It looks like anarchy…but it’s pure ecology

ECOLOGICAL VILLAGE: In a small village 70 kilometres north of Copenhagen, 140 inhabitants live as ecologically as possible. In houses made of straw, with energy from sun and wind, with reuse of rain water and on nature’s terms.

The diversity of expression of the houses is seen in the architecture, planting, technical solutions and choice of material. What could seem anarchy from the outside is in reality an expression of optimum exploitation of the district plan’s opportunities within the framework of building law.

For the vast majority of people, a move to The Ecological Village in Torup would be a return to Woodstock, Flower Power and experimental youth which disappeared into the shadows of yuppies, the fashion race and the IT bubble. But to the 140 inhabitants of the village 70 km north of Copenhagen, it is naked reality. The Ecological Village in Torup has developed into a serious and inspiring idea concerning both a different form of self-administration and – as regards to building – a number of technical challenges to traditional construction thinking.

This house is being constructed from bales of straw which are then coated in mud. Done in the right way, a straw wall can last for many decades and helps provide an amazing indoor climate

     The village is based on fundamental attitudes to sustainability, ecology, self-administration and social ecological lifestyle. The first houses date from 1989, and the current chairman of the village council, Leif Hierwagen, was among the first to move in. A few of the inhabitants have experience from communities and alternative types of dwellings of the 1960s and 1970s, but the vast majority have exchanged common singlefamily houses or apartments for ecological homes out of a wish to live a healthier and in their view, a richer life.

Legal
“Although several have experiences from previous alternative communities, the village today has an individuality and independence that’s hard to find elsewhere in Denmark,” says Leif Hierwagen. “What can seem pure anarchy from the outside, actually builds 100% on current legislation. All that has been created in the village has happened without any form of dispensation and strictly according to legislation.” The district plan is in many ways a direct extension of the conceptual framework of the village itself. The plan has for example been awarded the European Sun Prize for the best district plan in Europe. The purpose of the plan is to ensure harmonious development of the village with due consideration for the surrounding environment and in an active social, cultural and commercial interplay with the existing village Torup and its environs. The district plan also ensures that the inhabitants of the village have the greatest possible independent influence on the design of the buildings.

Alternative
“We often emphasise that everything in the village complies with all existing regulatory requirements, because that’s another way of saying that it is actually possible to build homes and live in this way,” says Hierwagen. “The ecological village is not a figment of the imagination, but very much a practical alternative, where all our electricity comes from a wind turbine and heat is mainly generated from solar panels, with sustainable insulation and a number of other alternative forms of heating. Rain water is collected and used for example for flushing toilets instead of just being drained into the sewers. We also have our own biological purification plant.”

     The district plan also considers many other aspects. It ensures a good mix of housing and business, a social environment with a balanced composition of ages (about 30 of the village’s inhabitants are pensioners and about 40 are children of school age). In addition, the inhabitants’ health has been considered, traffic safety is optimal and environmentally friendly, and waste handling aims at a high degree of recycling and composting. The district plan also involves soil balance, which ensures that the inhabitants can cultivate a large number of crops and vegetables in an ecologically sound way.

It is the village’s own wind turbine which – after a detour to the public electricity net – supplies the inhabitants with electricity

The houses
Seen from the outside, it is the houses which attract the attention. There are now 60 of them, and the village has the appearance of an exploratorium for sustainable building. Nowhere else in Denmark has such a wide range of different building designs in one location. Some houses have apparently traditional architecture, but with surprising constructional details. Others have amazing shapes and expressions which clearly signal attitude and purpose.

 
Almost all the houses have solar panels combined with various forms of growth houses. They are all positioned to optimally exploit sunlight. In this case, the house is lagged on the outside with insulation rendered with natural material.

     “No house exists which is 100% ecological,” says Leif Hierwagen. “It is not possible with the climate we have in Denmark. But you can get quite close. When every opportunity is exploited, I would reckon that about 60% of a building can be done using sustainable elements.” “And it is sustainability which is the overall feature of the entire village,” says Leif Hierwagen. “My claim is that The Ecological Village is one of the most sustainable projects which has been instituted in Denmark. The central feature of this sustainability is the versatility and connectedness of the village. It applies to the physical areas including building, energy consumption, cars, inventory etc. In addition, there are the biological factors such as biodiversity, ecology and selfsufficiency with fields, kitchen gardens and herb gardens. In the social area, the village has a large number of networks, events and activities which help to create an integral whole and meaning for all the inhabitants. There is also the psychological environment where the entire process regarding the establishment and operation of the village has contributed to our personal development. The combination of all these areas is in my view the epitome of sustainability.”