My cohousing complex composes the northwest side of my new plaza.  It is to be a truly urban cohousing- an apartment complex with shared community spaces that could be open to the greater public.  By extending the use of certain spaces beyond the housing community, you at once engage the larger urban context as well as give the community a means by which to support itself, therefore keeping the community affordable.

Cohousing is a European concept, but it has existed in the US since the late 1970’s.  Almost all cohousing in America is suburban in its character, mimicking the popular cul-de-sac neighborhoods in its layout and service offerings. In the past few years, many more urban initiatives have gotten underway in the USA, but for now all examples of this style of cohousing exist only in northern Europe.  Typically those complexes consist of a ground floor of community spaces with apartments above, and look no different than any other apartment complex in their neighborhood.

I decided early that I wanted my complex to be more of a beacon for the neighborhood; therefore the community spaces needed to reveal themselves rather than bury underneath I created a glass tower separate from the apartments directly upon the public square. This tower at once announces the difference between this type of housing and typical apartment living.  All community activities have a direct visual conversation with the public plaza with only a layer of glass as separation.  The private apartments then cluster themselves around a courtyard behind this tower, thus creating a gradient of privacy and separation back from the plaza. The courtyard and all other community spaces align themselves to a shifted grid that engages the center of the plaza more, and consist of similar light materials such as glass.  The type of glass and its’ translucency will vary depending upon the amount of publicity each community space’s program specifies.

The original, regular grid remains to comprise the more privatized spaces of the program, in particular the apartment themselves.  These spaces are characterized by much more solid materials such as concrete.

The play between the two grids and the way they intersect and interlock has been of utmost importance in the articulation of the spaces.  For the most part, the public grid has taken precedence over the private, thus carving away at its spaces, a philosophical gesture to the basic function of cohousing- the reversal of the helplessness and loneliness of isolation.  I am currently working on refining this play both within the plan and elevations (the exteriors of the building), and eventually I will speak more upon these.  In the meantime, here is the basic floor plan diagram for my building (north is up, as in the site diagram I placed above):

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