CASE : ECOCYCLE DESIGN
“EVERYONE CAN BE PART OF THIS FASCINATING EVOLUTIONâ€? EcoCycle Design is as much about philosophy as it is practicality. Over the years, the founder of the concept, architect Anders Nyquist, has ceased compromising with his ideal. He approaches all projects – both buildings and social planning – from an ecocycling perspective. TEXT & PHOTOS PETRA JĂ„RNBERT
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any encyclopaedias define natural as the opposite to what people have produced. Anders Nyquist thinks it ought to be the other way around. Nature offers endless sources of inspiration. “EcoCycle Design is about imitating nature, a tool to use when building sustainable societies. An anthill, for example, is the perfect town. It is based on a social vision. Made from local renewable resources, with perfect ventilation and humidity, organic food and good infrastructure. And what’s more it’s a town with no waste.â€? For Anders Nyquist, it is fundamentally a question of ordinary common sense. Five keywords characterise his life, personally as well as professionally: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Renewables, Rethink. As a new architecture graduate in the sixties, Anders Nyquist soon perceived that his ecocycling concept was not selling itself. One project after another came to nothing. For a long time, Anders Nyquist’s career meandered on, uphill against a headwind. Finally he got tired of it all. “I thought, well I will just have to do this on my own.â€? No sooner said than done. He heard about a house site in the idyllic area of PrĂĽmviken outside Njurunda and set off to negotiate a price.
62 | GREEN SOLUTIONS FROM SWEDEN
“But it was not just a house site. It turned into fifteen hectares, it was to be a whole village,� he says. Forty years have now gone by since that day. Anders Nyquist stands outside his boathouse, with his gaze moving to the village of Rumpan. A utopia realised. An ecovillage based uncompromisingly on an ecological, economic, technical and social vision. “It was not difficult to identify the social hub of the village – we built the harbour with around ten boathouses and a shared sauna.� He sweeps his hand over the village of Rumpan. “It was all forest here, everywhere, just forest – we use the best land for grazing and cultivation. We grow crops in sand and grass clippings. We have built roads on the worst land and around thirty homes all have generous plots with only two neighbours each.� A STONE’S THROW from the harbour is An-
ders Nyquist and his wife Ingrid’s own home and office in two separate buildings. Grapes ripen on the glazed veranda of the office and Ingrid has just brought in some nettles from the kitchen garden to make into a soup for lunch. “The running costs for the office are around SEK 1,700 a month – that is less than it costs to rent a room in student accommodation.�
Anders Nyquist stands outside his boathouse, with his gaze moving to the village of 2UMPAN ! UTOPIA REALISED An ecovillage based uncompromisingly on an ecological, economic, technical and social vision.
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