What it means to design for social impact
Cohousing
Is a good case study where its original vision, intention and product from the designer had positive benefits in mind.
But what came of it once it became a popular idea outside of its context?
Cohousing centers its design idea around reducing the burden of house chores by creating spaces or services available for cooking or childcare, as a usual concern. As an idea, its communitarian and feminist ideas stem from 19th to 20th century ideas. But iterations of ideas come from a collection of people’s works over time. And it is, with the assumption, that the sensitivity of their skills and expertise provide a continuation of ideas that evolve into the cohousing that is today.
Modernism and the need to bring a new citizen in Sweden
As detailed in ‘History of Cohousing– internationally and in Sweden’ by Dick Vestbro, a group of designers who believed in functionalist design wanted to create a new sort of citizen through rethinking housing. Its core principle was stated by an architect Sven Markelius and social scientist Alva Myrdal who proposed the following ideas at a meeting of the ‘Professional Women’s club in 1932: central kitchen, dining hall on the ground floor, roof space for games and sunbathing, etc.
Although ideas of cohousing were propagated, it remained fairly ignored as a part of the modernist architecture movement and remained to be a topic of discussion limited within women’s associations. Yet the consensus was quite clear that cohousing would bring about greater freedom for women to work outside and participate in political activities. This is the reason why a lot of Swedish society, patriarchal in nature, opposed the cohousing movement.
Tinggarden and Vandkunsten Architects
Elsewhere in Denmark, The Danish Research Building Research Institute had a team of architects that won a competition for designing alternative forms of housing. The housing idea was in many ways counter to the technocratic high-rise development that was being brought up. It is a place where community was central to the program of its architecture and residents had real influence to create social spaces amongst each other.
The practice that won the competition, Vandkunsten, would go on to apply their radical ideas to a project of 78 homes. The development of the homes would be done in the town of Herfølge, Tinggaarden.
In an article written by Signe Benn Hansen for Scan Magazine, the writer details an encounter with one of the residents who has lived there since the beginning. Joint dinners have always remained a common occasion every fortnight and there would always be coffee get-togethers from the beginning, said the local resident. However, a shift in general attitudes towards the 90s saw a demand in decline for this type of housing. The article attributes it to a generation growing up in this type of housing moving out, attributed as a form of rebellion.
Sweden’s Co-housing movement
In Sweden, a majority of co-housing models follow a system created by a group known as the BIG, or Bo I Gemenskap. And the first building to use the model, a place known as Stacken, was carried out by an ambitious architect, Lars Agren, who went so far as to move in the residence. The place had attracted so many people from the radical co-housing student movement that every resident had their grand ideas of what it meant to live such a life. Common disagreements: from allowing alcohol at parties with children, domestic animals, to having decisions be unanimous or majority, brought about many residents to move out.
Although later models brought about practical ideas of co-housing, around 2000 apartment units could be classified as co-housing in Sweden during 2008. This would only make 0.05% of total housing stock as of the time.
Modern Co-housing
Despite the examples of a lack of longevity, co-housing remains a concept all the more relevant. Johannes Novy in an article written for The Conversation writes about three major examples where co-housing has succeeded in the 21st century. As a response to the global housing crisis, one which is triggered in part by traditional home ownership, ruthless private land ownership policies and a lot of regulatory red tape, there exists a desire among people to have community-led housing. This time there is an emphasis on communities being involved with the construction of their own homes. With the current focus of buildings towards sustainability and long-term creation of neighborhood development, co-housing resolves these two issues.
Several projects are mentioned in the article, and they all have unique design characteristics that establish their identity.
For instance, La Borda in Barcelona has a communal space organized around an open atrium, several shared service spaces, and flats deliberately designed small with movable walls. It also includes a passive cooling and heating system, and has spaces that allow residents to share resources with each other.
Designing for Social Impact
Co-housing proves as a design idea that has evolved to adapt to the needs of certain locations. Is it the ultimate solution to contemporary society’s alternative housing idea? Definitely not, but it brings about the possibilities that housing could become. All the ideas above have iterated upon those that came before by intersecting new theories, technologies and ways of living.
Sources
Calton, G. (2022 ‘Cohousing is empowering people to fight back against a global housing crisis
.’ The Conversation. [Online] 2nd of November. The Conversation [Accessed on 24th of September 2023] https://theconversation.com/cohousing-is-empowering-people-to-fight-back-against-a-global-housing-crisis-189890
Hansen, S. (2019 ‘Vandkunsten Architects: Joint building ventures — a new way to build and live together.’ Scan Magazine. [Online] October 2019. [Accessed on 24th of September 2023]
https://scanmagazine.co.uk/vandkunsten-architects-joint-building-ventures-a-new-way-to-build-and-live-together/
Vandkunsten Architect. ‘The successful experiment’. [Online] [Accessed on 24th September 2023] https://vandkunsten.com/en/projects/tinggaarden
Vestbro, D. (2014 ’Cohousing in Sweden.’ March 2014. [Online] [Accessed on 24th September 2023] http://www.kollektivhus.nu/pdf/SwedishCohousing14.pdf
Image Sources
Miralles, Lluc. (2019 Lluc-Miralles-8. La borda. [Online image] [Accessed on 27th of September 2023]http://www.laborda.coop/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Lluc-Miralles-8.jpg
Onstrup, Melissa. (2019 Vandkunsten-Architects. Vandkunsten Architects. [Online image] [Accessed on 25th of September 2023]
https://scanmagazine.co.uk/content/uploads/2019/10/Vandkunsten-Architects.jpg
