Getting someone else to build your house for you is rather like getting someone else to make love for you.

It is efficient. It saves time. Someone else takes all the risks. When it goes wrong you have someone else to blame. You can get on with the really important things in life, like making money. The arguments are very convincing.

Without a doubt the only real choices any individual might make in life are best left to experts, because, after all, they have lots of experience and have been through it all before. The industry knows best. Or so they would have you believe.

It can be a little un-nerving to discover that most of the "experts" on housing have never even built themselves a house. Even most of those who claim to have built a house have really only followed someone else's recipe. Knowing how to read  a cook book is very different from being a good cook.

When the planning students set out build themselves a house they discovered that nothing was quite the way they had expected. They anticipated that someone would tell them what to do. Instead they were asked to think. At the end of the process an evaluation form asked if they were perfectly clear at the beginning of the course as to what was expected of them. Well, no. Life does not come with an explanation.

The moment of truth came when the students realised it was their project and that they were not simply building someone else's plan. If it failed it was their responsibility. They identified with the building and their pride was fierce. No one could take away what they achieved because finally they came to see that the project was really about building a community, about making friendships, and about being fully alive.

They found out where to get glass cut, where to find flax and manuka, and where to buy the best local pizzas. The band played. The dancing went on late into the night. The students discovered that building is not a technical problem but a ritual activity. Ritual is all about involvement. Children and parents came to share.

When someone else does the building, or makes love for you, they have all the fun. Another generation of students have now discovered not only what it means to be empowered but also how important it is for them to empower others. Planning is all about power.

The final structure may not have been quite as grand as the palaces of Saddam Hussein but the gold plated toilet seat made it seem so. The noble gestures are remembered, not the small print. We spend too much time managing the environment, and not enough time loving it.

The "Healing Space" stories, which were woven together like the flax panels, "you will not find in a book anywhere". (Baxter, 1967)

The engineers have a rapid response team. In the event of a terrorist or natural disaster they can within an hour or two be assessing the stability of structures, determining their safety before rescue teams are allowed to enter. The architects have a similar rapid response team.

What practical help can planners offer in the event of a disaster?

The Design students in the Department of Planning of the University of Auckland considered the possibilities. The threat of a SARS outbreak provided a useful scenario. It was clear that once the hospital system was unable to cope people would need to use their own resources.

People would need to provide for isolation in a city where the "external envelope" design of houses precludes the possibility. Fortunately people can build a 10M2 structure without the need for a resource consent. The students set out to build a "Healing Space" so that they would have the skills to help others who wanted to do the same. It slowly became clear that all houses should be places of healing.

The structure was taken apart in the early hours of the morning, loaded into a furniture trailer, and rebuilt as a display for the NZPI Conference in Hamilton in May 2003.

In accordance with the national zero-waste strategy it is currently being recycled into other uses, and part was auctioned off during Careers Day.



It was a steep learning curve.

The outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) earlier this year caused widespread concern and panic across the globe. The outbreak  highlighted our vulnerability. It was obvious that hospitals would not be able to cope with a such a serious outbreak if it continued to spread. The Department of Planning "Healing Space" was a design concept that evolved in response to the potential threat of SARS.

The idea of a healing space such as this is not new. For many people the first place they want to go when they fall sick is home. A place where they feel comfortable and secure in familiar surroundings. The healing space was based on the concept that due to the infectious nature of SARS carriers of the disease would require isolation. As such the healing space would be able to replace the sufferers bedroom with a small room in the garden.

Designing a structure and actually implementing that design was a challenging task for a class of 24 planning students with no formal design or building experience. The whole class was involved in developing a design which would respond to the resources available and acknowledge the somewhat limited technical skills of the builders.

Everyone agreed that the building should strive to be "zero-waste architecture". We also wanted the space to be linked with nature. Skylights and large windows with shutters were important design features. The North facing orientation of the house was important for solar gain. The Southern wall was insulated to keep out the winter cold.  Finally we wanted the occupant to be able to rearrange both the space and the internal arrangement to suit their needs and desires. We felt that this was highly important in order to generate a sense of identity.

Materials for the project came from widespread sources. Enthusiastic students made journeys all over Auckland to obtain them. The offer of a factory in Mt Wellington provided a superb community based site for building. The factory saw many late nights and some heated discussions about the final design. Construction proved to be much more difficult and time consuming task than we first thought.

Eighteen students took the "Healing Space" down to the NZPI Planning Conference in Hamilton.

A key part of this process, from the students' point of view, was our ownership of the project. Our lecturer expected us to make our own decisions and to learn from any resulting mistakes.  The benefit of this was the sense of achievement that resulted from completing the project by ourselves.

While the threat of SARS has now been almost forgotten it is important not to forget what a serious impact the disease could have had on our society. One day in the near future our "Healing Space" may be required to help contain another similar outbreak.

Only those who do understand.

STUDENTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND AT VISION 50/50 HAMILTON  
 
This article first appeared in Planning Quarterly in September 2003.