Why do humans need community?
‘Humans crave community’ is a phrase humankind has widely acknowledged as accurate. Since humans established the first few civilisations, there is evidence that people built communities, connections, relationships and societies. Whether one thinks of oneself as an introvert or an extrovert, anthropology suggests that humans need community to lead a fulfilling life.
In essence, a community is a group of people who share a narrative that forms their identity. Humans need connections with like-minded individuals. Individuals thrive on connection and socialisation regardless of the circumstances—a quick chat with your waiter, talking to your nail tech, or dinner with family.
The loss of community in today’s urban landscape
In modern cities today, socialisation and connection are harder to find. This epidemic, while influenced by various factors such as technology, lifestyle, and social structures, is also shaped by architecture. The architecture and layout of the town either support connection and community building, or don’t. Earlier, in settlements and villages, it was easier to form connections. Villages were smaller, social spaces were more prevalent, people travelled on foot, and houses often had common meeting areas. Today, however, modern developments aren’t built with social connection and acceptance in mind. Other priorities, such as convenience, efficiency, and profit, often take precedence over lesser-seen needs of users at the expense of human connection. When social infrastructure deteriorates, people reduce the time they spend outside their homes. Therefore, social networks weaken, and people feel more isolated. In fact, the CDC has classified elder loneliness as an epidemic that significantly increases a person’s risk of premature death, a cause that may contest smoking and other common forms of premature death. For example, a massive block of apartments with no garden, walk path or seating area doesn’t encourage socialisation between neighbours, so buildings like these tend to feel isolating, lonely, and impersonal. This atmosphere, in turn, makes it harder to build a community. How can a community be built if making one-on-one human connections is a challenge?
How traditional architecture fostered community
Traditional architecture is a design influenced by a region’s cultural heritage, utilising local materials, techniques, and forms that have been passed down through generations within its people. Simply put, it is architecture adapted to its context. Ancestors built houses and settlements which met all their lifestyle needs. They built towns and villages with the larger community in mind. People clustered houses, and instead of having a separate city centre and residential area, residences were integrated into one location. Below are a few examples of how architecture supported community growth and connection.
Swahili Architecture
‘Barazas’ were built outside of a Swahili home directly on the busy road, specifically meant to invite discussions and socialisation with strangers. Swahili people are very sociable and value community, especially those who are religious; they crafted their architecture to accommodate connection and community. To this day, in some areas of Mombasa Old Town and Zanzibar’s Stone Town, it is common to see men discussing politics on barazas outside their homes. Features like this support community building, and it is one of the reasons Swahili people form strong bonds and communities.
Gujarati’ ‘pol’ houses
These houses sometimes feature courtyards in the centre. Family members spend their days working, reading or lounging. This spacious area was ample enough to accommodate guests and host weddings, parties, and gatherings. Courtyards are also found in traditional ‘riad’ houses in Morocco. Pol houses are also found in residential clusters, with houses sometimes sharing terraces and rooftops, which residents use in festival celebrations, such as ‘utrayan’.
Namibian Himba Homesteads
The Himba live in conical huts around a central area where they graze cattle and tend to livestock. The villages tend to be small but tightly knit, with men and women working together to create a livelihood through cattle farming. The houses, although private, all face the central area of the village’s heart. The circular layout encourages communal living with daily life centred around the shared spaces, reinforcing cooperation within the group.
Longhouses of Borneo
These houses, found in Sarawak, Malaysia, are built on stilts and designed to accommodate multiple families within a single structure. Each family had a section to themselves, but shared a common living space, such as a corridor called the ruai, that ran through the length of the house. This space was intended for women to watch over the children together, participate in social ceremonies, and share meals. This shared space brought families together and fostered a deep sense of community responsibility among residents. Even to date, people who have left their Borneos go back at least once a year to visit the residents of their Borneo.
How can we learn from traditional architecture?
Practically, we can no longer mimic these styles and use them in an urban setting. What is possible, however, is translating some elements to contemporary design. In the spirit of the environments above, the simple idea was to create space for social interactions. Spaces that, unlike restaurants, bars and cafes, invite people of all backgrounds without any restrictions. Instead of building more gas stations or cookie-cutter malls, a better incentive to foster community through architecture would be the inclusion of communal areas in apartments, such as garden rooftops, public parks, and open picnic areas.
It would also be ideal to reframe contemporary design to ‘traditional’. As traditional architecture is simply architecture adapting to its context, the built environment should be created mindfully, adapting to the city’s context. Spaces that invite people of all backgrounds to an unrestricted area could greatly help foster connections in a city, such as public parks along rivers and lakes and picnic spots in the heart of town.
Community and architecture may seem incongruent; however, they are closely correlated. Traditional architecture may be outdated and inconvenient for 21st-century life, but it was designed to accommodate human needs and wants very well. It is because of the communities for which traditional architecture was built, and now larger communities, religious sects, local traditions, and social networks exist. Traditional architecture may be outdated, but the ideas and problems it targeted are very contemporary!
