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Why House-About?

When I first became involved in Transition Town Totnes, I joined the art group. In the year and a half since arriving in Totnes I had seen very little of Transition events being a single parent to a 4yr old, I was not able to attend every meeting.
Talking with other parents in my local childrens centre and around play parks not many people seemed to understand what Transition as all about.
I joined the art group with the intention of finding some fellow artists to create some public events which would engage the public in a playful and creative way on the themes of transition. I formed a splinter group of activists but we were all too busy to put into action the crazy schemes we had plenty of fun dreaming up . We did make some signs for the planters at steamer quay for the inspirational greenfingered incredable edibles.
However all that talk opened a channel and  I had a midnight inspiration to create a Wendy House, which would attract children and their parents. A play house that would offer a visual representation of a sustainably built, energy efficient home.
It needed to be light and easy to transport in a small vehicle or push-cart, yet big enough to accommodate several children and an adult. All it's parts needed to be easily replaceable and the frame strong enough to support a variety of materials.
I have since built a prototype of this vision made from coppiced hazel poles, reclaimed plywood from a skip for the corner joins, Velcro, tent pegs and created a material cover from a roll end of upholstery fabric from the fabulous Ali-ways scrap store in Paignton.

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