The natural flowform

Natural flowforms in the river Sjoa
Natural flowforms in a small side stream beside the main current of river Sjoa. Over time, water has carved the rounded forms, aided by the occasional boulder. Here they express a rhythm of their own, with water dancing from pond to pond. Sjoa, Norway. Photo: Dag Birkeland

Powerful, the mass of water is rushing past me, a white blueish foaming torrent. Confined between the towering stone walls in the gorge, the river here has acquired a relentless quality, thrusting forward unstoppable.

Making sure that I stand on firm ground, I observe it. Falling into the deep river here, one would be lost, immediately being taken into the depths by the strong fraying currents. Here a man’s power matters little. Continue reading The natural flowform

Flow shaping with water plants

Stream water-crowfoot
Egg-shaped patch of Stream Water-crowfoot Ranunculus penicillatus in the Biała Lądecka stream, a submountainous river in Sudety Mountains, distr. Kłodzko, Poland. Photo: Wojciech Puchalski.

The Austrian forester and natural philosopher Viktor Schauberger (1885-1958) perceived many ways of altering a river’s flow, not by trying to steer water into a particular course, but by creating conditions for water to self-organize into a new flow pattern.

By altering the conditions, the river’s flow would effortlessly change into a new pattern. The flow would have a new structurally stable attractor, ever changing yet recognizable as the same. Continue reading Flow shaping with water plants

Floating timber in brooks

The Taschbach stream in the Freinbach area
Part of the Taschlbach stream as it looks today, in the Freinbach area, Steiermark, Austria. Photo: Olof Alexandersson

“The logs will not float even 50 meters”, was the official position of the Austrian timber commission. The experts had even brought a signed written testimony to the futility of the project. It was a timber floating system, conceived by the forester Viktor Schauberger, who was presently being employed as a timber transport consultant by the Austrian Government.

The first section of the system had recently been completed in the Taschlbach stream, a wild and unruly river, not much larger than a brook. Continue reading Floating timber in brooks