“I want to take you to a moment of zooming in to subtle sounds. Imagine or go back to a moment where you were sitting in the grass. The buzz of nature is all around you. Bees, flies and…... Crickets! First….. you can’t trace down the buzz. The buzz is everywhere, entering your senses. An ancient buzz. You gaze over a field of grass. You squeeze your eyes in the direction of the sound. How to unravel your relationship to nature? Your eyes try to capture the camouflaging tricks of your surroundings. A cricket appears at one of the grass blades. This cricket produces harmonising sounds, while blending in. As a tiny part of the rhythm of nature. With it’s long 6 legs the little insect raises itself above the ground. Living a continuous mobile live. The cricket jumps, leaves nothing behind…..only a bouncing grass blade.”
The image of a cricket we want to use for designing the cricket house. We want to use the cricket as a reminder to connect with nature. A way to minimise, be humble and slow down.
The inspiration came from “cricket cages”. In ancient China people captured crickets in cages to let them compose harmonies together. Crickets mainly start to make sound when they are separated from each other, for example at each side of a bed, they will start buzzing. An art developed of making cricket cages.. A cage is like a prison. A place where living beings are kept involuntarily. We want to transform the concept of a “cage” to a “house”. A place that attracts and where people want to be naturally.
We developed 6 principles:
1. Fast is slow
Slowing down. We want to live according to the buzz of nature. Go back to an ancient core. We want to scale down. We want to use a space as optimal as possible. A place to reflect on our habits, who we are. An alternative. How can do work we truly value. It is about enjoying our lives right now. Less house, more life.
2. The buzz of nature
Buzzing. Listen. Connect. Live life in authenticity and harmony. Diversity in unity.
3. The humble footprint
Printing. We want to give more to the environment then we take. So we can minimize our negative impact on nature. We maximize our positive influence on nature. We want to think in 7 generations. We want to be an example of how to treat our surroundings. We want to live a low impact life. We don’t want to own a lot of stuff. We have a special focus on seeds and sprouting. We want to understand and research ecology.
4. Spiracles Miracles
Breathing. Spiracles are openings in insects bodies to breath. The house emphasises the element of air, breathing and communication. Body, mind & soul research, practicing and teaching. In the house we practice Zen meditation, yoga, tea ceremonies and music. Researching the inner world.
5. Making instrument to live
Making. The house is functioning as a space that makes our arts & crafts habits possible. We use the house as a place to host people and events to create together.
6. A sense of touch (tast gevoel)
Touching. We want to awaken all the senses. Awaken inner research. We want to live our life in the ultimate present.
Slow down, buzz, print, breath, make, touch.
Bug Music: How Insects Gave Us Rhythm and Noise.