14 Reuse, Spectators and Volunteers

 I sympathize with the idea of reusing construction materials and I don't mind putting in extra effort to avoid wasting any.

If I can't reuse it myself I hope somebody else might be able to do so.
On Trademe I've sold several items on just a $ 1,- reserve.

On almost a daily basis somebody would show up at the fence enquiring what was going to happen with the house.
Sometimes somebody was very upset to see the house taken down and I have seen people crying at the fence.
I usually took some time for a chat, trying to reassure spectators that the house was going to be rebuilt.

To me architecture is not about buildings. It is about people and about how people connect to places and buildings.
It put a wee bit of a smile on my face every time somebody was really upset about seeing the house taken down; I would not show it though.
Somehow this person and I shared the same connection to his particular house and every time I was talking to a like-minded it made me a little bit less crazy.
Deconstructing and rebuilding house Muschamp is the extent of my involvement.

Locals kept track of the progress on their way to the New World supermarket, situated just around the corner.
Their verbal support sometimes was reinforced with a cup of coffee, home baked cookies, soup or the odd beer on Saturday nights.

Over time I have received quite a few offers to help with the deconstruction and every offer was much appreciated.
However, the work is heavy and dangerous and, apart from some friends helping me out, I have been reluctant to allow people on site while deconstruction work was going on.
Exceptions were made for Tim, Geoff and Navy who all appeared to be skilled tradesmen.
On a voluntary basis they deconstructed and reused salvaged construction materials from the Outbuilding, Garage and Garden.
Happy to see this cooperation worked in favor of all parties.