為何建為誰築？ WHY WE BUILD?

EXPERIENCE ON NATURAL BUILDING 自然建築的反思

阿樂／台灣石虎小泥窩實作班，2017 秋

在城市中的環境，鋪天蓋地的是千篇一律的大廈，腳踏著的大地都是灌上瀝青水泥的道路，源源不絕的龍頭水是水壩開山闢石家家離鄉背井的產物。人類的創造好像為解決問題產生更多問題。在享受著方便和資訊發達的同時，我們被驅使在時間巨輪中越走越快。創造成為純粹物質生產和無意識的行為。其產物成為他人的消費品， 脫離了跟創造者的關係。我們為了充飢和居住而賺錢。但果腹定居以後，我們又為什麼而賺錢？生活在現代社會的我們變成只會依據程式工作的一隊工蟻，俯首服命於掌控著靈魂的母蟻。

自然建築是一門技術，當中的原始智慧在人類的現代演化下續漸被淡忘。但更為重要的，是自然建築是一種生活的態度。創造自然建築讓我們重新審視生存的意義：如何生活。

As cities are occupied by buildings of universal materials, a network of bitumen roads laid in order to lead to everyone’s doorstep , or dams built to fill up every household’s water tap, human creations becomes largely solutions to problems. We celebrate the gain of speed and convenience. And we are reluctant to shy away from the abundance of material and information. Our creation becomes a pure object, a product of consumption of the others that detaches from the soul of its creator. We work for money in order to get food and a house. After we get fed and a place to live, what do we gain? The mass of us is working like worker ants, sacrificing our lives to the queen ant, who controls the soul of the monarch.

Natural building is not only a return to building with natural material and process, whose wisdom has been tarnished in human modernization. Beyond that, it is a differ to our perception of lives. It is a manifestation to reexamine the way we spend our life: a return to living.

(Re)creation and Habitation 創造與居所

中國神話中有傳世界的開端始於混沌的狀態。然後盤古醒來，頭頂天，腳踏地。身體化為天地萬物。血為河流，汗為雨水，毛髮為草木。人只為自然中的寄生蟲。在世間生存的生命以一種形式存活，死後又以另一形式復生。氣生萬物，生生不息。透過不繼的創造，我們塑造了數以萬千的個體。

為了生存，人類創造合適我們身體的狀態。但不是所有的軀體均須這樣的創造。北極熊擁有極厚的毛髮和皮層，老虎兇武有力，大象有千斤重。這都使他們不須重新創造外在狀態的情況下而生存。在另一邊廂，鳥為保護蛋而築巢，蜜蜂為儲存糧食而造蜂巢。人類的軀體敵不過自然，唯有透過創造外在環境以協助身軀生存。

創造居所是與生俱來的一種能力。但居所不可能單憑個人意願而建立。在遠古時代，當人類還未發現種植農作物的可能前，我們都是游牧而生。我們的祖先打獵，捉魚。哪裏有豐富的生命， 就在哪裏落腳。屋子並不是落地生根固定在地上。屋子這個體更需要大地的配合，才能成合適人居住的家。人在開始懂得種植農作物後，屋子才變得牢固於地上。我們懂得透過創造屋子，改造土地，集合群體而生存。

A Chinese tale says that the world begins in a turmoil. A God named Pan Gu wakes up and stands in an upright position where the space above becomes the Sky, below becomes the Land. His body becomes mountains, bloods become water and rivers; sweats become rains; hairs become trees. Human beings are parasite. Since then, Qi is in motion, every object is in a cycle of life. Lives on Earth experience life in one form and dies and reborn in another form. Through recreation of objects we invent infinite things that depart from the originals. Every object possesses the ability to create.

To survive, we have to create a condition that is suitable to our bodies. Not all bodies need such a creation though, if the bodies themselves provide the right condition. Polar bear has thick fur, tiger has ferocious power and elephant has enormous weight that allows them to spend their lives in the open wild nature without the need of the creation of habitation. On the other hand, birds make nest to protect eggs, bees make hive to store food. Without thick skin or hair to fight against the weather, human recreates condition that is suitable for his own body.

The creation of habitation is innate in everyone. But the habitation cannot not be dictated by one’s sole desire. In ancient time before the knowledge of growing crops, everyone is nomadic. Our ancestors are hunters, fish catchers or gatherers. Houses are without ground. Humans travel from places to places looking for territory with an abundance of lives. Home is a concept which includes the house, one’s own creation, as well as the land on which it sits. As humans master crop yield, houses rest more solidly on ground. Instead of moving around to suit human’s need, we manage to create houses, alter territory and gather a group of people to maintain a stable living condition.

Beyond Objectification 物化以外

自然建築，廣義來說，是指以自然材料和自然合成的一種建築。崇尚自然以外，自然建築在現代建築及現代價值上不同的，是其建造的過程。現代佔據我們大多的生活空間有如石頭般拘謹，冰封於建築師傅離開那天。自然建築相反，是一個協助居住者生活，活生生的載體。在宮崎駿的哈爾移動城堡中，哈爾在打鬥中奄奄一息後，城堡也隨之瓦解。屋子是一個生命體，代表著居住者及其生活的環境。土屋是眾多自然建築之一。在其創造的過程中，每顆土團因不同人的製造而大小不一，因天氣不同而水分比例不一。細心留意土牆，可看出不同的部分由不同的人在不同的季節完成。自然建築創造好比一棵大樹的生長。樹的年輪記載了樹度過的季節。自然建築記載了我們生活的時光。

家的建立是一個共同的創造。鳥巢是一對鳥的結晶。蟻穴是一艦數以千計螞蟻的成果。人類建立家庭的方式也不異於其他生物。在舊時，建築知識是基本的生存條件，每家每戶都以一代傳一代方式永續。因此，自然建築提倡家的創造不應由專家來負責，而是居住者的責任。這種共建模式賦予屋子承傳生活智慧的一種能力。

自然建築亦是重反共生。共同生活一直是人類作為群體動物的一種天性。從哪時起，我們追求生活只有自己的個人空間？是為什麼我們想將每一寸的空間都私有化？我們為何想相信能在世上獨立生存？當我們發現自然建築是個生命體，它需要居住者的付出能量和時間來維持其生命。屋子愈大，花在屋子上的努力愈多。每天進行正式工作之前，我們需預備柴火，燒水，清理家居以防其他生物的入侵。現代社會創造無數設計讓人們逃脫生活瑣事。可是我們賺來的時間是損失了我們本應與我們共生的鄰居的關係。

Natural buildings, in a broad sense, mean buildings with the use of natural materials and minimal processes. Beyond the virtue of natural building’s harmony with nature, it is the process of making it that sets it apart from the modernist values and architecture. Too often the spaces we live in now are as stern as rock, frozen at the moment when the builders leave. But natural building is a organism assisting the life of its owner. In Miyazaki’s movie, Howl’s Moving Castle, one may recall the scene when Howl was defeated and got ill, the Castle started to fall apart. The house is a vessel that is representative of the owner and the environment. During the making of cob building, one of the natural building types, each cob is of different size created by different people. The amount of water we add in cob varies according to the weather. When one pays a closer attention to the cob wall, one could tell which part of the wall is done by whom and in which season. The construction of the house is like the growth of a tree. Tree rings can tell the change of climate the tree experiences. Natural building gives the time that we experience a record of existence.

Building one’s home is a collective effort. It takes a pair of birds to build a bird nest, a thousands of ants to build an underground kingdom. Human beings in the construction of our home are of no difference from the rest of the animal kingdoms. In the old times, knowledge of basic construction is equipped in every household as it is the basic survival skill. The knowledge will pass on continuously from the old to the young. It is why in natural building, its construction should not be a job of the expertise but the owner of the house. This co-building process enables the house to become a medium to share the wisdom of living.

Nature building is also a return to co-living. Living together has been a nature of human beings as social animals. Since when though do people want to live in a place exclusive to themselves? Why do people want to privatize every inch of space? When do people believe we can live as individuals? As one realizes a house is an organism, it consumes the owner’s energy and time. The bigger the house is, the more effort one has to spend on it. We begin our day with the preparation of fire wood, boiling drinkable water, cleaning to prevent the invasion of other lives, before we go into the work we are meant to do. Our modern world has invented ingenious way to assist us on these chores. But the time we gain is a lose of connection with our neighbours, the ones who affect our perception of a home.

A Reflection on Living 反思生活

生活在香港的我們，有多少人為了一個居所，過著朝九晚五，五天工作，為期十五年的時光？我們是在生活還是在消耗光陰？在四十歲的時刻，坐在光鮮的住宅回望過去，我們在賺錢途中，錯過了什麼？我們在那高薪厚職中得到怎麼樣的價值？當我們的孩子要交給他人照顧以賺取更多的生活費時，我們是為了什麼而活？我們須要金錢而生活嗎？

金錢是一種價值的象徵而非價值的本身。家是一種生活的象徵而非生命的目的。當我們嘗試放棄金錢，放棄為生存而工作，我們究竟為了什麼而工作？生命有期，萬物亦然。我們創造出來的物質無法被擁有，他們都終有逝去的一天，包括我們自己。我們空無一物來臨這世界，我們亦以同樣的狀態離開。唯有創造的過程能超越個體的存在，在其中建立人與自然萬物的關係能超越個體和時空。但願我們都以創造為樂。

How many of us in Hong Kong are working 9 to 5 a day, 5 days a week, for 15 years to earn barely enough for a flat? At the age 40 sitting in the newly renovated apartment looking into the past, we ask “what have we missed out for money?”. What value do we find in our well-paid job? What is the purpose of living when our children have to be taken care of by others because we have to earn more money to live? Do we need money to live?

Money is a representation of value not the value itself. Home is a representation of living, not the goal of life itself. If we try to give up on the concept of money, and we are not working to make a living, what are working for? Our lives are limited, so are materials. The objects we create cannot be possessed as all of them will one day die. We come into this world naked and without a thing, so the way we leave. Maybe only the process of creation can go beyond our existence. It is our each and every relation we develop with nature and people that transcend our being and time. Create in every minute with passion and joy.