Trekking to Heidegger’s writing ‘hut’

Martin Heidegger is one of the few major philosophers who was also a shedworker (see here for more on him and his Hütte and the book pictured above by Adam Sharr which is marvellous) although this aspect of his lifestyle is often sadly overlooked. Thank heavens then for this lovely piece by Walter Nicklin in The Washington Post about his Black Forest pilgrimmage to Heidegger's writing shed. Here's a snippet:

In a meadow surrounded by trees, it was all but invisible. No wonder I had first missed it! Unverborgenheit, or “unconcealment,” is a word Heidegger coined for the sudden discovery of truth, as if stumbling upon a clearing in a forest. I left the manicured trail for an overgrown path laced with electrified fencing (to keep cattle from wandering). On hands and knees to duck under one set of wires, I couldn’t help but laugh as I thought of the celebrated Heidegger trope of the woodcutter’s labors seeking to hack out a path to the clearing, to the bright “thereness of what is.”

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Garden office gym

To end the week on a get up and go note, here are photos from a Garden2Office build of their Malmo studios kits bought by the owner of Aldersbrook Personal Training in Wanstead, Sylvain Vidot, who wanted a 30sq m gym to offer a range of cross training equipment close to home for many of his City clients. -------------------------------------------------------

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Rise in homeworking means people increasingly want to live near water

Strutt & Parker’s latest Waterside Survey shows that twentysomethings and thirtysomethings are increasingly moving towards waterside living in the UK, largely due to increased flexible working patterns and shedworking.

More than a quarter of under-35s polled and over a third of 35-39s are actively looking to live near water within five years, as well as 27% of 40-44s.
Interestingly, among employed adults already living in waterside properties, just under a half already work from home, rising to nearly two thirds in their early 30s and over three-quarters in their early 40s. On average, those working from their waterside properties do so for three days a week, in particular those in the tech, education and healthcare sectors.

Richard Speedy, Head of Waterside at Strutt & Parker, said: “Waterside living has so much to offer – inspiring a more active outdoors lifestyle and a really sociable environment for spending time with friends and family. This year it’s been interesting to see that more people are being lured to the waterside by the promise of good food – 15% up from 7% in 2017.”

Compared to last year, more people are choosing to live near water for better air quality (47% up from 41% in 2017) and for mental wellbeing (35% up from 29% in 2017).
 Among those who live near the water or would like to in the future, the preferred type of location is the seaside/coast (52%), followed by lakes/lochs (17%) then rivers/estuaries (13%). There has been a big jump in numbers who desire to live near to docklands (7% compared to 1% in 2017).

Those living in London currently are the most likely to be seeking a property with direct water access for a boat such as a mooring (69%), paying up to 10% extra for this (43%). 

Image courtesy Garden Affairs

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Wanderlust: Starring role for garden office

The new BBC series Wanderlust by Nick Payne which debuted last night starring Toni Colette and Steven Mackintosh has attracted attention due to its supposedly 'steamy' nature as a kind of sex comedy. Which is all very well, but the chief reason for watching is of course the marvellous garden office out of which Colette's character Joy Richards who works from home as a therapist. As the shots above indicate, it's pretty spacious with plenty of bookshelf space, various comfortable furnishings, and some huge windows (the blinds of which Joy closes when things get 'steamy' inside).

Suffering garden office envy watching #wanderlust

— Ian Critchley (@iancritchley4) September 4, 2018

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Matt Haig planning to become a shedworker

Gonna turn this into my Roald Dahl-esque writing shed. pic.twitter.com/bYY52W7HmS

— Matt Haig (@matthaig1) September 2, 2018

Writer Matt Haig - currently riding high in the bestsellers charts with his Notes on a Nervous Planet - has indicated on Twitter his plans to become a shedworker (he had mentioned earlier in the year to the Sunday Telegraph that his house did have a shed in which he planned to work but that his children had commandeered it). It's had, as you'd hope, a very positive response as you'll see if you click the link and see the responses which include famous and personal examples of writing sheds.

Interestingly, two years ago he told The Guardian:

Although I still have a room set aside for writing, I rarely (never) write in it. I have long fantasised about building a Roald Dahl‑style writer’s shed in the garden but I know, deep down, I would never end up going there.

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Anthropods

The Anthropod is aimed at the glamping market (be one of the first people to see it at The Glamping Show in Warwickshire September 20-22) but would also do nicely as a garden office which it is also targeting - a treehouse version is under development. Delivered on a flatbed truck, they are relocatable and easy to set up on uneven ground thanks to their unique adaptable legs.

It is the brainchild of industrial designer Rik Currie and comes in 7.2m or 5.3m lengths which are both 2.6m wide.  There are on-grid and off-grid versions, and features include a breathable internal membrane and recyclable insulation.

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Rodrigo Moreno Masey's 'decorative shed'

Here is some garden shed inspiration from the architect @morenomasey , who has given his a contemporary update 🏠 🏠 🏠 https://t.co/j5sV1ffEht pic.twitter.com/RYzJnoszSI

— Sunday Times Home (@TheSTHome) August 20, 2018

A nice piece by Alexandra Goss in the Sunday Times (£) focusing on what architect Rodrigo Moreno Masey calls his 'decorative shed' at his London home. Here's a snippet:

“I realised that the use of a building changes from hour to hour, from day to day and across the seasons,” explains the founder of MorenoMasey, an architecture studio. “Everything in what I call my ‘decorative shed’ is functional, but it doesn’t have a specific function — it is an office, a study, a gym, a conference space, a TV room, a playroom, a library, a bar or a shelter. Although I use it for work, I don’t have this man-cave mentality, which means it isn’t taken over by a model railway, weightlifting gear or whatever. It is a much lighter, brighter living space for everyone in my family to use.”

Features include a projector screen wall, silvery grey reclaimed oak boards from old British barns, no gutters, and a huge glazed electric roller door on the front. The general rural look was inspired by barns in the Otztal Valley in Austria.

Well worth a read - if you don't want to pay, there is a two articles a week free option you can sign up to.

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