Pines Calyx Scribes' Notes

Scribe for group 1: Batel

Day 1, Friday 29th February

10.30-11.00 Arrival and coffee in the upper roundel
11.00-11.15 Prof John Wood – Welcome introduction
11.15-11.20 Jae Mather – Welcome to Pines Calyx
11.20-11.30 Batel Dinur - Introduction
11.30-11.45 Introduction of advisors and participants in the round
11.45-11.55 Divide into teams

JULIA’S NOTES

Although Julia has entered this text, she transcribed it from Batel's hand-written notes, which were incomplete. She decided to include everything without correction - "I do not want to get any of her meanings wrong. I will use (sic) where I think there has been a mistake. I have tried to format this page in the same way as I have formatted my own."

Start with the rhythm session with OLU

Rhythm session – concentrating on OLU. The last rhythm part created a boundary/alignment between people, although there was a division between women/men, which proceeded into the next session (cultural (this word is crossed out) props) – in the way they sitted (sic) themselves around the table. When I withdrawed (sic) from the group, they asked why, because the first session created a ‘bonding’ between us as a team.

Cultural Props

(33.05 (sic) recording time)
Group 1 names and initials: Nicola Wood (NW), Jan Mark (JM), Colm Laly (CL), Emily Wilkinson (EW), Hye Sook Yanh (HY).
Scan in drawing of positions around the table
(12.33)
Drawing their objects individually
(12.38)
JM begins intro. His key words (looking at us)
NW looking at MT
EW looking at MT
HY looking at the table
CL looking at MT (as she asked a question)
The men start negotiating
HY joins EW CL NW
JM with NW, CL joins
EN draws back, HY back and forth
JM takes control, others agree
NW disagrees, JM uncomfortable (hand on mouth)
JM says he likes to order things (his an architect) all laugh
CL watches and interferes
EW and HY not engaging, EW says something and all agree
JM CL and NW very engaged lean forward
EW JY les engaged
Roles start to emerge (Marketing people, architects)
CL and JM discuss (Logic, resolution vs. telling stories)
All lean forward
CL starts reading
JM challenges him. Women only listen and agree
NW challenges ideas - separating people from actions
NW JM CL negotiate. HY just listening
JM CL lean back – trying to reach agreement (JM CL NW)
HY loses interest (uncomfortable?)
NW props generate a lot of interest
It becomes humorous (knives)
EW drawing
NW challenges JM’s notions of measurement
JM asks about her object, which she didn’t put on the table
HY shares her object – all listen but also want to go
End of time

Talk - Keith Hart

JM, CL, NW, HY, AW (sic), Keith Hart (KH) (AL)
(14.10)
Drawing of positions to scan in
- enhance individual control of the local community
- enable links & exchange beyond their boundaries
The purpose of money

(I think that this bit is from the Walk)
JM, CL, HY, AW
ILF talk about seeds near the lake
Jae Mather talk about synergy between English heritage past with future sustainability
NW you can’t do life cycle analysis about people’s lives

Parameters tool

Jae Mather (Jae) JM, CL, HY, AW (sic)
15.33
See drawing of positions

• writing down values
• looking at facilitator
• Joking (CL, JM, NW)

JM value in what context? CL agree
AL focus on your own practice

• voting process (1st) was fun – laughed a lot

Some misunderstanding in relation to what some values mean exactly
JM cannot agree on values in isolation from a project
- Agree to work generically
- start by elimination
- discuss mainly by men
(4.00)
having to agree on 6 most important values brings the team together (focus on a task)

Storytelling

Jae, JM, NW, CL HY, AW (sic), MT
JM begin to draw
Jae next
JM
AW
NW
HY
JM
AW
CL
Jae
NW
Jae
CL
Joking on talking from the roof
Sensory session engages women (JM more quiet)

Storytelling

Facts stage
The drawing engages everyone (HY more involved)
Reflect on the talk – what does money mean?
JM begins to dominate the discussion
Argument on men and women (NW & JM)
Systems stage
(Jae shifts the question to sustainability after MT talks about connections)
JT shifts the question to government issues
NW & JT engage in discussion (negativity about impossibility to change things)
Future perspectives (utopian rather than dystopian)
HY begins by drawing
AW builds on it remarks on drawings
CL practical issues for community
NW regenerate communities – human contact
Jae negativity about the internet and its implications
CL social cohesion (looking at NW & AW)
Summary
AW drawing goats - all laughing. Looking at Jae.
Jae (looking at AW)
JM collapse of city? Go back to rural society?
Jae (looking at NW)
HY & CL drawing while thinking
JT bringing facts – dominating discussion
CL bored.
People use drawing to pass uncomfortable moments
NW bring back the discussion to trust in community
JM jokes the lack of control in cites
JM the need to create a different model
JM architects know how to integrate different professions together
Jae sustainability is holistic

Open Space

See drawing of positions around the table
Keith Hart, Clive Dilnot, John Wood, Olu Taiwo, Ann Schlachter
EW reads out brief
KH says “next” and JW and KH laugh
CL and JW start discussion on seeds – what do they mean? AW NW
Everyone feels uncomfortable
The presence of so many observers is overpowering
NW commented that she feels uncomfortable with so many observers
They begin by drawing seeds after some people/ observers have left the room
They relieve stress by laughing and drawing evil, gigantic seeds
JM begins a discussion on the economy, houses, mortgages
CL how does it relate back to designers?
JM addressing NW, AW answers
CL economy is too vast, let’s try to deal with a small-scale system.
CL a seed can be a space or a focal point for a community to care for?
JM would not like to use PC, it is too remote from real life, from cities.
HY does not engage in discussion.
CL incorporate the idea of surveillance & ego-fascism into the brief.
How do you generate a sense of responsibility (without watching)
JM move from society of “we” to a society of individual.
Find balance between the tribe mentality and the individual mentality.
HY brings in the issue of education
NW links between money and happiness (not taken forward)
HY & CL come back to education and values as seeds
CL explains HY’s idea – how seeds can spread.
(KH leaves the room and slams the door.)
MT suggests they pick a site to make their ideas more specific.
JM explains about the Barbican.
CL explains about the community he lives in in East London
EW explains about the neighbourhood she lives in – mixed environment.
NW CL EW trying to find a common currency to all the people in her neighbourhood, where there is a very diverse notion of currency. (drawing)
NW how can a local currency system adapt itself to different people in the same place? (A difference community).
JM how can people identify and take pride in a place?
NW how others perceive you influences how you perceive yourself. (Barbican vs. crappy estates)
Identification with something, pride, satisfaction.
Communal activity that generates it.
JM changing how the building looks can generate a sense of pride.
NW but then its only special temporarily until everyone does that.
NW the event is more important than the actual physical structure/space.
NW generate a constant activity that can be repeated and adapted rather than a one off event.
Create a ritual for a community.
JM vision is important.

Positioning

There is a diagram for this to scan in.
Focus – HY moved it a bit from the centre.
NW maybe JM and me give the focus a reality check.
Get finished
JM defining our point rather than finishing.
EW concept of seed
JM linking the exercises that we had together, and not making a model.
NW would be interesting t make a model.
EW nake a door, the aims of designing.
JM not make a model, bring all our stories together.
CL welcome to …where do we enter?
EW the door is pride, community and identity.
JM building a model is a waste of time, make a sketch enough.
NW the conceptual is embodies (sic) in a model so that people can understand it.
JM we are facilitating a process by using our roles/qualities.
The concept helps me not to get lost.
AW door is about breaking down barriers, what barriers are we trying to address?
CL it is also the door of opportunity.
NW there has to be a conscious decision to open the door.

Day 2, 1 March

10 – 11am session
See drawing of positions around the table.
Very good dynamics everyone listening to one another.
Trying to describe the event that will bring a community together.
Talking about salvation and religion.
EW explains about the people who live there.
NW we are being too mundane and literal. How to make this poetic?
JM how to create social cohesion in a diverse community? Sense of pride.
CL it is hard to get people involved.
JM we need to look at a bigger scale – how to create seeds for communities in general?
NW go back to the storytelling painting they did yesterday.
JM Lets look at all the tools we developed yesterday (put posters on the floor)
NW the idea is not to come up with a solution but to generate a process which engages the community, and at each place it will be different solution (sic).
You need a facilitator to guide this process.
Personal investment is important, the project cannot/should not (?) be commissioned from the outside.

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