AA s u m m e r s c h o o l

From the centre to the margins of London, CRAVING EARTH threads new ways for collective learning to (re)engage with ‘the making of life’ through soil. With this, we investigate, assimilate, and digest the knowledge embedded in the ground. We work with all stakeholders of the site, both human and non-human, to reach a collective understanding of soil as a material that nurtures, that builds, that hosts. Looking to the architect as the host and the enabler, we seek to nurture the agency of a place, using design to discover forgotten practices, empower communities with new knowledge and foster a sense of belonging and integration. With collective action and participatory practice, we hope to create spaces where knowledge from the soil can be discovered and disseminated, towards resilient forms of living for all. Our final design took the form of a collective dinner, a performative event. Here, we met as equals around the dinner table to share the knowledge gathered and discuss the learnings derived from our interaction with the earth. Using the table as a platform for interaction, we became simultaneous guests and hosts, inviting ‘the other’ to use their hands, eyes, ears and palates to experience our multifaceted, immersive and unexpected world of knowledge.