{"id":947,"date":"2025-07-14T10:17:16","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T10:17:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/?p=947"},"modified":"2025-07-29T12:15:40","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T12:15:40","slug":"pioneering-the-potential-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/?p=947","title":{"rendered":"Pioneering the Potential 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Erden \u2013 LehmTonErde\u2019s new workshop, Schlins, Vorarlberg \u2013 photo Hanno Mackowicz<\/sup><\/p>\n

Pioneering the Potential 2025<\/h2>\n

Mittel Europa rammed earth@scale, Sussex Art woodworkers and Nordic forest futures<\/h3>\n

Martin Rauch, Alison Crowther and Walter Bailey, and More of Everything, a film on the Nordic timber industry<\/strong><\/p>\n

Three Wood and Natural Materials <\/strong>evenings hosted by Fourth Door<\/strong><\/a>* in Lewes, Sussex in September 2025<\/p>\n

Back for its sixth year Pioneering the Potential 2025<\/em> Fourth Door hosts three evenings which explore different aspects of wood, forest and natural materials culture.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

September 3rd<\/sup> – Martin Rauch – Rammed earth@scale <\/strong><\/p>\n

7.30pm – Fitzroy House, Lewes, BN7 2AD map here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Tickets \u00a312.50 (\u00a37.50 Lewes\/BN7 residents \u00a33.50\u2013 benefits\/students) \u2013 Eventbrite<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In more detail<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

September 18th<\/sup> – Alison Crowther <\/strong>and Walter Bailey \u2013 West and East Sussex wood sculptors<\/strong><\/p>\n

7.30pm – StudioHardie workshop \u2013 Unit 4, Phoenix Works, Lewes, BN7 2PE, East Sussex, map here<\/a><\/p>\n

Tickets \u00a37.50 (\u00a32.50\/pay what you can \u2013 benefits\/students) \u2013 Eventbrite<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In more detail<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

September 25th<\/sup> – More of Everything <\/strong>\u2013 a film on the Swedish timber industry by Viktor S\u00e4fve, including a post-film discussion with S\u00e4fve.<\/p>\n

6pm – Depot cinema, Pinwell Lane, Lewes\u202f\u202fBN7 2JS<\/a> map here<\/a><\/p>\n

Tickets: \u00a39 (\u00a35 \u2013 benefits\/students) via Depot cinema<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

In more detail<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hortus \u2013 Herzog & de Meuron\u2019s Allschwil office building with the hybrid earth-timber ceiling slabs all lit up \u2013 photo Herzog & de Meuron<\/sup><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS, PROJECTS, AND EVENING THEMES – in further detail<\/h3>\n

Martin Rauch <\/strong>– LehmTonErde<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\nIn Depth <\/i><\/summary>\n

Known across Europe as the Godfather of European rammed earth culture, Martin Rauch has been a critical influence on the growth of earth construction and architecture in central Europe and beyond. Rauch’s recent focus has been on developing rammed earth@scale, and is about to open his company’s LehmTonErde, new Erden<\/a> workshop, and research and education centre, while his latest Hortus<\/a> office building collaboration with Swiss Starchitects Herzog & de Meuron features the first ever hybrid earth-timber-ceiling slabs, originally developed by Rauch and LehmTonErde.<\/p>\n

This will be a rare opportunity to hear Martin Rauch speak in Britain.<\/p>\n

FURTHER<\/p>\n

Gone to Earth<\/a> – Martin Rauch’s Swiss Earth Works – Unstructured extra 7 themed edition<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The man who builds with earth<\/a> – Martin Rauch in-depth profile – Unstructured extra 7 feature<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Fire Walls (and Fire Floors)<\/a> Karak – the Rauch family’s raku tile offshoot, founded by Martha and Sebastian Rauch – in Fourth Door Review 12<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ilanz’s magical, medieval electric cinema: Cinema sil Plaz<\/a> by CapualBlumenthal Architekten – a Rauch\/LehmTonErde project with the local community Cinema sil Plaz, iIlanz, Graubunden, Switzerland – Unstructured extra 7 feature<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In 2017 Roman Capual spoke at Make Lewes Festival’s<\/em> New Vernaculars for a New Century<\/a> micro-symposium.<\/p>\n

Heavy Weight<\/a> – Herzog & de Meuron’s Ricola Herb Centre with @scale LehmTonErde walls – Unstructured extra 7 feature.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sil de Plaz Cinema, Ilanz \u2013 photo Laura Egger<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Alison Crowther<\/strong> and Walter Bailey<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\nIn Depth <\/i><\/summary>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Alison Crowther<\/a><\/strong> is a sculptor and wood carver working with native species – primarily oak – from her workshop studio near Petersfield. She has been fashioning windblown wood for over thirty years, after completing a product design masters at London’s Royal College of Art, primarily through wood carving techniques. Her sculpture<\/a> spans different scales, though are often large, such as for her Scale Tree<\/em>, Xylosphere <\/em>and Park Land <\/em>commissions. The latter, a reception desk highlighting the tree trunks medullary rays reflects Crowther’s emphasis on exploring wood’s natural features and forms in her sculptural practice. Smaller pieces include garden furniture and seating at Glyndebourne Opera House and Mount Cayburn. <\/p>\n

Walter Bailey<\/strong><\/a> – as Crowther is wood carver to West Sussex, so Bailey is to East Sussex. Born in Sunderland, Bailey has lived and worked in various parts of the county for over thirty years, developing a distinctive sculptural aesthetic working with local oak, beech and other woods. Expressive latticed patterns, whether in platonic solids or woven and natural form, have become a byword of Bailey’s work, made possible through a skilled use of a chainsaw machine. Works include Oak Stones, Xylem, House of Invisible Museum,<\/em> (at the National Trust’s Leith Hill<\/a>, Surrey), Four Cardinal Points<\/em>, and A Flame for Dunblane<\/em>, while the development of Bailey’s latticed motifs led to their high-profile use on the external façade of Oxford Street’s Park House.<\/p>\n

FURTHER<\/p>\n

Walter Bailey: Natural forms, Human Endeavour<\/a> by Kay Syrad, Unstructured extra 5 feature<\/em><\/p>\n

Performing the elemental<\/a> – Walter Bailey and Charley Morrisey’s Absolute Zero – Unstructured extra 5 feature<\/em><\/p>\n

An in-depth interview feature with Alison Crowther is in the works and we hope that this is live by the time of the evening.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Walter Bailey\u2019s Fire+Seed at Wakehurst Place \u2013 photo Walter Bailey Sculpture<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

More of Everything<\/strong> \u2013 documentary film on Sweden\u2019s controversial forestry practices.<\/p>\n

\n
\nIn Depth <\/i><\/summary>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Swedish deforestation \u2013 photo Marcus Westberg<\/sup><\/p>\n

More of Everything <\/strong>– is a documentary film which lifts the lid on the Swedish Forestry Model<\/a>, an approach that has been described as trying to get ‘more of everything’, and its impact on the country’s forest’s health and biodiversity. With up to 90% of the country’s forests turned over to ‘production’ forestry which often means plantation monocultures, only small fragments of old growth forests remain. This industrial approach is increasingly being questioned, and polarising opinion across the forested northern Nordic world. Groups spanning forest ecologists and scientists, Sami indigenous communities, campaigning organisations like Greenpeace Nordic<\/em> and Swedish activists Protect the Forest (<\/em>Skydda Skogen<\/em><\/a>)<\/em> contend that, far from a forward-looking example of the green bioeconomy, the forestry sector is doubling down on destructive ’business as usual’, while portraying itself as a model 21st century green industry. More of Everything<\/em>, made by Skydda Skogen member Viktor Säfve, highlights these critiques.<\/p>\n

With a post-film discussion with S\u00e4fve.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Other Information <\/strong><\/p>\n

FURTHER <\/a>– in-depth overview of speakers and projects, etc.<\/p>\n

Pioneering the Potential 2025<\/strong> is in its sixth year after its first event in 2019 Pioneering the Potential <\/em>continues to highlight and draw attention to regional Weald & Downland wood, timber and natural materials cultures, connecting it with its sibling national and continental <\/p>\n

Fourth Door<\/a> – is a media, communications, events, and research platform, generally working in collaboration with a variety of partners. In addition, Fourth Door Research provides one-off consultancy and research.<\/p>\n

Annular<\/a> – Pioneering the Potential is supported by Annular<\/strong>, Fourth Door’s wood and timber culture web-portal.<\/p>\n

For further information please contact Oliver Lowenstein, Fourth Door:
\n0044(0)1273 473501<\/a>
\n0044(0)7527 206856 <\/a>
\neditorial@fourthdoor.org<\/a>
\nwww.fourthdoor.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Pioneering the Potential 2025 is supported by Lewes District Council and the Chalk Cliff Trust<\/p>\n

\"LDC\"\"human-nat\"\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Fourth Door<\/a> \u2013 Making the Connections<\/p>\n

*Organised by Fourth Door<\/strong> and supported by Making Lewes<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Erden \u2013 LehmTonErde\u2019s new workshop, Schlins, Vorarlberg \u2013 photo Hanno Mackowicz Pioneering the Potential 2025 Mittel Europa rammed earth@scale, Sussex Art woodworkers and Nordic forest futures Martin Rauch, Alison Crowther and Walter Bailey, and More of Everything, a film on the Nordic timber industry Three Wood and Natural Materials evenings hosted by Fourth Door* in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":948,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ongoing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=947"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1001,"href":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/947\/revisions\/1001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fourthdoor.org\/ongoing\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}