Community

Energy

Arguably both the most fundamental and the most expansive in its manifestations. Throughout various cultures the beliefs about the energy element span many arenas from being the building “blocks” of the universe, and even ideas themselves, to spirit, souls, Life itself, and beyond.

Many believe that there are subtle energies that are less tangible and detectable but still influence living beings and the universe. And we all know that there are forms of energy that we can’t perceive without technological help. It would be illogical to think we can perceive them all with our current technologies.

There are hypotheses or articulations that suggest that even matter is just energy vibrating at rates and frequencies that present as atoms, etc., though this is not universally accepted or understood, nor disproven, in the scientific community. It still functions as some folks’ Theory of Everything (or TOE).

In physics, energy is defined as the capacity to do work, or the ability to cause change or movement of any sort.

Energy is present through everything that happens in this world and even beyond in our universe. It is essential for all natural, mechanical, human, and non-human processes. So energy to us means more than just utilities, or generating and utilizing solar power. It means considering all the forms of energy entering and exiting the site system and beyond.

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Explore the tool-tips (colorful little clickable dots with information in them) the digital twin environment to the right to learn how this could express itself at this scale.

Earth

Across various cultures and spiritual traditions Earth symbolizes stability, grounding, fertility, and the interconnectedness of Life. It is often associated with the feminine, representing the nurturing and sustaining qualities of the natural world. In many belief systems, the earth element is linked to the physical body, the material world, and the cyclical nature of existence.

Earth is materiality, soil, minerals, and other tangible resources. Earth makes Life possible by providing a habitable environment for all forms of Life, including the myriad of micro-nutrients that were initially trapped deep within her body.

In integrative design it's important to consider the properties and qualities of materials we use, as well as the means of extraction, manufacturing, transportation, installation, “useful” (to humans) life, and likely end of “useful” life (disintegration, decomposition, uptake, or not, etc.).

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Explore the tool-tips (colorful little clickable dots with information in them)accessible when you click in the digital twin environment to the right to learn how this could express itself at this scale.

Water

Lifeblood of the Earth. Water is revered across cultures and spiritual traditions for its Life-sustaining and transformative qualities. It symbolizes purity, renewal, and the flow of life, and is often associated with emotions, intuition, and the subconscious mind. Water is also linked to healing, cleansing, and fertility, and plays a significant role in rituals and ceremonies aimed at purification and spiritual connection.

Water is a medium, and more. Mediums have value most, or perhaps only, when in motion; we can orchestrate this movement, but obstruct it only for short periods of time, otherwise to our peril.

It is important to consider how we capture, treat, conserve, use, and release water. Doing that in a way that resembles the natural water cycle is a design goal for the Ramboland site. In healthy temperate forest ecosystems water moves mostly vertically – rain replenishing groundwater storage and the aquifer, and water being released back into the air through evapotranspiration. This design by nature allows water to fulfill its purpose, to support Life, control climate, be purified and purify other systems, etc. However, humans have been treating rain as a nuisance in the design of our civic water systems for a long time now – and the water we treat as a nuisance becomes such. Ramboland aims to demonstrate ways to integrate, conserve, and even treat this precious resource in an urban environment.

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Air

“All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man…the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.” — Chief Seattle.

The element of air holds significant sacred meaning across various cultures and belief systems, often representing breath, communication, freedom, and the spirit. It is associated with life force, intellect, and the unseen yet powerful forces of nature.

Air is critically important that we take more care in considering how we treat our air and what we put into it, inside and outside of buildings. Buildings account for approximately 39% of global energy-related carbon emissions (EIA, DOE), and often have 10x to 100x as much airborne particulate and contaminants in their interiors compared to average outdoor conditions (Greenguard).

Ramboland would sequester far more carbon than it emits, and all the plants on the site would generate far more oxygen than the human inhabitants consume. Careful thought has gone into all the material choices in the building to make sure that no adhesive, paints, or treatments will be used that emit harmful pollutants into the interior and into the atmosphere. Air filtration and circulation systems keep air flowing through the house and the greenhouse.

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Biological Life

The end for all the means to lead to. From what we can tell, all the other elements / key subsystems exist to support the vitality, viability, and evolutionary capacity of this one. Many traditions do not limit the idea to biology, but recognize an aliveness of all “inanimate” things, and world and universe writ large. That view might be better seated at our “All” key subsystems / elements level. Biological Life is a clear expression of strong emergence, aka the whole being greater than the sum of its parts, and having thought through all the other elements, it is clear how inextricably intertwined, or not even at all separate enough to be woven. Even “weaving” suggests a prior separateness and new combination that is a human projection onto a unified Whole. The re-wholonizing is not so much in reality, as in our conception of it, except in as much as we have actually torn these things apart to reflect our misguided inclinations to divide.

Transcending and including them all, in a process of weaving complexity and mutualism out of decay and decline. The vitality of humanity requires our living systems, and to heal and increase the vitality of the other living systems, we are needed. This must not be reserved for less “developed” suburban, rural, and wilderness areas. Our cities can and must serve as rich ecological zones, and this is more possible than we might think. Like sunken ships providing surface area for the restoration and/or growth of coral reefs, our built-environment can be designed and retrofitted to support many forms of interdependent life, as well as enable better self-nourishment with the various elements. In concert, Life becomes far more viable, and with humans playing their role in these systems we are richly rewarded with provisions for our emotional and physical needs. From such a point of wealth and health, we can co-evolve to unimagined levels of capacity.

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Socio-economic & Cultural

The idea of Collective consciousness suggests that there is a shared, underlying consciousness or awareness that connects individuals within a group, society, or even humanity as a whole. This concept has roots in various philosophical and spiritual traditions, as well as sociological theories. It implies that there are shared beliefs, values, and even archetypes that influence individual thoughts and behaviors.

The somewhat more tangible structures and processes of human interaction that realizes our shared fates are critical to bridging our more subtle connections with the physical infrastructure sharing this project proposes and demonstrates.

In modern society, communities are often separated – we have enough people nearby but we don’t behave like a village functionally nor socially. All of these other Key Systems conspire to facilitate humanity thriving. But thriving also requires us to come together to meet the social needs amongst our community. Ramboland is not only a vibrant example of what's possible with green building, community agriculture, renewable energy, and progressive water management, it will be a living laboratory where people will come to grow food, learn about regenerative principles and systems, and learn about resilience, access, and inter-dependence. All of this is the result of our community engagement efforts and will, in turn, catalyze further engagement within the communities we serve. What happens at Ramboland can reverberate widely out into the world and will hopefully inform a wave of regenerative repatterning of society. But ALL of that is predicated upon also tending social, cultural, and economic structures and processes that can support establishment of these systems and their sustainable, mycelial spread. We can prove what's possible here and use this as a model for all kinds of housing and other urban solutions that are so greatly needed by so many people around the world, but if the “software” of these financial and community connectivity considerations behind all this hardware are not also taken seriously, it will not work.

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How to navigate
the Digital Twin?

Exploring Ramboland's Digital Twin

Welcome to Ramboland's digital twin! Our unique navigation system allows you to explore this groundbreaking project from multiple perspectives.

Dive in and discover how Ramboland is demonstrating that our cities can heal ecosystems while supporting all citizens. Your exploration of this digital twin contributes to the evolving vision of Ramboland. Enjoy your journey!

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