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"The system of nature, of which man is a part, tends to be self-balancing, self-adjusting, self-cleansing. Not so with technology. ."
E.F. SCHUMACHER, Small is Beautiful, 1973.

APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY:

This refers to technology that is suitable to the social and economic conditions of the geographic area in which it is to be applied, is environmentally sound, and promotes self-sufficiency on the part of those using it. It aims to increase the resilience of a community promoting the local economy and strengthening social cohesion.
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MASONRY STOVE:

A masonry stove is a high efficiency heating system based on the thermal inercia properties of some materials like brick and stone of accumulating heat in the same way that a battery accumulates electricity.



Estufa de mamposteria

BIOMASS STOVE:

A compact and efficient heater, which also allows you to cook, reheat, and dry food. It’s large radiating surface provides heat. It feeds on small pieces of wood burning slowly and efficiently thanks to a restricted air intake. Inside is a second sealed container, and hot gases rise between the two spaces.



estufa ferro

SOLAR AIR HEATER:

Installed in a south facing wall of a house and connects with the interior. Aluminum cans are heated through the glass; cold air enters the bottom outlet and rises as it warm. It enters the house at more than 40 degrees Celsius from the top outlet.

 Homo Habilis

SOLAR WATER HEATER:

Water is heated in the radiator, which is wrapped in aluminium foil cut from beer cans to increase thermal conduction. Due to the thermosiphon effect (hot water expands and weighs less) hot water rises, displacing cold water to the bottom outlet. Design and construction: Toni Socies.

- Conferencias para difusión de los conceptos básicos de construcción sostenible y las propuestas que nos mueven a la ciudadanía

Homo Habilis

HAND PUMP:
A pump designed to move water from a tank located at shallow depth, ie removing rainwater collected in an underground tank. Each depression of the arm produces over 1,5 liter of water. The body of the pump is a recycled fire extinguisher, the base comes from a scuba diving oxygen tank, and the piston is made of an old shaft trimmer.

 Homo Habilis

SOIL SIEVER:
Automatic soil siever made with a supermarket trolley and a recycled mitre saw. The stones and gravel slide towards the basket while the sieved soil goes though the wire cage.
Design and construction: Miquel Ramis.

 Homo Habilis

BREAD OVEN:
Traditional bread oven build with broken roof tiles, soil and insulated with ash and local rice husks.. Tested several times with great success ( bread, pizzas and sucking pigs...)

Left to right: Miquel Angel, Pere Joan, Ramón, Rafael, Gonzálo, Miquel Angel. .

 Homo Habilis

STEEL FORGE:
Forge built with car parts, galvalized rubing, iron and a manual fan. The anvil is a piece of rail road. The forge heats up tp 1600ºC, enought to burn steel like if it were wood.

See related page- .

 Homo Habilis

HAND STONE MILL:
Flour hand mill, built with stone. The design is roman, used by the roman army, and still can be found in use at the north of africa. Allows you to grind flour or, like in our case, broken roof tiles to obtain artificial puzzolana.

See related page- .

 Homo Habilis


Notas:

1) "Existe una concepción muy popular y muy andaluza del arte que siempre me ha parecido muy sugerente y muy refrescante entre tanto tratado de estética pedante y abstruso. A menudo, cuando en una visita de obra alabo la solución con que ha resuelto el escayolista un encuentro difícil, el peón, tocado con su sempiterno gorro de papel, exclama: ¡ es que fulanito es un artista! ¿ Que quiere significar con este calificativo? Pues que fulanito tiene la rara habilidad de resolver con gracia, con economía de medios y aparente poco esfuerzo un problema intrincado...

Esta concepción tan particular de arte es como una pervivencia de la que se tenía en la Grecia clásica, sobre todo antes de Platón. Los griegos no poseían un término equivalente a lo que nosotros designamos con el nombre de "arte", pues este concepto estaba incluído en la palabra tekhnè. Para un griego este término engloba tanto el arte del navegante o el carpintero como el del escultor o el pintor. La distinción entre artista y artesano, la frontera entre concepción y realización, eran muy vagas, como lo es en la ancestral cultura china, donde no se distingue entre artes mayores y menores y se considera de igual mérito el trabajo del pintor o el calígrafo que el del lacador o el ceramista..."

Oscar Tusquets. p 192. Dios lo vé. Ed Anagrama. 2000.


Ver Miquel Ramis
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