritual attempt to be presaged in Nature.

Mr. Fukuoka believes that natural farming proceeds from

the spiritual health of the individual. He considers the healing of the

land and the purification of the human spirit to be one process.80

Man and Nature Connected

There are many ancient cultures which demonstrate an understanding of the relationship of spirit and

Nature. Chief Seattle, a Native American Indian whose name was taken by the Washington city,

famously replied to Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens’ demands for submission of land rights. In his

speech given in 1854, Seattle indicates the connection between his people and the natural landscape,

while submitting to the white aggressors.81

What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were

gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for

whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. 82

77 Korn, L. in Fukuoka, M. One Straw Revolution Emmaus: Rodale Press 1978 p xviii 78 ibid. p xvii 79 ibid. p xx 80 Korn, L. in Fukuoka, M. One Straw Revolution Emmaus: Rodale Press 1978 p xxv 81 Seattle has often been misquoted by the green movement as his speech was greatly elaborated and for a television play, to provide

powerfully specific assertions on mans relationship with nature. However the original report – a compelling lament of a dissolving culture – is still available.

82 Wikiquote Chief Seattle 1854 [online] http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Chief_Seattle [accessed 20 March 2006]

21

The Native American Indians historically existed as a nomadic culture, living a more hunter gatherer

lifestyle. They migrated across the American Prairie following the herds of buffalo which they

depended upon for their food – living a lifestyle so wholly dependent upon nature would give a greater

respect for it in providing a livelihood.

The Bishnoi tribes of Rajasthan, North India, are well renowned for their understanding of their

intrinsic relationship with Nature. Their devotional action in preserving ecology makes even the most

radical present day environmentalist movement look like kindergarten. In 1730, the Maharaja of

Jodphur had sent a group of men to fell Khejri trees, native to the Bishnoi village. He required the

timber to burn lime for the construction of his new palace. Amrita Devi, an elderly woman of the

sleepy village of Khejarli, came cross the group, and when she learnt of their intention she declared

that she would rather give away her life to save the trees. They severed her head with an axe. Her three

daughters followed her example, and one by one as the surrounding villages heard of the news, 363

tribesmen and women gave their lives to protect the trees. These tragic demonstrations led the

Maharaja to pass a law to protect the Khejri trees and local animals within the Bishnoi village

boundaries.83 Although they claim not to be part of any religious order, their belief system stems from

Jainism; a faith originating from India which places equality on the Spirit of all living organisms. This

perspective could be hard to perceive from a western belief system based on anthropocentrism. But to

equate: for the Bishnoi people, saving the life of a tree is equally important as saving a human life.

Although in the Western world, environmentalism is not seen in such a strongly spiritual light as the

Bishnoi, there is a growing movement expressing a need to readdress our relationship with nature from

within the depths of our alienation. While Bob Hunter may have headed Greenpeace, possibly the

most prominent environmental pressure group the world has seen, it is by no means the ultimate.

Greenpeace has often had to compromise their green morals in order to achieve progress, and more

radical such as Rising Tide84 and Earth First,85 group often consider Greenpeace to be quite middle-of-

the-road. Many green pressure groups focus on changing policy and public attitudes towards climate

change. They hope that this will encourage a knock-on effect on the production of space and the urban

fabric. Meanwhile, there are other groups engaged with evolving our shifting urban landscape towards

a reinterpretation of our relationship with Nature.

83 Wikipedia The Khejrali Massacre [online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bishnois [accessed 20 December 2006] 84 Rising Tides is a non-hierarchical movement with no membership structure. They believe that climate change is a direct result of

economic domination of the developed countries and multinational corporations. [online] http://www.earthfirst.org 85 Earth First is also a non-hierarchical movement with no membership structure. It began in 1979 in response to the ‘lethargic,

compromising, and increasingly corporate environmental community.’ [online] http://www.risingtides.org.uk

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Emerging from the Belly of the Beast

Fredric Jameson hypothesized in his Enclave Theory that – as with any movement, ‘small yet strategic

pockets or beachheads [surface] within the older system… The emergent yet powerful kind will

gradually extend its influence and dynamism over the older form… gradually “colonizing” what

persists around it.’86 So long as organic communitarian farms, such as Tinker’s Bubble, exist far

beyond the environs of the city; they will only ever be pockets of escape from the developed world, or

at most test-beds for alternative living. Out-of-sight and out-of-mind, the occupants’ attitude towards

recultivating their existance with nature will remain out in the countryside with them, while city

dwellers remain oblivious to their existance. As Jameson implies, for attitudes to be challenged, the

residents of Tinker’s Bubble need to develop these strategic ‘beachheads’ from within the city itself –

the belly of the beast.

Attempts have already been made to develop farming space in the city, such as city farms. For

example, Spitalfields City Farm in London was formed in 1978 ‘in response to local people’s wishes

to convert wasteland into allotments, having lost theirs to developers.’87 The city farms typically grow

vegetables and keep various animals such as goats, pigs, hens or sheep. They also run workshops and

community projects, although the extent to which the farm can provide is generally restricted by tight

land constraints and funding. At Spitalfields Farm, they host the ‘Coriander Club’: cookery classes in

Indian cuisine using the fresh produce grown at the farm. They also accommodate a young offenders

group, providing an opportunity for young people to grow and develop through engagement with their

landscape.88 While the city farms provide a modest community service and a centre for learning

ecology, animal husbandry, horticultural and rural skills, they generally get sidelined as petting zoos

for school outings and volunteering activities for the unemployed and people with special needs.

While these are worthy and respectful endeavours, the farms’ full potential remains untapped.

Localising food production not only cuts down on carbon-dioxide emissions, embodied energy, and

food-miles, it provides fresher food, local and seasonal specialities, and helps minimise waste

developing a healthy connection between production and consumption. It also exposes local people to

the processes of food production. One might argue that this exposure is unnecessary as food

production is a ‘simple’ exercise and there is little to learn from it; however, a large proportion of the

urban population do not know where an egg comes from, or the fact that it is intrinsic to a chicken’s

reproductive system. This highlights the extent of our alienation from rural processes upon which we

depend. It could be considered that simple exposure to these activities could assist movement towards

a reduced alienated state; visual and mental engagement with the surface of these processes would be a

first step.

86 Jameson, F. Architecture and the Critique of Ideology. In Michael Hays, K. (ed) Architecture Theory Since 1986 London: MIT 1998

p453 87 Spitalfields City Farm About the Farm 2006 [online] http://www.spitalfieldscityfarm.org [accessed 05 January 2007] 88 ibid.

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Cultivating our Landscape

CPULs: Continuous Productive Urban Landscapes, edited by André Viljoen, sets out a detailed plan

converting London into a food producing city through ‘ecological intensification’. Viljoen describes a

network of food producing landscapes, encompassing the existing and residual green spaces within the

city, and connects them through a series of interventions to the city’s infrastructure. The CPUL

network then provides a transport corridor through the city for pedestrians and cyclists, allowing them

to travel through a rural landscape. Modelled on existing organic urban farms in Cuba, Nepal, and the

Netherlands; Viljoen’s book provides a comprehensive, workable, economical strategy in re-

introducing large scale food production into the city. Initially green spaces would be turned over to

production, before residual spaces were reclaimed, and finally connecting roads would be grassed over

to complete the vegetative corridor.89 The biodiversity of the city would improve, allowing migrating

animals such as birds, insects and small mammals to move across the city; creating additional

exposure to nature. CPULs will ‘enrich cities by reducing their environmental impact and bringing in

spatial qualities until then only associated with rural or natural conditions.’90 While the social and

environmental benefits are easy to appreciate, the big question that arises from Viljoen’s vision

remains: ‘how and why would CPULs happen?’ Land rights are hilt-to-hilt in the highly dense

metropolis of London. For this to happen, either public opinion would have to change, and priority

placed upon fresh, organic, localised food – a trend which has gained momentum in recent years,

although the perceived value in this system is far from levels required for action to be implemented on

this scale; alternatively the system would be forced into place by necessity. The situation could

develop where CPULs become more economic due to rising oil prices placing a premium on transport,

restricting the movement and import of goods. By this point England would be in certain trouble as,

even in our current situation, our productive land space can only support 18% of the food demands of

the population.91 One could speculate that a rationing system might come into place, and a similar

‘Dig for Victory’ campaign would be implemented, as was necessary in London during the Second

World War.

89 Viljoen, A. Bohn, K. CPULs Viljeon, A. (ed) Oxford: Architectural Press 2005 pp11-16 90 ibid. p15 91 Sustain City Harvets: The feasibility of growing more food in London Rochdale: Rap 1999 p120

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Guerrilla Gardeners

On hearing the name and objectives of the ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’, a recent phenomenon sweeping

London, prejudice might lead one to assume that these were a group of anarchists wrecking terror of

an environmental nature. Tongue-in-check, this is true – although far from the stereotypical,

aggressive anti-capitalist anarchism that is usually portrayed. The basic premise of the ‘Guerrilla

Gardeners’ is to storm public places under cover of darkness and rejuvenate the dilapidated urban

foliage in whatever way they can. They do no damage and enhance the area leaving private property

well alone. A whole community has developed from this initial concept – started by Richard

Reynolds, an advertising planner in his mid-twenties from Elephant and Castle, South-East London.

Reynolds, originally from rural Devon, had grown tired of the neglected communal planters outside

his block of flats. Suffering withdraw symptoms from a lack of garden space, Reynolds decided to

take matters into his own hands and turn the concrete planters into a floral array.92 Since then the

‘Guerrilla Gardeners’ have performed countless ‘digs’ around the boroughs of London, and via the

internet community, the ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’ have extended their reach overseas.

The ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’ are often picked up on by the media and presented as a bit of light-hearted

amusement. However, the effect of this movement resonates much further than a bunch of green-

fingered urbanite do-gooders, deprived of their gardening fix. The ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’ claim to have

no political agenda and declare that their only objective is to make London greener with the motto:

‘Let’s fight the filth with forks and flowers’.93 Essentially the gardening is classed as criminal damage,

but the authorities turn a blind eye to the activities – presumably so long as nothing turns sour. While

the digs attract the attention of passing police, there is little reason for them to pursue matters, since

the gardeners are essentially lightening the work load of currently over-laden local authorities.

However, Reynolds talks of a time when the police raised questions, under the Prevention of

Terrorism Act, believe it or not, over a can of chemical fertiliser that was being used on one particular

project.94

The gardening projects help create a sense of community as people discuss, meet, dig and tend to the

target spaces – often followed by a drink at a local pub. The heightened community cohesion is further

enhanced due to the fact that local participants are reclaiming and reasserting municipal ownership of

the abandoned areas. With these spaces ‘reclaimed’, a new sense of territory and engagement with

place is established; similar to, yet more optimistic and enlivening, than graffiti. Graffiti artists use

their ‘tags’ as collective or individual motifs, often drawing on local or group attributes such as

skateboarding, fashion or political attitudes. In a similar way, target ‘digs’ receive a makeover

92 Gore, W. Green-fingered revolutionaries go to work Time Out London 25 October 2006 p12 93 Reynolds, R. Guerrilla Gardening Blog [online] http://www.guerillagardening.org [accessed 10 August 2006] 94 Gore, W. Green-fingered revolutionaries go to work Time Out London 25 October 2006 p12

25

sensitive to the local environment such as the December 2006 dig in New Cross, South East London.95

This project included the planting of an olive tree and two palm trees in response to the presence of a

number of Turkish eateries in the vicinity. While the New Cross dig commenced, the Turkish owners

of a nearby take-away joined the scene; thoroughly encouraged by the improvements, they supplied

the workers with tea and biscuits, and a promise to help maintain the site.

The concept of guerrilla gardening is by no means new – the global guerrilla gardening movement has

been the catalyst for some significant milestones in social and environmental struggles. For example,

in New York City during the financial crisis of the 1970’s, many districts’ social structures were

collapsing and large areas were becoming ghettos wrought with drug gangs and violence. In reaction

to this reality, many residents enlivened abandoned lots and residual spaces to create guerrilla

community gardens. The gardens flourished, abundant with flowers, fruit trees and vegetables etc.

they soon became community hubs and spaces to relax and enjoy. The gardens hosted activities and

workshops in dance, drama, yoga, poetry readings, painting and sculpture giving many local kids the

opportunity to use their time creatively and constructively. Sara Ferguson, a journalist who moved

next door to one of the community gardens, recalls:

It was a place for all people on our block to go and bond

together. People had weddings there and birthdays there. People

came and cooked meals there. On Friday and Saturday nights, people

would all be out there eating together and playing drums.96

The guerrilla community gardens were a huge success and increased the cohesion within local

communities, reduced crime and improved the diet of many inner city residents. At their peak, the

gardens totalled 800 although with a new mindset and skills at hand, the movement spread beyond

New York City as residents spread the word or migrated. Once the ball was rolling, and people could

see the benefits brought to the communities who turn over a ‘green’ leaf, the community garden

projects rolled across the city like a wave. By 1978 the city park department started the ‘Green

Thumb’ programme which offered the communities plants, tools, expertise and a $1-per-year lease.97

Ironically, the gardens’ success was to be their downfall. With communities being rebuilt, and

streetscapes enriched with flora; it was not long before housing developers saw the residual lots as

prime real estate ready for development. The so called ‘Garden of Eden’ – one of the most successful

95 Jones, A. Guerrilla Gardening The London Paper 09 November 2006 pp10-11 96 Brooks, S. Seeds of Renewal: New York City’s Community Gardens Ecotipping Points [online]

http://www.ecotippingpoints.org/urbangardensusa.asp [accessed 28 December 2006] 97 ibid.

26

lots – was demolished for low income housing in 1986. By 1994 a full scale plague of bulldozers came

to turf the gardens out, to be re-covered by concrete.98

Civil Disobedience

Although claiming to have no political agenda, the ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’ resemble the True Levellers,

or ‘Diggers’, of the mid-seventeenth century. The Diggers were a band of men formed after the bloody

Civil War. Food prices were at an all time high following the civil war99 and many peasants and

landowners had lost family and land in their efforts to dethrone the King. They felt badly treated and

unrewarded by society for their losses.100 They felt that the government had turned their back on them

so they were lead to direct action. They gathered in 1649 on Saint George’s Hill in Surrey to sow

parsnips, carrots and beans;101 it was recorded that the diggers had invited ‘all to come in and help

them, and promised them meat, drink, and clothes.’102 The authorities sent horseback guard to disband

the rabble, and thought nothing more of it.

However, the motives of the ‘Diggers’ lay far deeper than a simple desire to plant vegetables, it was a

political act and a threat to the emerging forces of property ownership in the early stages of capitalism

in Britain. With the monarchy executed at the end of the English Civil War the country was in turmoil.

They had been led to believe that the war was meant to rid the country of the monarch’s power, but the

results had merely been to pass power from one wealthy oppressive landlord to other more numerous,

oppressive landlords, and so the peasants were in a worse situation than they had been before. Gerard

Winstanley became the philosophical and theological voice for the group, as he laboured and

campaigned in their cause. In addition to many pamphlets and essays, he published The New Law of

Righteousness, which falls little short of a Communist Manifesto, bar his peaceful religious outlook.103

Quoting the well-know Christian proverb: ‘They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their

spears into pruning hooks’,104 Winstanley demanded that peace and equality will prevail by giving

every man the right to use the residual land in the city to grow food for himself.

Today’s ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’ are of course nothing like as radical towards the concept of ownership

of property – or the balance of power. The gardeners, or ‘troops’ as they are referred to, predominantly

comprise of mid-to-late-twenties young professionals, students, and those simply interested in

gardening. It conjures up a ‘Robin Hood’ condition; participants enjoy the thrill of breaking the law

while simultaneously regaining a little social and environmental justice – and the possibility of gaining 98 Brooks, S. Seeds of Renewal: New York City’s Community Gardens Ecotipping Points [online]

http://www.ecotippingpoints.org/urbangardensusa.asp [accessed 28 December 2006] 99 Wikipedia Diggers (True Levellers) [online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diggers_(True_Levellers) [accessed 20 November 2006] 100 Lodge, A. Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers [online] http://tash.gn.acp.org/winst1.htm [accessed 20 November 2006] 101 ibid. 102 Berens, L.H. The Digger Movement in the Days of the Commonwealth 2006 The Gutenberg Project [online] http://www.gutenberg.org

[accessed 28/12/06] p24 103 Lodge, A. Gerrard Winstanley and the Diggers [online] http://tash.gn.acp.org/winst1.htm [accessed 20 November 2006] 104 ibid.

27

a bit of limelight in the process. The activist/revolutionary type resemblances of the group

understandably appeals to the reactionary late-twenty-somethings, who have little interest in going

down the long and laborious road of changing public policy. The ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’ attitude would

challenge going down the road of politics, leading to potentially unfruitful results, but it is easier and

quicker to simply take a spade to hand and do it yourself.

Following a questionnaire posed at the New Cross dig, it seemed that most participants indicated that

they were doing this – amongst other reasons – because they have no garden of their own and because

they wanted to make a difference in their community. It seemed that people involved saw the event as

an opportunity to express themselves in a creative manner, while symbolically addressing their

concerns about the urban landscape and the wider environment in London.

Speaking to the ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’ during the New Cross dig gave the impression that although the

gardeners are predominantly city dwelling urbanites – drawn by the social cohesion and career

opportunities – most had experiences of nature at some point of their lives. Examples range from a

rural childhood upbringing, holidays in the countryside to experiences during travelling or working

abroad in less developed countries. Imogen, a fellow troop, spoke of an experience she had while

working in rural Indonesia. She found that a number of her daily patterns became influenced by

nature. She explained how she had developed an interaction with the moon, quickly learning that if she

was too far from her accommodation before nightfall, she would struggle to find her way home in the

pitch black night-time in the countryside. She began to understand the rhythms of the moon and

anticipated either a dark or moonlit night; her landscape included the night sky and the solar system.

It was interesting to discover that the participants were predominantly uninterested in moving to the

countryside and considered the city to be their home. While many had stories to tell of experiences of

nature, these experiences were sojourns and they resided in the city. However, these experiences

seemed to have made an impact upon their lives, shaping their character today. Their ‘tourist gaze’ had

become ‘touristic engagement’. It could be considered that they had experienced an insight of nature,

and therefore themselves, and through ‘Guerrilla Gardening’ wanted to bring a piece of this back to

the city. This altruistic pursuit could almost be considered a pathetic attempt; a ‘David and Goliath’

scenario. ‘Guerrilla Gardening’ places high priority in the appropriation of residual spaces in the city

landscape. These spaces by definition are of little interest to the general public; however if their aim is

to get noticed and gain enthusiasm then what else what else could they do within the limits of the law?

After all ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ and David’s accuracy with his sling, knocked Goliath dead.

Although the act of ‘Guerrilla Gardening’ is an admirable pursuit, it could only remain a low-key,

playful and enjoyable activity; the model could not realistically be repeated by every member of the

28

city. In fact, if every member of the city were to perform acts of guerrilla gardening, city life would

become chaotic. This fact was brought to light during the London May Day riot in 2000 when

protestors had planned on ‘replanting’ parliament square:

The essential point about …guerrilla gardening is that

it is done by individuals or small groups in a very low-key way;

it might not work exactly the same if 5,000 people all descended

on the same area and tried to do it all at once.105

So long as guerrilla gardening is a small movement it works; no one complains so long as no harm is

done. If the numbers swelled and people started planting everywhere, public policy would have to

change to adapt to the increase in ‘digs’. The city has too high a population density for everyone to be

as zealous about guerrilla gardening as the ‘Guerrilla Gardeners’. Guidelines and regulations would

have to be implemented – one would assume this would lead to training courses, certificates, new

developments in technologies and techniques, retail outlets, approved planting centres and inspectors

and legislation; presumably the antithesis of Reynolds initial ambitions. So with this in mind, it stands

to reason that guerrilla gardening could never be an answer to the lack of nature in our lives and

landscape. It is a reactionary movement that highlights a vitally important issue – and if their actions

attract media interest then this simply adds volumes to their protest voice. Meanwhile, so long as

‘Guerrilla Gardening’ remains a small movement, the city landscape provides a playground for ‘homo

ludens’ such as Richard Reynolds and friends, with the opportunity for the next ‘dig’ round every

corner.

Dig for Victory

Environmental awareness leads to environmental action; organic food, farmers markets, allotments

and homesteading is gaining increased interest. It could be considered that ‘Guerrilla Gardening’ is

taking this attitude one step further in raising awareness, to rally action – a simple case of civil

disobedience. The Guerrilla Gardeners are protesting about the demise of nature in our urbanised lives.

One could extrapolate that the ‘Guerrilla Gardening’ movement is pushing social attitudes towards

Viljoen’s vision of CPULs. While CPULs lack the liberal, spontaneous nature of ‘Guerrilla

Gardening’, it provides the more workable solution for mass application and the complex issues

surrounding land agreements. As with all movements it takes effort from the top, and from the bottom

to topple the prevailing system. Attempts to change policy and demonstration that the general public

are keen to see change, one would hope democracy would leave politicians little choice but to invest

public money into changing our landscape. Both approaches, CPULs and Guerrilla Gardening, are

105 Do or Die Guerrilla? Gardening? Do or Die [online] 9 (69-81) 2001 http://www.eco-action.org/dod/no9/may_day.htm [accessed 29

December 2006]

29

gaining momentum and they simply have to keep moving.

While on the dig at New Cross, a number of members of the pubic expressed their appreciation of the

work. One particular gentleman repeatedly told the troops that it had ‘really made his day’, this was

probably due to a combination of the action being performed but also the energy of the community

spirit displayed – the empowering sense that there people out there who care enough to do something.

Learning from Masanobu Fukuoka, we simply need to ‘be’ in Nature. The idea is easy, but the road is

narrow. The search of what it means to ‘be’ is long, but reassessing our relationship and engaging with

nature could be our only option. No amount of technology can hold back the tide, and any attempt to

do so would simply disrupt Gaia’s feedback system elsewhere. While science and the technological

instrumentalisation of our landscape has given us the ability to produce more capital, its pursuit of

objectification and dehumanising the world has set us apart from nature; the divide has set the scenario

of ‘them versus us’. Instead of fighting the land we stand on and cutting our own umbilical cord, we

need to make amends and understand what it means to live in balance with nature – in tune with

Gaia’s negative feedback system. What is the point of gaining the entire world’s capital only to loose

sight of ourselves, and thus our lives? But first of all we need to acknowledge Gaia as our umbilical

cord. In gaining an understanding of nature we could prevent the forewarned carnage of climate chaos.

Or if Lovelock is correct, and we have passed the point of no return, understanding will provide those

who survive the crash a way to ensure this will never happen again.

30

Dig! Dig! Dig! And your muscles will grow big

Keep on pushing the spade

Don't mind the worms

Just ignore their squirms

And when your back aches laugh with glee

And keep on diggin'

Till we give our foes a Wiggin'

Dig! Dig! Dig! to Victory106

106 h2g2 Dig for Victory! The BBC [online] 2004 http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/ [accessed 29 December 2006]

31

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Appendix

Appendix A:

An article in a London Newspaper regarding the Guerrilla Gardeners’ New Cross ‘dig’.

Jones, A. On The Road With the Guerrilla Gardeners The London Paper 09 November

2006

Appendix B:

Questionnaires posed to Guerrilla Gardeners while at New Cross ‘dig’

Appendix C:

Questioners posed to Guerrilla Gardeners website community.

36