Contemplating and gathering
Fire circle
park campsite farm school communal yard
An outdoor place with a fire at the center and seats in a ring around it. It is one of humanity’s oldest forms of gathering.
Solves
What it solves
It brings people together in a circle where everyone sees each other’s face at the same distance, with no head of the table. The light and warmth of the fire invite unhurried conversation, storytelling and sharing food.
Today
Place it away from palm roofs and low trees, with a base of stone or compacted earth and benches at a comfortable distance from the heat. Consider the prevailing wind so smoke does not blow over the circle.
Common mistake
Lighting a fire without a protective ring or distance from dry vegetation, or surrounding it with fixed seats so close that the heat forces people away.
Tomorrow
With more frequent wildfires, many circles use gas fire, closed braziers or warm light without flame. What remains is the circular form of the gathering.
Fact In Ju/'hoansi camps, 81 percent of night-time conversations by the fire were stories, compared with 34 percent complaints and gossip in daytime conversations.
Where it comes from
- 1Paleolithic Gesher Benot Ya'aqov, Israel, about 790,000 years ago
Remains of burnt seeds and wood mark some of the oldest known hearths, where early humans may have gathered to share warmth and food. - 2Ju/'hoansi Kalahari, Botswana and Namibia, study from 2014
By the night fire, conversation shifts from the practical matters of the day to the stories that pass on the group’s memory. - 3Gaucho fire pit Argentina, 19th century
Around the fire pit people shared mate, mended gear, and elders taught the young with stories and songs.
Masters
- Jens Jensen Columbus Park, Chicago, United States, 1920
He made his council ring a signature, a low circular stone bench around a central fire for telling stories and talking as equals. He teaches the simplest and oldest form of gathering in a circle.
See also
Also in Contemplating and gathering
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.