The project - in collaboration with Jamini Patel, senior tutor at Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University and Vickie Hayward of Company Place - was driven by the aim to rehabilitate the overfarmed, pesticide-permeated soil of the site. Our goal was to create a self-sustaining system where all materials used in the creative research and making process are grown, gathered, and salvaged, connecting people and places. With permaculture as a guiding principle, we explored Hügelkultur, a method that involves creating raised garden beds by piling logs, branches, compost, and other organic matter. These materials decompose over time, creating a nutrient-rich growing environment for plants, improving soil structure, and retaining moisture. The decaying wood also acts as a sponge, soaking up water and providing it to plants during dry periods. While Hügelkultur is effective for reintroducing nutrients into the soil, our research identified key gaps in its ability to meet our project's broader goals.

(+) ANTHROPOCENE The site has undergone significant human development, serving as a site of ceramics works, and a centre for the scientific development of pesticides and weed killers. Our project aimed to archive the site's human impact, incorporating and researching methods of using clay as a historical record.

(+) PIONEERS To support a self-sufficient intervention, we investigated pioneer species – plants and creatures essential for creating a permaculture. We designed bespoke interventions, such as bird feeders to attract animals that disperse seeds of rare plants and hosting opportunities for insects, particularly urban pollinators, to aid in the pollination of reintroduced plants.

(+) PROGRAMS The project reimagined the traditional Hügel structure. Leveraging Hügel principles like nutrient cycling, we developed innovative structures such as tree guards that replace simple plastic columns with collection devices for fallen leaves and water. These devices support plant growth and host beneficial organisms. The project culminated in a series of experiments and interventions exploring hosting, fractals, and erosion

Relics are innovative interventions crafted from a combination of clay and egg shells – a locally sourced waste product. This blend creates structures with varying erosion rates, forming a timeline of degradation. These relics serve as tree guards, environmental bridges, and seed storage elements, reflecting the Anthropocene and the human history of the site through clay.

We explored the digitisation of clay in two primary ways. First, AI-generated height maps were used to create tiles mimicking naturally occurring fractals. These tiles store water and have textured surfaces that support moss growth, with CNC technology used to create press moulds. Second, we applied algorithms based on threshold rules and subdivisions to generate fractals providing hosting opportunities at various scales. These digitally modelled components were produced using ceramic 3D printing, ensuring precise translation of digital designs into physical forms.

The Skeleton is composed of willow and wood woven together to create diverse surface textures. It features Hügle portals – holes that serve as hosting spaces – and woven willow segments that encourage insect burrowing. Although the willow will decompose, it initially supports the Hügle, allowing logs to be reinserted and the structure to be rebuilt from above and below, maintaining its essential layers over time.

This integrated group design creates a variety of hosting opportunities using highly localised materials and digital methods. The aim is to support specific pioneer species, contributing to a sustainable permaculture system on the site.