LIVING ARCHITECTURE CENTRE

The LAC is an off-grid, solar powered, not-for-profit teaching and resource centre run by me, Peter Cowman. I am an architect, teacher and eco-builder.

The LAC is dedicated to the exploration of the potentiality of architecture, in particular debt-free construction, to support a conscious and sustainable way of life that harmonises with natural systems - eco-living.

Eco-living is an expression of an imagined future that encompasses the visible physical world and the invisible metaphysical world that compliments it. Such an eco-life demands conscious engagement with the seen and unseen aspects of life particularly where these are reflected in nature and in the architecture which shelters us.

Architecture, particularly the design and construction of dwelling places, plays a vital role in supporting human aliveness by virtue of its potential to extend both physical as well as psychological support to those persons inhabiting them.

This potentiality of architecture exists as a consequence of the similarity between people and buildings whereby each has a physical outer form that encloses a vital yet invisible inner reality.

In the case of people their invisible inner world is referred to as the 'psyche' while the invisible inner world of buildings is referred to as 'space', or more accurately, as 'spacetime'.

Engagement with both the inner as well as the outer aspects of the architecture of a new or existing building can unlock its potential to provide both physical as well as psychological support for its inhabitants by facilitating a conscious integration of inner and outer realities, in particular the forging of harmonious and beneficial relationships with the natural world - eco-living.