Commensal

In South Cornwall, between the end of the XVIIIth and the beginning of the XIXth century, the “erected stones”, or “standing stones” (mein zav in Breton) were cut at uneven heights in the numerous granite outcrops, in order to be used to delimit the parcels where embankments were non-existent. To cut longer orthostats, approximately 2,70 metres high, enabled the construction of walls, of partitions, the use of these stones as posts and load-bearing walls, and the building of farming facilities and modest housings.

The new size of the loche (the outbuildings of a farm) does not exceed in height the roof line existing before the intervention, even though its volume is modified and extended in order to fit out two levels. This irregular parallelepiped will slowly disappear under a plant coating: Ivy (Hedera helix) planted at the foot of the eastern and southern sides will, in five years, hem in the box made of metal sheeting and grating. This climbing and persistent plant, usually considered as a parasite, will protect the Euclidean shape of the extension, cover little by little its silvery skin, and provide it with a thermal shield while giving it the appearance of a ruin.

The wooden framework of the extra height leans on the granite blocks stuck in the ground. Inside, alcoves appear as hollows, raw granite is covered with a coating of lime and hemp, the bed can be closed up, whereas organic shapes made of resin and fiberglass come out of the kitchen. They are the work of the family son; a surfer in his spare “well-occupied” time.

The ivy colonizes its host without harming it. The inert support adopts a nearly biological behavior by hybridization with the living, whereas the living matter is substituting for conventional insulating materials when developing and becoming more dense. Only a few bits are missing for the symbiotic process to be completed. But this is another story.