OUTDOOR INSTALLATION:
DRY STONE HOUSE FOUNDATION

One-month timelapse of the drystone installation on Bedford Square, London. UK
Video credit: Chen Zhan & AAVA Team

A work-in-progress house foundation at 1:1 scale on Bedford Square. This temporary structure, in place for 28 days, provides a stage for performances and events as well as a meanwhile garden. House foundations in Shigushan are usually made of stones reused from demolition sites in the village, and they always host multiple futures, oscillating between a potential home and a ruin depending on the family’s financial situation. While waiting for their next phase, these foundations often function as kitchen gardens and childern’s playgrounds.

The materials and assembly techniques of this structure on Bedford Square have been adapted to the UK context. In addition to evoking the drystone walling practice common in parts of the British countryside, this structure also enacts the idea of reversible repair in construction that allows for material recycling and reuse. Alongside this, the superimposition of a domestic blueprint onto a privately owned public space in central London mounts a deliberate challenge to the fundamental split between the public and the private that is deeply rooted in the UK.

To walk through the 3D scan of the installation, click HERE︎︎︎.

* Drystone team led by Tim Mason and Richard Gray, with Max Higgins & Jonah Rollason from Building Crafts College, and volunteers Laura Stargala, Timothée Ryan and Octave Cusinberche.

* Foundation infill and planting by AA, RCA, LSA students and graduates: Sarah Teekay, Karmanya Gupta, Amitoz Boonga, Jassimar Singh Wahi, Selin Oktem, Ga Ho Jeffery Yu, Nazar Efendiev, Sedef Goke, Jiayi Wang, Lucy Stubbs and Clara; AA Facility staffs; Passers-by, lorry drivers, Jess & Kier building team and Bedford Estates gardeners.

* Stone advice: Juliet Haysom and Vanessa Norwood

* Supported by the Architectural Association, Graham Foundation and Huazhong University of Science and Technology

* In-kind material support: Haysom Purbeck Stone and Ty-Mawr Lime. 

ASSOCIATED EVENTS:

She offers a cup of water to you, to everyone that comes
Durational performance by Mengfan Wang & Alice Wang

Timelapse of the durational performance on the drystone house foundation at 2500+ speed
Video by Arturo Bandinelli
Editing by Chen Zhan

Image credit: Anne Tetzlaff

Reflexive Food Gathering
Commensal meal with Barney Pau

For this event, culinary artist Barney Pau has developed an edible response to Ripple Ripple Rippling which explores his personal interpretation of the project. Barney’s interpretation of the space is one of poignance and reflection; a quietness of something missing, but which was also never really there. These impressions are reflected in his choice of ingredients pertinent to Shigushan village and the installation in Bedford Square; the mindful and timeful processes of fermentation; and the care he has invested into their elaboration. Weeks, months, sometimes years old; these ferments you’re eating are the story of a long, ongoing mutually reciprocal relationship between humans and the microbes that feed them.

Menu:
- Buckwheat & flaxseed ‘bark’ crackers infused w/ fermented umami-paste & molasses.
- Pumpkin purée w/ chilli, fermented Japanese knotweed vinegar & tahini [sesame].
- Fermented pumpkin seed ‘cheese’ sauce, aged for 8 months.
- Waste-vegetable sauerkraut w/ foraged alexanders & hogweed seeds.
- Rocket & sunflower seed dressing w/ fermented Japanese knotweed vinegar.
- Fermented wild garlic powder.

Dry Stone Deconstruction Workshop
Laura Stargala and Timothée Ryan with AA Material Arcade

Gathering particles and stones,
accumulating dust -
on our body, our soils.
The rain washes off our skin, the leaves and the surface of the rocks.
Lunging into the living,
we seek shelter and nourishment.
Drinking from the springs,
moving stones for shelter.
Herbs growing from the earth,
creating fertile soil as time passes.
Sedimenting into layers of decomposed plant matter, silt & clay.
As the dust settles,
water runs down the stream,
past the roots,
and into our hands.

-- Material Relations, by Laura Stargala

Dry stone walling is known for its re-use after demolition, acting as a circular method of construction. And dry stone builders in the UK typically learn dry stone construction by deconstructing historic walls in order to learn how master craftspeople built the original walls.

This workshop engages with the tectonics and poetics of stone as well as soil, sand and plants – all those coming from the earth. As part of the deconstruction process, the participation directly contributes to the material recycling and reuse of the drystone house foundation on Bedford Square, as part of the Ripple Ripple Rippling exhibition.

Image credit: Chen Zhan