Quotes, thoughts and definitions

the grape

 temperature - heat/cold

ripening time - sun/light

soil - earth

air drainage - wind

soil moisture - water

process

 course of action or a procedure, especially a series of stages in manufacture or some other operation;

the progress or course of something;

the course of becoming, happening;

a natural or involuntary operation or series of change

walk in process
alchemy the medieval forerunner of chemistry, especially seeking to turn base metals into gold or silver;

a miraculous transformation, or the means of achieving this;

four elements: earth, air, fire, water

Alchemy neither composes nor mixes: it increases and activates that which already exists in a latent state. Therefore alchemy can be more accurately compared with botany or agriculture than with chemistry. In fact, the growth of a plant, a tree or an animal is an alchemical process taking place in the alchemical laboratory of nature and conducted by the Great Alchemist, the active power of God in nature.

- Franz Hartmann
The derivation is from the Greek word 'chumeia', the art of extracting juices or infusions from plants, and thus herbal medicines and tinctures. From 'chumos' meaning juice.
Paracelsus said, "You will transmute nothing if you have not transmuted yourself before."
"The responsability of the alchemical architect - philosopher, builder, teacher- is to draw the line with precision, to build a place with vision, and to master the metaphor of material."
We are surrounded by objects and forms. They constitute the environment in which we live, interact and participate in a daily endeavour to understand or to gain knowledge. We constantly demand or embark on the quest that leads us to question how? or why? in order to better grasp the essence of an object or thing. "We find ourselves wanting to see things in a context that identifies their meaning or likeness." In the making of architecture, we have the responsibility of providing meaning to the built form.
" One of the things about making that is very important to me is that it is always related to an other, be that another person, other people, or be it nature as such. One goes away to make something all by oneself, but it's always done somehow in preperation of returning it to the world" - Knesi, Symposium 'On Making'
the winemaker
The winemaker sees the beauty in the grape, sees no better path in life than the one established by the slender climbing plants bearing fruit. The winemaker appreciates the land that offers such riches. He knows the virtues of time; that nature itself will determine the conditions that will make a fruit ripe, and the moment it is good for picking. The soil is what gives the grape its greatest qualities: its taste, shape, color and its potential quality for the eventual wine it will produce. The series of stages that occur in the transformation of grapes into wine are steps that have been repeated for centuries. It is an exercise in patience and time, both for harvesting ripe, perfect fruit, and for the refinement of this raw substance into the 'divine elixir'.