What is an “Agloo”?

Discussion in 'Designing, building, making and powering your life' started by Lumbuck Thornton, Jan 22, 2014.

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What is an “Agloo”?

  1. Uphill - Enough grade to roll back into the shade or the shed if it starts to rain.

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  2. Downhill - Foot or Hand Winch back inside.

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  3. Flat - Easy flat winch either way in and out. (Might need brakes to hold in wind.)

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  1. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    agloo — from Inuktitut (Canadian) a breathing hole made in ice by a seal.

    agloo – for the rest of the world this word could be borrowed as a new permaculture term short for “agricultural – igloo”. A low cost, low impact human shelter covered in plants and vines that is used to retreat to work towards a more positive world.

    There is a thickening layer of ignorance making life harder for humans to metaphorically “breathe”. It is getting harder for people and communities to live intellectually, socially, financially, creatively, musically, artistically, environmentally, professionally and sustainably “breathe” – The time is right to grow and design the first human “Agloo”!

    (Below is the set for a possible environmental theatre production. The “H” shape blue object off to the left is a new type of chicken shed with two built in compost heaps accessible via a treated pine spiral staircase!)
    View attachment 2284
     

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  2. Unmutual

    Unmutual Junior Member

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    So this is a gazebo/shelter/"secret kids garden"/"kids fort"/zen hut type of thing?
     
  3. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    All of the above and more !! Eco-bunker with intertwined micro-zones and multifunction !! It might be big enough to live in given most daylight hours would be spent in the room that moves in and out depending on the desired temperature and the weather etc. The rest of the time would be gardening and picking food all so close !
     
  4. Unmutual

    Unmutual Junior Member

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    Awesome. Now I have pictures in my head like the ones below, with tree/vine tunnels connecting room to room, with other fine pieces of natural art like the caryatid column tree. Looks like some daydreaming fodder for work! I have no idea how to sculpt trees like the wood nymph on the left(or even if you can...could be Photoshopped I guess), but I think most of the other stuff is done with rebar or other scrap metal.

    View attachment 2288 View attachment 2289 View attachment 2290 View attachment 2287
     

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  5. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    Wow, Very impressive vegetation forms in your photos. These serve lots of visual functions.

    I came to the vegetation on the Agloo last and the vegetation can be there on the Agloo because it does not have any windows and I think it makes sense use vegetation where possible as the outer skin of a building to help shield it from the extremes and blend in plus provide a support structure for the vines I propose to use.

    With regard to training the vines then similar steel mesh, bamboo or poly pipe on star posts might be the go - particularly over the shade tunnel leading into the Agloo where there is no building as such.

    The choice of vines is going to be really interesting. I want to try and maximise food productivity but around here in Australia with the extremes of summer and bush fire seasons I am considering having two layers of vegetation, the outer being a tough heat shield, pruned to stop it becoming too dense. The second layer should be protected enough to stop vegetables cooking on the vine. Fruit trees are further out and designed to caste even more shade on the Agloo tunnel in some instances. I am open to vegetation type and planting ideas.

    The Agloo is designed to cover all the fixed life support systems found in a normal human shelter but built assuming very little time will be spent in there by occupants other than maybe when they are sleeping or cooking a meal or using any of the other services like the wormfarm toilet, greywater systems etc. Water tank drums will be hidden around the perimeter in the foliage. Underground cooling and watering systems are all integrated.

    The tunnel leading into the Agloo is designed to have varying grades of shade and allowed to get quite thick in the summer to generate its own evaporative cooling with some temporary doors used to keep in the cool.

    A thing called a “paradigm” on wheel is what everything is built around and the paradigm is built around the needs of the human occupants.
    The paradigm is a new type of room but it is really a crafted space that can be moved along a track to amplify comfortable microclimates. The paradigm shifts !

    The heavy weather proof and walls, tiny fixed windows and air tight hard floor all change. Most of these attributes are transferred to the Agloo to free up the paradigm to be far more flexible than a conventional room so that it in a way becomes a piece of outdoor furniture or even a form of clothing extension adjusted each day or when ever the sun or weather changes.

    Here is another view from a different angle. Note the theatre lighting includes a arc boom of lights to represent the angle of the sun changing each hour of the day and the whole boom raising or lowering to adjust for the seasons. Hope this explains some of the extra dimensions...


    View attachment 2291
     

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  6. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    Nice to have your creative vision back Lumbuck.
     
  7. Unmutual

    Unmutual Junior Member

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    If you're worried about it burning from wildfire, about the only suggestion I have would be to use something like Malabar Spinach(Basella alba), which is semi-succulent and can be edible too. Not sure how it would do in your neck of the woods, but it's supposed to love heat.

    Okay, I'm getting a better sense of what you're trying to achieve. I was wondering about keeping the weather out, but it looks like you are growing plants over some from of skin(plastic? cob? formed wood?). This lends a new meaning to the term "garden room".
     
  8. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    No worries, glad to share it and more to come on all this. Happy to have collaborators and thanks for taking an interest!

    Now imagine a multi-storey Agloo vine covered scaffold silo with a shade tunnel running out at each level towards the closest part of equator.

    Imagine lots of them and you get a permi-city !

    I have a bit more drawing to do !!!
     
  9. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    (I called it "A Human Bower” before I realised “Agloo" might fit the shape more. Under all the vines is a shed without a permit used for security when not there, water tank catchment and to weather, night, winter proof life support technology and systems. One day I hope to get one established in every zoo around the world before this species mucks up the habitat of all others ! The viewer could become the exhibit and talk about what they were doing and why all day as a permi!)
     
  10. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    Here is the 5 storey Agloo !

    Over-shading could be an issue so they need to be in rows a certain distance apart ! View attachment 2292
     

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  11. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    In the vegetated entry tunnel and extending out between the tracks to the sun access point I am proposing to construct a swale to help sustain the vegetation with the run off from the water barrel/tanks hidden in the vegetated cover of the agloo fed by the internal roofing over the night accommodation/wet weather room. It might seem strange having a swale as a path to your front door but it makes sense when you think about it - provided there is a spillway to send any excess away so it does not flood the inter parts of your agloo. I might need a ramp in the rails leading up into the core - could make the roll out more dramatic to chase the sun !
     
  12. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    View attachment 2329 Here is another view from the sketchup model. Enough dreaming - I better get on with advancing the prototype!
    How far off the ground should the trampoline floor be? I need to allow enough space to grow carrots underneath - I would like the aroma to rise up through the floor. My guess is when I am lying on the trampoline floor then at the lowest point I will probably need 300mm below that to where the carrots grow.
     

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  13. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    The "moving room” has interchangeable and potentially layers of panels that can be changed like clothes to adjust to the climatic conditions. Imagine having a room that becomes an extension of your clothes or totally your clothes. A sprung floor is almost like a hammock so we also have a room become a bed in a way. A recliner chair can also be lowered into this room on support beams. I need to work out quick release and storage options in the Agloo for all these components. The quick change floor cover options also need to be explored from a breathing floor through to a warm blanket or carpet lined hammock like mesh. The two layers of vines in the shade tunnel can be pruned to increase the amount of light and ventilation and I guess shade cloth could be added to some degree replace these leaves if too many are removed.
     
  14. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    View attachment 2335 Here is the first agloo moving room prototype - except this one did not move - it was on bricks! The inverted trampoline had a dome tent pitched on it and a beanbag placed inside. A rope was put along under the trampoline mat to help stop the floor sagging so much and create two side by side hammocks in effect. This also helped stop all objects sliding towards you. View attachment 2336 Here is the side view. When I get the shade tunnel constructed and replace the tent with removable panels and fly screens in the summer - this is the view I hope to look out on... View attachment 2337
     

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  15. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    Nature Smart Future Humans Exhibit at the Zoo

    View attachment 2419

    All the animals at the zoo need the right plants and climate around them and humans are no exception. Imagine if humans could see themselves on display and also have access to part of the enclosure to see how well they might fend in looking after themselves in an environmentally friendly way in the future !!
     

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  16. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    Trying a new approach to the introduction.....

    Your Personal Space Mission – How close can we live to nature?

    Not all space missions leave the ground. Staying on the ground you can still travel around the sun every year. We are losing fellow space travellers and our life support systems are in trouble unless we reinvent how we interact with our world and one another. Nature can be dangerous but it is also essential. If we were going to build a piece of advanced outdoor furniture that maximised the benefits of nature for you and your benefit to nature, what would it look like?
    What are the many support systems needed around this new personal space?
     
  17. andrew curr

    andrew curr Moderator

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    I've always had a soft spot for wood nymphs!!
     
  18. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    I think I want my space mission to hover above the ground like this - Tree tents.
     
  19. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    Wow those tree tents look great. Great to have wild life up close like that Geraffe. Sitting so close to vegetation and all the life that lives on it and laying close to the soil is also something I am looking forward to. I want something self supporting, not tied to trees but also having the safety of only vines above. Many Australian trees drop limbs often.
     
  20. Lumbuck Thornton

    Lumbuck Thornton Junior Member

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    I reckon I might bolt together steel 2.4 metre star posts so the upper sections create a track for the rollers and the bottom sections create a stable base on bricks and held apart at a fixed spacing by more star posts on 90 degree brackets. What do you think? A 4 ribbed star post made of 2 3 rib start posts and it should be pretty rigid to handle the vertical loads. If I can keep them above the ground then they should not rust as quickly. Might grade slightly so they don’t hold rainwater.
     

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