[p2p-research] [Open Manufacturing] important appeal: social media and p2p tools against the meltdown

[Vinay Gupta]

Just while we're here, please don't conflate the hexayurt and the  
cube (which, well, always had six sides.) The cube has twice the  
materials use per square foot, half the surface-to-volume ratio  
(giving much less insulation for a given R value of wall) and no  
meaningful internal triangulation which will cause all kinds of  
structural issues if you work in lighter materials.

  It's not an equivalent structure, nor even a related one. If you  
want to insulate with fiberglass there are reasons for building the  
cube, but (as I've said elsewhere) my strong preference is for  
reflective insulations like reflectix on hexayurts.

Vinay


-- 
Vinay Gupta
Free Science and Engineering in the Global Public Interest

http://guptaoption.com/map - social project connection map

http://hexayurt.com - free/open next generation human sheltering
http://hexayurt.com/plan - the whole systems, big picture vision

Gizmo Project VOIP : (USA) 775-743-1851
Skype/Gizmo/Gtalk/AIM: hexayurt
Twitter: @hexayurt http://twitter.com/hexayurt
UK Cell : +44 (0) 0795 425 3533 / USA VOIP (+1) 775-743-1851

"If it doesn't fit, force it."

On Mar 13, 2009, at 5:40 AM, Nathan Cravens wrote:

> Hi Kevin,
>
> Thanks for your feedback. This proposal fits well with Open Source  
> Market Economy we've discussed, in that, it anticipates the  
> decrease in monetary necessity.
>
> It’s an excellent model for community resilience–simultaneously a
> cushion that could enable the unemployed to subsist outside the wage
> system and form the nucleus of a future post-mass production economy
> centered on production outside the wage system.
>
> My hopes are that these environments help people thrive and support  
> independent living through community organizing. It would be a  
> place to network and learn skills that help to revise, add, or  
> replicate various parts most personally attractive based on the  
> resource dynamic, like available applicable knowledge and material  
> resources. The intention is to make the organizational approach  
> transparent and self organizing.
>
> I recently read Wallerstein's introduction to world systems  
> analysis. I find the approach very attractive. This view provides  
> the empirical backing for the effort.
>
> First comes developing this proposal further into something adoptable.
>
>
> A few points:
>
> The Fab lab concept should be expanded to include all forms of
> small-scale production tools affordable by individuals. This would
> include well-equipped home workshops with conventional machine tools,
> as well as intermediate-sized tools like the multimachine. This
> broader conception would coincide with the community workshops
> advocated by Colin Ward, Karl Hess, etc.
>
> I will look into Ward and Hess for more background. My influences  
> presently are that of Factor e Farm and NYC Resistor. Factor e for  
> more rural settings and NYC for an urban model.
>
> Local agriculture should place a premium on alternative water sources
> (esp. rainwater conservation with cisterns), edible permaculture
> landscaping, etc., for resilience against drought and other forms of
> climate change associated with global warming.
>
> The Vigyan Ashram has developed affordable methods of ground water  
> detection. For dry areas there are ways of condensing moisture in  
> the air. Desalinization can be used for communities near the sea.
>
> Appropedia is a good hub for the various ways of water.
> http://www.appropedia.org/Portal:Water
>
>
>
> And adding housing as a fourth and separate category, rather than only
> related tangentially to the other functions of the Cafe, would fill a
> big gap in the overall resiliency strategy. It might be some kind of
> cheap, bare bones cohousing project associated with the Cafe (water
> taps, cots, hotplates, etc) that would house people at minimal cost on
> the YMCA model. Squats in abandoned/public buildings, and building
> with scavenged materials on vacant lots, etc. (a la Colin Ward), might
> tie in with this as wel
>
> Fabs can support rapid fabrication for housing. I'll look into the  
> YMCA model. I can imagine hostel-like rooms for those that avidly  
> work in these areas.
>
> In an urban area, one large multi-level building could provide all  
> basic needs. A floor for  hydroponicly grown food, the fab, and  
> cafe. The remaining space can be used for housing. The more  
> sophisticated the fabs and availibility of materials, the better  
> conditions may rival or exceed present middle class standards.
>
> Vinay Gupta’s work on emergency life-support technology for refugees
> is also relevant to the housing problem: offering cheap LED lighting,
> solar cookers, water purifiers, etc., to those living in tent cities
> and Hoovervilles.
>
> Cafes and CSAs without fabs can draw from Vinay's work and that of  
> Open Source Ecology, particularly the Hexcube for rapid housing.
>
>
> Nathan
>
>
>
>
>
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