2023 — Going Public
In May, the article appeared in Frontiers in Sociology — the project’s ideas anchored in international academic discourse for the first time. Open access, peer-reviewed. The think tank had a public voice.
On the ground, the stable building was completely gutted and excavated to the required depth. Trenches were dug for drainage pipes. The old sewage pipes between the farmhouse and the street sewer were replaced. A fresh water pipe and telecommunications cable were laid to connect the stable to the house.
When digging in the courtyard, fieldstones emerged — a kind of paving under more than a century of soil formed from farming, livestock, crop residues, and plant remains. We intervened in a historically grown layer.
The Garage Transformation
Early 2023 brought the grueling physical task of lowering the floor of the old garage by 40 centimeters. Manual excavation — shovels and buckets — to create enough height for the main HVAC distribution hub. This was the project’s baptism by fire. Not about high-tech solutions, but about raw physical effort to reclaim space from the building’s agricultural past.
The Fireplace Debate
In August, a significant debate: should a central chimney be integrated into the stable? The vision of a roaring fire was tempting — it echoed the soul of the old farmhouse with its tiled stoves. But the farmhouse already had its traditional heating. For the stable, the decision went to the heat pump for the heavy lifting, supplemented only by a small atmospheric stove. Ecological honesty over sentiment.
The Roof Crisis
October brought a construction stop — a serious warning to the roofers regarding insulation fixings and the integrity of vapor barriers in the transition zones. The role of a client in a project this size turned out to be the role of a lead project manager, mediating between crafts that often have conflicting technical priorities.
Ragnar
In a DIY store, while looking for cut-off wheels for an angle grinder, a conversation began with a massive young man examining products nearby. Which cutting discs might be best for cutting through metal fence posts? A few days later, he came to the farm. He wanted to show how he sharpens a chainsaw chain. Something had aroused his curiosity.
Ragnar was 25. He had left school early — simply stopped going. No certificate, no apprenticeship possible. He worked for a scrap metal dealer, driving around the country. “Just hanging around and being put up with by the state” was not something he wanted. You get around, he said. You meet interesting people.