What we did so far

 „Even a path of thousand miles start with the first step“

Atelier

The skeleton (base wooden structure) of this charming wooden house, is built on a stone „gomilica“, one of the countless stone constructions built on the island of Brac. Stone piles were built to free up farmland of stone, and today they shape the island landscape and remind us of the people who built with their bare hands and created everything they have on this barren island land.

The wooden structure is made of cypress beams that we have cut and prepared for construction ourselves, and part of the building is recycled material. Almost all the windows we built at the atelier were collected from the waste disposal site, as well as the old stove that found its perfect place in this house to warm it during the cold moths. Bed and furniture were built from wooden driftwood which the sea „processed“ and returned to us in conserved

A view of the olive groves, the sea, the sunsets, or even the rainy days with drifting tree branches are something that makes this house a place you sometimes do not want to go out from. It was built by the people who live here with great help from volunteers and friends.

Atelier

Kostur, bazna drvena konstrukcija ove šarmantne drvene kućice sagradjena je na kamenoj „gomili“, jednoj od bezbroj kamenih gradjevina koje su izgradjene na otoku Braču. Kamene gomile gradile su se kako bi se oslobodila poljoprivredna zemlja od kamena, a danas oblikuju otočki pejzaž i podsjećaju nas na ljude koji su rukama gradili i stvarali sve što su imali na škrtoj otočkoj zemlji.

Drvena konstrukcija je izgradjena od čempresovih greda koje smo same posjekle i pripremile za gradnju, a dio gradje je recikliran materijal. Gotovo sve prozore koje smo ugradili na atelje skupili smo sa odlagališta otpada, kao i staru peć koja je našla svoje savršeno mjesto u ovoj nastambi da je grije „pod svoje stare dane“.
Krevet i dio namještajaj izgradjeni su od drvenih naplavina koje je more „obradilo“ i vratilo nam u konzerviranom obliku.
Pogled na maslinike, more, zalaske sunce ili kišne dane sa krošnjama nošenim vjetrom nešto su sto ovu kucicu čine mjestom iz koje ponekad ne želite izaci 🙂

Gradili su je ljudi koji ovdje žive uz veliku pomoc volontera i prijatelja.


Sena house

Senina House was build up completly by recycleable materials, which came from a unfinished fieldhouse.
Fortunately we had enough for a 4 x 3 metre tiny house.
We created this house for our daughter Sena before her schoollife started. She should find a place for her privacy,  to rest and to play with her girlfriends. This house was named by Sena.


Watertank

Since water is an elementary resource for life, it was clear from the beginning that watertank will, together with „the first house“, be one of the first infrastructural projects on ZZN.

Our watertank has 80m3 capacity, and we use two large surfaces for collecting water. One is 104 m2 concrete surface and it is a part of watertank itself and we have additional one (44 m2) mounted on a nearby piece of land and from there rainwater is pouring in the watertank.

The most demanding work on watertank and definitely one of the biggest manual interventions on ZZN so far was drywall facing.  Many volunteers helped us with it and we counted that it was needed 600 to 700 working hours to finish it.

covering with natural stones

Gustirna

Obzirom da gustirna znači vodu, a bez vode se ne može bilo je odmah na početku jasno da će uz  matičnu kuću gustirna biti jedan od prvih „ozbiljnih“ infrastrukturnih projekata na ZZN.

Kapacitet gustirne je 80 m3, a kišnica  se skuplja na dva pjovera, jedan betonski od same gustirne (površine 104 m2) i dodatni pjover (površine 44 m2) postavljen na susjednoj čestici s kojeg se kišnica odlijeva u gustirnu cijevima.

Najzahtjevniji  posao na gustirni, a ujedno i jedan najvećih manualnih zahvata do sada na ZZN bilo je okamenjivanje gustirrne, u kojem je sudjelovalo puno volontera, a računamo da je utrošeno cca 600 – 700 sati rada.

Kišnicom zalijevamo vrt, peremo suđe, tuširamo se i koristimo praktički za sve osim za kuhanje i pijenje.


Our bathroom

Showering in a wooden bathroom that looks like an old train wagon is a special experience, especially in winter when the old ceramic furnace heats it. That furnace itself looks like a forgotten artwork, left and collected from an old ruinous house. The glass wall (built from windows collected from a garbage site) warms up the tiny space sufficiently during the sunny days and there is often no need for firing up the stove even long in the winter months.

The water that is used to shower is rainwater, what means that showering delivers a soft pleasure to the body. There is a canister with rainwater on the stone pile above the bathroom, and the water flows naturally from the rubber pipe to the shower. Water as is, always at the site, used rationally because our global water problem as well as climate conditions that have changed dramatically in recent years remind us that each drop is precious.

Nasa kupaona

Tuširanje u drvenoj kupaonici koja izgledom podsjeća na vagon starog vlaka posebno je iskustvo, osobito zimi kad kada ju grije stara keramička peć. Ta peć sama po sebi djeluje poput zaboravljenog umjetničkog rada, odbačena i sakupljena iz stare ruševne kuće.

Staklena stijenka (izgrađena od prozora sakupljenih sa smetlišta) za sunčanih dana dovoljno ugrije taj maleni prostor te često nema potrebe za paljenjem peći i u dubokim zimskim mjesecima.
Voda kojom se kupa je kišnica što znači da je svako pranje kose ili tuširanje mekani užitak za tijelo. Na kamenoj gomili iznad kupaonice smješten je kanistar s kišnicom te voda prirodnim padom kroz gumenu cijev dolazi do tuša.

Voda se kao i uvijek na imanju štedi i koristi racionalno jer nas globalni problem s vodom, kao i klimatski uvjeti koji se posljednih godina dramatično mijenjaju podsjećaju da je svaka kap dragocjena.


Repair of the street

Compost toilet

Soon afer we bought the land, we built a temporary improvized compost toilet. To accelerate dehidration we use sawdust from the local carpenters.

Our toilet looks like simple small wooden house and has the best view! 🙂

Although it serves us well, we plan to build a larger and more durable toilet with a separet, that won’t be needing emptying.

Kompostni wc

Brzo nakon kupovine zemljišta napravili smo privremeni improvizirani kompostni wc. Za ubrzavanje dehidracije koristimo piljevinu koju nam rado poklanjaju lokalni stolari te njome zasipamo sadržaj.

Izgleda je poput jednostavne male drvene „kućice“ i ima daleko najljepši pogled od većine wc-a 🙂

Iako nam dobro služi, namjeravamo napraviti veći i trajniji kompostni wc koji će imati separet te kojeg neće biti potrebno prazniti.


We are planting new trees

Repairing dry stone wall

The green house

Our Green House is the first house that was constructed on our property. We built it two months after we bought the land. We wanted to spend as much time between our olive trees, to sleep, to cook, to have shelter and place to rest on our land, instead of coming and leaving.

Green house was built with a big help of our  dear friends Siniša and Mex (and Nebojša), and it was made from wooden joists and osb panels in a way that makes dissasembling and another putting together possible. In that way we can recycle and build another space with a new purpose (for example for accomodation for our guests, volunteers and workshops participants)

In only 20 m2 you can find little kitchen, small lounge space with books, old recycled wood stove that warms us in the wintertime and where we cook, and also small dining spac.  There is als gallery where 8 people can sleep.

Untill some new purpose, a Green House is our cozy home where we usually meet, host our guests and spend a lot of time. 🙂

Zelena kućica (Matičnjak)

Zelena kućica je prvoizgrađena kućica na imanju i izgradili smo je nepuna dva mjeseca nakon kupovine imanja. Htjeli smo da možemo što više boraviti među našim maslinama, spavati, kuhati, skloniti se i odmoriti, umjesto da dolazimo i odlazimo.

Kućicu smo izgradili uz veliku pomoć naših dragih prijatelja Siniše i Mexa (i Nebojše), a napravljena je od drvenih greda i osb ploča na način da se može jednom opet rastaviti i na nekom drugom mjestu sastaviti kako bi služila drugoj svrsi (npr. smještaju posjetilaca, volontera itd.).

U 20 m2 smjestila se kuhinjica, mini lounge prostor s knjigama, stara reciklirana peć na drva koja nas zimi grije i na kojoj kuhamo te mala blagovaona. Imamo i galeriju na kojoj može spavati do 8 ljudi.

Do neke nove namjene, nama je Zelena kućica topli dom gdje najčešće primamo prijatelje, družimo se i bivamo!  🙂


First Visit on „Zemlja za nas“ after official land transaction.

6 women and 1 man laid the foundation for this Project by founding the association “Zemlja Za Nas”, meaning “Earth for us”. After an intensive research on islands like Vis and Lastovo, we found our beautiful land on the island of Brac.

To find a place to follow an ecological and sustainable way of life is the central idea of Zemlja Za Nas. Also to strengthen the position of women, preserve and revive the biological and cultural diversity in this rural region and to share with others our experiences and skills acquired by living this life, will be an integral part of our daily activities.