ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on interviews with participants in the Sydney project, as part of a wider study of 1970s autonomous houses. It reflects on the students' experiences. The chapter explains the way of thinking about how architecture and participation can matter politically— in the capacity of architectural objects to assemble living experiments— and to open up new possibilities for historical reflection on ecological design practices. Media coverage and personal connections also brought an unanticipated stream of visitors to the house. The attention required the students to rethink the operation of the building. The oil shock of 1973 sharpened the sense that modern institutions were on the brink of collapse, and increased the emphasis on decentralization and domestic autonomy in discussions of a necessary paradigm shift. Architecture's engagement with this situation involved experimentation with renewable energy and new forms of energy conservation, as well as alternative social models and lifestyles.
