The rise of shared living spaces
A rich era of inner-city life beckons with new residential spaces and avant-garde apartments dedicated to championing the utopian benefits of shared living
in Europe the concept of co-housing first surfaced in Denmark in the 1970s under the Saettedammen initiative, which consisted of 35 families living in private homes while sharing communal spaces for socialising and activities such as dining, housekeeping, group gatherings, festivities and other events.
Neighbourhood-bound, the past year has convinced many of us of the benefits of participating in community living. The Urban Living Project from Ikea’s research lab Space10 and architecture studio EFFEKT is a vision for subscription-based housing that brings together people of different generations and encourages them to share facilities. ‘The village is designed to give access to shared facilities and services that keep you close to the things you need,’ says Guillaume Charny-brunet, strategy director at Space10. ‘This includes spaces for communal dinners, shared daycare, urban gardening, fitness, groceries and shared transportation.’
The Van B apartment building in Munich, deemed a prototype for modern city dwelling, contains 142 apartments with shared communal spaces and is designed to be reconfigurable with ‘plug-in’ furniture units that function as space partitions. The building comprises of shared roof terraces, communal kitchen lounges and entertaining spaces reinforcing the idea of inclusive and community living that is intrinsic to the design. ‘Architecture can create frameworks that enable people to meet,’ says Ben van Berkel, principal architect at Unstudio. ‘Where neighbourhood communities can be shaped and where spontaneous encounters can occur.’
Similarly, Nieuw Bergen in Eindhoven is a progressive residential development with sloping 45-degree roofs creating a varied, jagged profile of solar panels, collective gardens, greenhouses and multiple window openings, maximising natural light and creating an optimum, holistic platform for shared living.
‘Happiness does not come from owning the biggest house on the street,’ says Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Denmark. ‘But rather from knowing we are part of something bigger.’ It may be that your next move or design project isn’t to find seclusion, but to bring you into the fold. ‘ The stronger the sense of community, the stronger the feeling of safety and security, while friendships formed increase individual and community happiness.’
“The stronger the sense of community there is, the stronger the feeling of safety and security”