How Architects Design for Less Lonely Living
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- Опубліковано 22 гру 2021
- There is a loneliness epidemic plaguing much of the world and it started long before the threat of COVID dispersed us into our individual homes. Data shows that many more people are living alone, but the surprising fact is that living alone does not necessarily correspond with an increase in feelings of loneliness. Architecture has been evolving towards increases in privacy and private space for centuries. This video looks at architectural designs that attempt to reverse those trends by designing living scenarios that incorporate more opportunities for public engagement. These include Studio Gang’s City Hyde Park project in Chicago with its angled balconies. But the video goes deeper to look at examples that radically rethink residential architecture, its construction, design, and inclusion of public space.
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If the goal is to decrease lonely cities, mid-rise buildings and walkable neighborhoods are the solution. With mid-rise buildings, a higher level of service can be achieved. Thus, the neighborhood is less car dependent and there is space for people instead of cars. Mid-rise buildings offer the ideal density that a community can be built. Sad that due to single family zoning, this is mostly impossible in the US.
We deserve what we get.
Single family zoning keeps lower class people out of my town, which also keeps crime and social services costs down.
All my neighbors paid market price for their houses, same as me.
I loved living in cities when I was young but they all tolerate/encourage higher crime rates and they're so expensive that I would have to win some low-cost housing lottery, with a homeless shelter next door and drug-addicts on my door step.
I'd rather not live in a place like that. We have 200 acres with my family in one house, my sister and her family in another house and my parents in a third house. We share resources, grow a lot of our own food. Two homes prefer to be on the grid but we prefer to be off grid with solar power and geothermal. Just like with our grandparents, we shared taking care of them in old age, we'll do the same with my parents. My sister and her husband and my husband are friendly with the neighbours and community, but I'm not. I didn't like any of the neighbours I had in the past. I don't mind doing favours but I don't want to idly chat with them. I was actually happy living alone. I can deal with family. But random people suck.
@@runningfromabear8354 I think you've missed my point a bit. I'm mostly indeed talking about urban areas. There, there is high demand for housing. And with single family zoning, the option of building houses with higher density gets taken.
Thus, the area gets either sprawled over an enormous amount of land like basically every big city in the US, or housing gets extremely unaffordable like in Toronto or Vancouver
@@raconteur5195 If you want to live in an area separated from the poor and dislike the problem of poverty in some cities, this makes you a part of the problem.
With liberalization of zoning, different types of buildings can be built. Thus, neighborhoods don't get separated by income class and thus, ghettos don't arise.
It's fine wanting to live in single family homes but single family zoning hinders the supply of housing in cities.
If people live in a single family home simply because in that area, there is no demand for higher density, that's fine.
When there is high demand though, property prices either skyrocket or the city sprawls immensely, enhancing car dependency.
Interesting idea but I'm pretty sure city design is a bigger factor here. American cities are designed around a car, spreading everything out and making commutes longer and discouraging movement. Everyone drives in their own metal box, away from everyone too. The landscape is also affected, making it unappealing to travel through
Better to sit in my car listening to podcasts or music than sitting in a crowded uncomfortable train.
Independence is an American tradition. Independence = I choose where to go and take myself there. It's not the same thing as being antisocial.
@@pamelah6431 I hear that a lot but that's not true. Independence is being able to choose how you want to travel. In the U.S, a car is not a choice but a necessity and a pretty expensive one at that. Especially for the poorer part of the population, it's a real financial burden.
@@davidturner4076Trains can get crowded sometimes, I'll give you that. But they'll always beat getting stuck in a traffic jam. Ignoring all of the benefits I mentioned, trains save people a large amount of time and time as you know, is the most valuable human resource you have.
@@juangabriel123ify That is socialism and ignorance speaking. We need to travel. It's a big country. We're allegedly free people. Cars do the job for us pretty well. The end.
I probably wouldn't use a balcony if it risked me having to interact with my neighbours. Interaction within you home should be a choice. I once lived in a victorian house, all the houses surrounded a small park. That was the most social place I lived, as we had a shared responsibility for the park, and would meet in the park for wine and BBQs
Sounds perfekt.
I've lived in many different situations and I've always found that the further away you live from the nearest neighbour the more friendly they are. I've lived in high rise apartments in cities and everyone avoids sharing an elevator / eye contact or any crossing of paths as much as possible. I was shocked at this weird behaviour, as I grew up in the countryside living among farmland and our neighbours would just come round whenever they wanted to chat / occasionally just walk into your house and sit down at your kitchen table to talk to you.
I think there is a kind of goldilock density. I lived in a wide variety of housing types, from single family house to a high rise apartment. I found I had the most contact with the neighbors when I lived in medium density housing (row house and mini apartment block).
That's because they probably have enough privacy to be comfortable enough to socialize. If you live in densely packed neighborhoods, privacy tends to be lacking for everyone.
I mean, you don't really want to look your neighbor in the eye or share a quiet elevator with them after you heard them fucking all night long when you were studying.
@@kanduyog1182 That is more an issue of building quality.
I've lived nearly my entire life in rural exurban developed areas, where single family houses are mostly arranged in post war urban sprawl style neighborhoods. There's no mixed zoning, no community space, your neighbors stick to their own and so do you. Rarely do you ever interact with anyone outside of work home and school. A tree nearly falling on somebody's house, a massive forest fire making evacuation necessary, or an emergency vehicle showing up in the neighborhood, are some examples of the only stuff that really gets people interacting with each other. Once the dust settles, you're back to your own. Your only way of getting around is by car, as the county bus stop is a mile away, only comes once an hour, and passes by your house twice daily for commuter purposes. Missing the bus is a big time setback rather than a small inconvenience, and is generally seen by most people as for poor people and losers. So your only option is driving everywhere, alone in your car. You grow up without developing a sense of autonomy, a sense of community, or a sincere sense of belonging past tribalistic nationalism. The city is at least 20 miles away and it's also been contorted into requiring a car to do almost anything, more than half of it is sprawl, but at least there's more people there I guess. You can't move there though, unless you're made of money, as housing is a hot commodity and you'd burn through your paycheck on rent or mortgage alone. But your utility bills are eating up more and more of your wallet because sprawling development is costly in every aspect. Anyway most people will live in some form of urban development, rather than truly rural farmland, even in "small towns". And whether we live in these small towns or the big cities, the way this country is currently built is responsible for a lot of loneliness.
@@harenterberge2632 But otherwise a nature disregarded by the difference in density, in terms of how close these neighbors are to you. I guess the point is still that we have to take in mind the density of living areas if ever we wanted to build this relatively kind-to-each-other community dynamic, because higher densities likely create more animosity between each 'individual'. Of course this is just an assumption, not necessarily only because you might've heard your neighbors ducking, but all of the other things that would've otherwise been disregarded in sparse suburbia. I'm not advocating for suburbia or low-density though, definitely not for cities, dear god.
I am not sure making private homes is such a way is the best way to combat loneliness. In my house I want some privacy, if my only outside part (balcony) is a place where I am exposed to others on purpose, I will spend a lot more time inside, rather than sitting on the balcony and enjoying the sun. Maybe better put money into building common spaces that people can come to at their own time, like squares, plaza with nice benches, fountains, bird-friendly greenery etc. I would want to be there and meet other people who enjoy it
I agree with this. I find that a lot of architects design like this to get attention from the media, and peers. "Look how social our building is"... an architect should approach the design of any home to make it a place comfortable and that people would want. My building is from the 1960s and my balconies face others from the side- but I rarely ever wave down to other people; and I believe they avoid coming out to theirs when they see me sitting out on mine. But the sides of the balcony are concrete so that people from below actually can't see me- it provides privacy while also being open. That Chicago building has open railings- I would not want that. Vertigo, for one, and way too exposed...
Cities are designed for loneliness. The more you cramp people together, the more you push them appart... .
@@keylanoslokj1806 People design cities, not architects. People like to be close together, throughout history. Apart from architect designed cities like Chandigarh- those definitely result in loneliness!
@@keylanoslokj1806 I live in a city and don't agree with this. I was way more lonely outside of the city in my 20k inhabitants town than now in Berlin. I'm finally able to actually find people who have similar interests. And the frequency at which I meet new people is also way higher.
Interaction with people is definetely different but I strongly prefer the way it is in the city. Oh and I heard different things from other people but they all don't speak german and are not from Germany so the language and culturual barrier is probably the main reason for that.
I disagree with this, again mimicking suburban gated yards can decrease loneliness, and if you hate seeing a neighbor from your balcony and YOU want loneliness... Then this video isn't for you
My recent interest in architecture is largely fueled by stuff like this. I feel like there's an enourmous importance of good architecture, but also city planning, to make sure we live healthy lives. After all, we live in it! Ignoring architecture, city planning, and the places we live is like ignoring the state of our own homes: the color of our walls, placement of furniture, and general feel. It's possibly even more important than that in all honesty, since it's a space we share.
I’ve been thinking about this a lot.
Ironically the prefab “communist” concrete buildings in Europe had specifically in mind to create a community, but achieved the opposite.
It feels to me that bigger density is alienating people from their neighbors.
@@teahousereloaded not communist buildings, but communal
Cities are designed for loneliness. The more you cramp people together, the more you push them appart... .
@@keylanoslokj1806 the man feels alone independent of city and buildings
@@teahousereloaded who ever said the Communist governments of east Europe tried to implement a community? They where hold to the communist principles that no one ever was job or home less, this dictates a complete other set of specifications for buildings, engineering and architecture. The other thing communist governments where interested in, was those people who potentially where against those in power...
Things changed after the break of the Soviet union and fall of the German wall, still the buildings available have to do for many people still.
For all non-architects viewing this video, it's important to know that Studio Gang's "Balconies as a social fabric" concept for City Hyde Park is code for "the developer allowed us to zig-zag the façade and juggle the balcony configuration". Literally everything else about City Hyde Park is legacy design methodology. In other words, the commercial plinth + residential tower, the sardine-style double loaded corridor, and the fact that only south elevation units get balconies and the north do not are all very very bad design (and social fabric) shortcomings. Arguing that this building is "specifically designed to combat loneliness and promote healthy social interaction" is a bit of a slap-in-the-face to those who are actually seeking change from the ground up. The issue of America's loneliness problem is much deeper than any single architectural design can solve, or even try to solve. The issue is heavily rooted in our society's failure to reward truth over prejudice, and failure to allow individuals to be honest versions of themselves without ridicule or criticism. We need real change. Like, for real.
Most people hate open balconies and don't even use them if everyone can just see what you are doing. And if you have neighbor's you have problems with, the fun multiplies with such a concept.
Quite typical for architects: pretentious bla bla, and buildings that are unremarkable and often affect the opposite of what was intended.
@@harenterberge2632 yeah speaking as an architect 98% of architectural publications are simply unreadable to me because of the amount of jargon and lack of concreteness
@@jcivilis533 That's refreshing to hear. I often struggle with architectural speak, which is why I like this channel so much, because Stewart talks in plain English (most of the time)!
Yeah I think that building is decent as far as what you can do for a developer goes, but not particularly revolutionary. One thing I noticed in BIGs mountain dwellings and my own life is that 'social' balconies do need a degree of privacy to be usable. It could be that only parts of it are private or that you have a screen which allows you to engage with neighbours without constantly making awkward eye contact. Also while looking across to neighbours is fine, having someone standing right above you is very uncomfortable. I'm a big fan of this concept as a whole, just needs some careful consideration or you can end up with an unusable space.
An advantage of marketing a building as "social" is self-selection. The property will appeal to people who want to socialize with their neighbors. Later research will probably support a higher number of interactions at the property.
exactly. i for one, will never move to such a place given a choice.
A gas guzzling car ,marketed as green, does not automatically become less polluting after being bought. It's just engineered that way.
@@brandond2768 I would if it was more conducive to social interaction than...just talking to your neighbors across the empty space separating your balconies. That's not how it's done. I want actual social spaces where you can actually interact with others, spaces that are easily accessible from your own private spaces, and I want good places to walk/cycle nearby separated from pedestrian-mowing cars, with good public transit to take you anywhere anytime. I also want private spaces because I'm introverted. It's self destructive to avoid easy access to social activity, that just leads to prolonged loneliness. I want the freedom to be alone when I want to be, not the "freedom" to be lonely and isolated in a house far removed from people only connected to the outside world by using cars.
Yep, unless people move there for purely practical reasons like its cheap or close to their workplace. Not everyone really has a choice to live wherever they want. And for that reason I think forced lack of privacy is just terrible, some of us need it
I live in the perfect ‘no-loneliness’ house: I hear almost every single thing my neighbors do.
Which brings me to a subject very similar: How to build less noisy houses.
Also, here's some theory you can play around with: Are people living in co-operative housing more happy? If so, does that prove that people living together are happier, or does it prove that some people enjoy living with other people?
Not a very deep subject....it's just a question of money spent.
Thicker walls=less space to sell, drywalling options to reduce sound bridges, noise reducing electrical sockets etc... are expansive.
And so are construction workers (especially drywallers/insulators) who give enough of a fuck.
@@SomebodyPerfectly Indeed and unfortunately.
Although the construction workers are not to blame for this. They do what they are supposed to do (maybe not always with quality in mind but still...)
It's the people who design the homes that neglect sound proofing. If you were to be a customer that hires people to build your own home, you have the ability to tell them to make rooms sound proof. That's what Harris Heller is doing for example. That's what musicians do when they have the money and want a room specifically for playing and recording.
@@cryora Thanks, I'm well aware. What I'm referring to is more pointed to the general idea of a higher level sound quality, avoiding the everyday noises in homes.
Me too! And I have to hear loud talks and screams of my upper neighbours who are alcoholics and often I have to listen to their damned TV set's sound all day and night through. And even in the current moment I hear low noise from it.
And due to this I didn't totally felt loneliness on these Christmas and New Year holidays in spite of fact that me living alone! I wish I were alone at least at my own home...but no!
Architects saved me of loneliness in their egoistic way ...as plain facade is not as expensive as complicated one and they provided me a great opportunity to be observed by my neighbours through their upper, lower and nearby bay windows.
Actually our block of flats is not the cheapest one but its pretty inhumanistic by nature.
Being able to see and hear your neighbors involuntarily, thanks to bay windows and protruding balconies, does not mean avoiding loneliness.
That would definitely be a deal breaker for me
I agree. When its forced its bad, when its made easier to do voluntary its good. Only makes you uncomfortable when you cant have privacy and feel sheltered in your own home. And why would people even interact more when they are uncomfortable? Something I outright hate (for a personal living space) is large uncovered windows. When I first moved into my first apartment and didn't have curtains yet I would hide below the coach because the space was too open. I was really uncomfortable and I felt I absolutely need shelter and privacy in my own home.
Also I dont think design can really solve the whole issue, because what people miss is actual closeness, not just the presence of people. People they can trust, talk to about a lot, rely on for help etc. A pet that you actually bond with could give more of that fulfillment than any human stranger, or people you dont like for that sake.
One thing that still maybe can help a bit is giving people more places in public where you can expect them to not be in a hurry when they're there. Such as a cafe. Or even better something related to hobbies and interests where you will actually have something in common with almost everyone that goes there. I'm for example part of a communal garden during summer and have an art-club where we meet to create stuff like painting and some others are sewing pictures (not sure what its called), and we do end up talking a lot but not all the time.
Exactly. Intrusion is not the same as community.
@@ingela_injeela Moreover an extra unpleasant discovery took place just today, on my day-off.
I was woken up at 10 AM whith the sound of shaking out the bedspreads. When I found out the source of the sound I was shocked. It appeared to be that very mentioned my upper neighbor shaking out their bed spreads from their balcony while my windows under them were opened because of heat.
@@zakosist Hobby clubs are great places! (However unfortunately sometimes its not much easier to make friends with their participants out of club's limits as communication is often somehow related the place and subject and reduces as you miss the workshops).
When I was in my mid-30s, I visited a friend's grandmother living in senior apartments (it was very high-end in the mountains with a ton of amenities). What I loved was that she had her own small 2-bedroom apartment with a kitchen, living room, dining area, and full balcony. But there was also the big dining hall for communal meals. They had a movie theater (like you'd see in a home, maybe 25 seats) and a small indoor pool, game room, dance room, etc. I thought that if I could live in a place like that at my age then, but also make it very techy it would be perfect for me. I could stay in my own place and not be social or I could go eat with others... or just see if any friends were around and wanted to meet in the main room to do a puzzle or play XBox or whatever. I'm pushing into my mid-50s now and I would still love that kind of community. Social if you want, not social if you don't.
I'm really glad that you pointed out this currently important topic of loneliness.
Sadly architectural concepts can't control the actual outcome or use in the end. So unfortunately a lot of those concepts end up being just kind of utopic...
I live in an one-room-appartment where the balconies are really close to one another but rather than engaging in social interactions it just makes me feel uncomfortable because there are a lot of people looking into my apartment that I don't want to 😁 it is disturbing my privacy without giving me the benefits of socialization. There needs to be a concept that doesn't interfere with the privacy. Have a great day and thank you for your amazing videos!
I agree, when we're in our apartments and on our balconies we want privacy. In communal areas and out on the street it's nice to socialise with your neighbours.
You touched on a good point here. On the private-to-public spectrum of spaces, balconies are perhaps a bit too close to the private and intimate end to obligate social contact, at least with your immediate neighbours. They're great for people watching and overlooking more public spaces where occupants implicitly grant more consent to being watched. It's even more acceptable to be visible on your balcony to a more distant neighbour in the other building where conversation doesn't feel as obligate and you have recourse to screen your activity without shutting out your ability to look outward.
That said, this spectrum is one of the trade-offs between sociability and privacy; no one space grants both in full, so the only "concept that doesn't interfere with the privacy" is a fully walled space that offers zero social contact. My take, from my own study of this topic and this video, is that a good ordering of spaces makes it easy to be social among others of varying intimacy at one's own discretion, and be equally easy to withdraw to more private spaces.
I mean, I'd like to sit in my bathrobe on the balcony, without 500+ people looking at me, I hate cities, because there's no privacy, you can't leave your bathroom to go to your bedroom, naked, without at least 50 neighbors seeing your privates. I hate cities. They're a perversion of how we humans should live.
@@livedandletdie I kind of thought of a solution to your problem they could put smart glass over the middle part of the windows so it’s only shows the bottom and top part when you want. Because you can turn it on and off. Plus the good thing about it being in the middle is that the bottom and top part would still give an adequate amount of sunlight. If people want privacy but still want to live in a city.
@@livedandletdie just close your curtains lol
This reminds me of a type of housing we had in middle-class immigrant communities in Dubai when I was growing up called 'compounds'. Built in the 1960's-80's, they were basically a group of 10-30 terrace or semi-detached houses/bungalows wrapped around a block with a communal area in the middle that often featured a swimming pool and sometimes a mini park area for kids. Most of the people living in compounds were families with young kids and it was easy to meet new people and make friends in the communal areas. Unfortunately, from what I've heard many compounds have been knocked down over the last decade as they were in what became prime locations and landlords* have opted to build blocks of posh flats to cash in on demand instead.
I do feel like it's an idea that could be adapted in some way to higher-density living and often wonder what that would look like.
*non-Emiratis weren't allowed to buy/own property in these areas
The history and discussion of space is quite interesting; however I think there's an assumption that everyone needs the same amount of social interaction. I find it very stressful if I don't get lots of time by myself, and I doubt that I'm very unusual in that.
Good thing all of these designs still have doors
That's why doors still exist
Did you not see the doors?
Everybody saying "doors" in the comments are missing the point. A home is meant to be private space, if you feel lonely just go to a bar or join a chat room or wherever young people do nowadays. Designing a building that forces you to be social a wrong approach to solving loneliness.
Homes should remain private, public spaces should be better so they attract those people who feel lonely. Everybody is investing in homes, but nobody is investing in public spaces for older people. Clubs and bars are okay for young people, but being a regular at bar in old age probably means you have an alcohol problem.
@@kokokokow1760 The best cities do both.
I live in Montréal, in the older parts of the city there are a lot of duplexes with balconies and they all had an alleyway (often closed to cars) in the back. In the summer you could see a lot of people chatting between balconies and children playing in the alley. This old design favorised interaction between neighbours and was part of the Montréal lifestyle. Unfortunaltely, they don't build anything like that anymore (for economical reasons I guess) and now you often see single family housing or "soulless duplexes" that isolate people in their homes.
But single family homes are more expensive (per inhabitant). It's cultural, not economical. Cities like Barcelona, São Paulo, Buenos Aires or Ljubljana are very lively and definetely poorer than most American cities.
The way building codes and zoning is structured, in many places it is now illegal to build these traditional forms. It is as much due to political regulation conforming with the cultural and economic trajectories of the mid-century as it is the latter.
I think the economical constraints is mostly for the back alleys. These spaces would be considered a « waste of space » nowadays.
I’ve moved around a lot. My wife had also before we married, and we continued the same pattern after marriage. We have found there is some truth to the old saying about good fences and good neighbors. Living in towers we rarely got to know our neighbors well. Townhomes were better, but single family homes were best. Best by far were homes on narrow lots with nice porches and comfortable set backs. You want to be far enough from people you can both feel comfortable about engaging each other or not. Close enough you feel you can say hello without being awkward, yet far enough there is no rudeness at ending at hello.
Areas for kids, dogs, and other activities where the people using them have obvious things in common are great as well.
I want to be far away enough from neighbor so that I can not hear their racket, nor see their slobbiness.
@@michaelmullin7941 Different strokes. 😂🤣😂 You must like a rather rural setting.
Nope! Look at the *huge* difference between the toulou and these Western apartments. In the toulou, people *choose* to leave their private space and go downstairs to a central activity center. But in these Western apartments and corridor-less houses, your private space is practically invaded by the public. You can't get to your kitchen or bathroom or bedroom without being forced to "interact" with someone you may or may not know or like. No thank you! Public interaction is *not* buying more trinkets from Marshalls or overpriced bean paste from Whole Paycheck. People need activities where they can choose what they participate in and find like-minded people. Take a hint from Age 55+ residences, resort hotels, college campuses, and community centers. They are chock full of amenities and activities: workout centers, TV lounges, sewing circles, snack bars, small libraries, vegetable gardens, and the like.
Most often in such collective housing kitchens, washing and so forth are shared. So where you say you can't get to your kitchen or bathroom without being forced to interact - yes that's exactly how it is because it's a shared kitchen to start with. Closest I've come to living in something like that is my university dorm. It had several features, first it was for undergraduates and graduates, second it was shared by a number of institutions. So when you were making breakfast, you might be french literature freshman in a liberal arts school and the guy frying an egg next to you is working on his doctorate in particle physics. As a way to meet people and broaden your horizons, even to build a community, it worked great. My post grad student apartment however was 4 small rooms with a shared kitchen/living space. The whole layout was oppressive and uninviting right when you came in from the street. you never saw anyone from the other apartments, there was absolutely no shared spaces or activities, not even a ping pong table. It tended to make you more introverted, anti-social and intolerant. Like glaring at your flatmate in the morning because they slammed the door coming in late the night before or waiting in your room until you could hear there was no one in the kitchen before you snuck out to use it. Was weird and I didn't stay long.
Daylight is so crucial - I was stuck on the Northside and lower floor of a building for a year in college and it was absolutely horrible. Just dark and depressing all the time. I think another thing that helps with lonlieness is changing the boring hallway format into something that encourages conversation between neighbors, along with communal spaces for the residents
I would have preferred less sunlight in my college dorm. It got really hot in summer and the curtains never closed tight enough to get rid of monitor glare.
I did my college in a northern city with long winters. Living off-campus, students usually ended up in those depressing, north-facing apartments because there was a slightly lower rent. One year was enough.
My current college bedroom has no windows so time is definitely a fading concept for me
@@Gford912 is this even allowed
I mean, aside everything, it must me really horrible for fire safety
@@wmurd it probably wouldn’t be legal in newer builds, but the building is from the late 50s and owned by the university which was probably given some leeway
As an introvert thank you for showing me what buildings I must explicitly avoid :)
practice what you preach and keep you thoughts introverted
everyone needs a connection, we are social creatures wether you're introvert or not
@@servandojuliao6580 Introvert doesn't mean they don't ever talk to people. So don't use that as a excuse to silence people's freedom of speech. Your extreme way of thinking is like saying extroverts are not allowed to refuse socializing with anyone since they're extroverts. But you would be against the extreme when it's the other way so that's double standards. Extremes goes both ways if you want to play that game.
If you think introverts can't talk to people at all, then can they just stay home and receive welfare? I doubt you would think so.
Introvert is a made up term. You have social anxiety that seems to be effecting you to a degree the idea of seeing a neighbour makes you want to avoid the structure entirely. This is not natural this has been learnt behaviour over your whole life.
But those united medieval villages were rooted, homogenous communities where people not only lives together, but worked together. In the modern world, ANYONE can move into the apartment next door. You’ve got no control over that, it can potentially even be someone dangerous. Someone with grievance politics, etc.
This movement is only trying to recreate the unity of the past at a superficial level, there’s more to connect people that squishing them together and making them look at each other.
The modern world moves to fast, people’s identities are individualistic, and most importantly they’re rootless. Your neighbor today can be someone else next year, especially in apartments.
Spot on from the lack of rootedness and relationship based social interactions to the constant change this place absolutely sees (and at an insane price point, primarily only the wealthiest of young people without families).
The best comment here. Architecture can't solve this issue, it's a cultural problem.
excellent comment - you cannot force people to be friendly. If you want change it has to start in childhood. This is a social issue.
I'm so glad you made this; I have been obsessed with this concept. I appreciate your mention of traditional layouts, and especially of courtyard styles, as this has been what I see as a great solution to this problem. I like the courtyard for simultaneously providing safety, privacy and enclosure, while also making it so that the individual residents don't exist in isolation. There is a lack of hallways, with spaces transitioning to each other as you mentioned, and the ability of someone who is in a different room or space to see someone in another room or space. So for example, I could be working in my home office on the 2nd level and see my children playing with the cat in the central courtyard, safe from outside traffic. Or I could be in the kitchen prepping dinner, and see my wife reading a book on a couch in the living room; we're not in the same room, we may even be on opposite ends of the house, but we aren't alone either. It's no mystery why nearly every culture at a variety of points of history have come up with some variation of a courtyard style design.
While it’s great that the designers of the City Hyde Park Project projected some social benefits, I would be very interested to see if they have collected any data to support future projects. So many urban designers sell the stakeholders on utopian visions of how this or that design *could* influence and increase positive human interaction, but very few seem to put in the work to develop evidence based solutions.
Yes, the data is lacking. A lot of guesswork and assumptions went into this project. As a sociologist, I can confirm that one thing stated in the presentation is true: people who live alone are not necessarily lonely.
It only could work in two scenarios in my opinion. Either elderly people, who really have all the time in the world and can chitchat on balconies, or if it is marketed to certain personality types who craves for this exact product. If you put random population in such building i am pretty sure most people would be annoyed by the lack of privacy, spending LESS time on balconies which would lead to more isolation and alienation from the neighbourhood.
True. Monitoring and evaluation is needed. Post-occupancy M&E.
I lived in that building for a year. I used the porch a lot, but was glad that other around me did not because I liked the privacy. I would have preferred a more private porch layout. The hallway felt like a hotel, nothing special about the inside of the building. Claiming this building has any social benefits is 100% marketing.
I had an experience living as a family of 4. Out of them, 2 were working night shifts (aka some one sleeping during the day was the regular occurrence, plus shifted sleep schedule) 1 small child (although sleeps half the day, the other half he is loud and demands attention of any who happened to be sleeping)) 1 working from home (constant teleconferences and need for work atmosphere) You can imagine what hell on earth it would have been if I lived in the apartment with all transit rooms. I think it just outdated design from times when everyone’s sleep and work schedules were dictated by the Sun, and toilet routine was dictated by the pot under the bad, and no need to traverse all the house in the middle of the night. I think such a layout has a side effect of forcing an unwanted interaction on people, in case you happen to live with some toxic individuals. I think it has more potential to make your life miserable than help with your loneliness.
I agree. We’re not going back to the “no hallway” plan in home design. Where we could do better, is the relationship, architecturally, of our homes to each other and to the wider community.
Couldn't agree more!
Definitely, as an introvert those house designs look like hell to me
Exact. Let me be alone when I want/need
This is exactly what I was thinking.
I’m so glad you included a reference to the tulous of the Haka people in southern China. When I first learned of them some years ago, I was immediately intrigued by their design and how it promoted interdependent living while still allowing privacy. Each family has its own private spaces plus access to communal space for cooking, clothes washing, recreation, etc., all within an enclosed, secure structure. These dwellings still pepper the landscape, especially in Fujian province. Visiting this area someday and exploring a tulou (there are a few that have opened to tourists) is high on my bucket list.
@Либертарианский След aren't a lot of old soviet blocks being repurposed as private apartments in a lot Eastern bloc countries?
@Либертарианский След isn't that by design, property developers are trying to make as much money as possible.
One of the most under appreciated architectural typologies of N. America is found in the French creole designs of Louisiana. Here, the use of the porch as the “corridor of the house” while the interior rooms were all directly connected was not only European, but succinctly American. Further in the city, many creole townhouses aggregated around a block quickly compound into a central courtyard, and in quite a few places the backyards all have generous French doors that open up to the protected - private but communal green space between them all. No wonder New Orleans was the incubator for jazz - in a way it was designed for it. While studying in Charleston, I loved the rhythm of the single houses/freedman cottages and the way they could provide density in a culturally unique and locally appropriate way. However, the Europoamerican layout of New Orleans will always be my favorite.
Exactly. I am european and honestly i am surprised why architecture like in New Orleans is not more common in US, instead you build single family homes. Especially i dont understand that in those upscale public housing projects.
In my humble opinion, New Orleans has the best architecture in US by far, its not even a competition. Maybe i am bias. The best functional architecture in the world is in Singapore in my opinion, which basically is either like New Orleans for older buildings or sort of recreation of this idea for hig rise buildings with outdoor corridors long balconies etc...
Architects should do a year of mandatory customer service so that they can see if they should force interaction
As said by another, I am a private person. But I also understand and advocate for us as human beings to feel more connected. Not just those of like minds, but of diverse cultures and backgrounds. I’m optimistic that living together will help us understand each other. And ultimately improve society as a whole. 🙏🏾
When I lived at the Aqua Tower, which is another Studio Gang project, Jeannie Gang once explained to a reporter that she envisioned the undulating balconies of the building to provide communal spaces for residents. It sounded good in theory, but in reality, not many residents actually use their balconies in this high-rise. With its height and proximity to Lake Michigan, it's terribly windy on the balconies. My unit of the 52nd floor made it nearly impossible to even clean the windows on all but the calmest days. The other problem associated with high-rise living is that it can seem akin to living in a hotel, in the sense that you don't really get to know your neighbours. Fortunately, the building has generous community spaces, and this is where residents connect with each other. I wasn't familiar with the Tulou style of architecture. So thank you for sharing this. I would be curious to learn more about another Studio Gang project, known as Solstice on the Park, in which the windows slant inward, so as to mitigate solar gain.
How much they charge for rent?
Balconies are always windy once you live above the ground floor.
Love your videos Stewart. As an Australian based Architect, I feel that social interactions are best served or encouraged in spaces that also do not infringe of loss of privacy to your own space. Social interaction in lift lobbies, communal laundries, roof terraces, and the like are really positive things to encourage. I feel that once we enter our private domain, our apartment, we mostly wish to withdraw from that social interaction, which means that balconies often have the opposite affect, in that people will not use them as they do not want to be seen, or they feel exposed. Perhaps the floor space that balconies take up would be better utilized as additional floor space for the apartments? As floor plate efficiency/economics is usually the most important thing with high rise developments. Great to see this video driving so much engaged discussion!
I like how a car honking doesn't even make you flinch. God bless America amirite
When I was 8, we lived upstairs in a duplex apartment with no hallways. The main entrance was through the kitchen/dining room near the back of the house, with the bathroom off of that space. Ahead, towards the front was the living room, which had access to the front balcony/porch. To the right was a bedroom and coming back was a second bedroom which opened up to the kitchen. Behind the second bedroom was a smaller third bedroom. My parents had the front bedroom, both my older sisters shared the small back bedroom and I had the center bedroom. If you could imagine, my room had a door to my parents room (which they always kept closed), a door to the kitchen and a door to my sister's room. My sisters had to walk through my room to get to the kitchen and to the rest of the house. I had a flimsy curtain for "privacy". Even though I always had my own room, being the only boy, this place was kind of the exception. You could walk around in a circle, which I like, but not in this fashion. Never again! I will always live in a house with separate bedrooms and hallways. I like the feeling of being able to "go somewhere" and shutting ONE door.
My assessment: there are no benches or places to actually "pause" in the space at the entrance. Retail is not a likely place to commune and not be "lonely." How about parks or "plaztes" like in Germany. These outdoor PUBLIC spaces I experienced when I lived in Berlin, were crucial to the practical social fabric and integrated socio-civic design. Those spaces are like extentions of the living room for people who live in apartments. Everything in the US tends toward commodification, commercialization, and "vehiclization."
THIS. I lived in Spain for 2 years and the plazas and parks were the most common space to meet up with friends, for community events, or just to hangout and relax. I lived for 6 months in a small town and the rest of the time in Madrid and both were very easy to live in without a car. I think the issue is more of city planning than the planning of individual residential buildings.
@@wildcatste HEY! I lived in Madrid, too, and you are so right. You can walk for hours and not feel out of place. I lived a short walk from the Retrio Park so, I would take a short cut through it to get to Serrano or Gran Via. Most European cities practice civics through infrastructure. The ones I've lived in felt more democratic than the US cities I have lived in, Charlotte, Raleigh, rural South Carolina and most recently Long Island/NYC (the worst). I live in Tulsa now, and I am kinda digging it; very walkable and enough green spaces and parks near me in Midtown.
"Retail is not a likely place to commune and not be "lonely.""
it's not for me, but I see plenty of older people interacting in small retail shops, seeing a friendly neighbour or just chatting with the cashier/owner. Don't know if it's the age or shared history (ex-socialist country).
@@HI-fh2mj I do that, but it's not with neighbors so much. That's just being cordial. It is not generally a place for in depth engagement and relationship building like what is being implied. Most retail settings, at least in the west, are transaction spaces, not social one. People are expected to participate in capitalism. That why, for example, restaurants are so cold an play loud music. They dont want you to stay so they can turn over the table to make more $$$. Also, employees are a captive audience. They cant willing come and go as they please since that is part of their job to engage the public.
"Living alone does not mean that someone is more at risk of loneliness."
That reminds me of this quote:
“If you’re lonely when you’re alone, you are in bad company.”
-- Sartre
Which book or seminar is this quote from pls, I am looking into getting knowledge from some Architecture greats in the coming year
@@steviefrank5651 Jean Paul Sartre was not an architect. He and his wife, Simone de Beauvoir, were philosophers, playwrights, and political activists.
Cities are designed for loneliness. The more you cramp people together, the more you push them appart... .
@@keylanoslokj1806 That's a profound soundbite, but unhelpfully simplistic. That's like saying brown dogs are faster than dogs with different coloured fur. People can be as lonely in the densest common dwelling as they can be stranded on an island with no one else in sight.
@@OwlMoovement it's how human psychology works. We are tribalistic. We need space. We aint urban
What Soviet and Russian architecture got right was building mini parks and seating benches everywhere. Almost every building has benches in front where neighbors come out and congregate. Mini parks and play grounds are abundant that nobody has to travel or walk too far to hang out in parks. In America such things are a rarity and parks themselves are uninviting, don’t have a lot of benches.
I grew up in one of those and despite them being always underfunded I have a lot of great memories, and as a kid I got a ton of interaction with other children both from our neighbourhood and other adjacent-neighbourhood kids. When we moved to suburbs my circle of interaction shrank and I retained only my school friends. I'd say these little places are a force for good. Walkable cities are great especially if you are a person who cannot own a car - like a kid, an elderly person, someone disabled, or unable to afford.
I'm so glad I discovered your channel. Your recent video about the Mies complex in Chicago caused me to rethink my attitudes about Mies, who I always blamed for the proliferation of bland glass towers. This video also challenged my conceptions about private and personal spaces. Always quality, thought-provoking content!
Wow. That was such an eye-opener. Thank you for sharing!
I love this channel! Keep them coming. So glad I found you
I'm gonna state the obvious and say that the main and maybe one and only factor for loneliness is social media. It has almost become an ideology to be always sharing everything and accepting unconditionally everyone. And this is now being translated in architecture. Dont get me wrong, I'm glad that the people who ask for these kinds of houses/apartments can have them designed or can buy or rent them, and I also enjoy the creativity behind the design; but knowing the basis of privacy people nowadays prefer, I'd say architects are overdoing it and that maybe it might backfire.
Great video, as always!
Your channel its awesome, thanks for sharing all of this!!!
Good video, I am so glad I found this channel recently, the content is excellent and for someone not really in the know it's very informative! I don't have any plans to study architecture formally but love to look out for details in buildings and learn more about it all
Fascinating. Just earned yourself a sub. Sending power and blessings from Melbourne Australia
Steward, thank you for a well-done and thought-provoking video.
I appreciate your video so much. What an idea to put in architecture nowadays!
What a nice coincidence, I've been reading up on Tulou and scooping up reference images just yesterday. An interesting point about these is that they are often found in clusters, which sprout up as the clan gets bigger and more room is required - so now you have a few of those seemingly enclosed structures neighbouring each other.
I Loved the video! I find that the idea that architecture can and does affect our social life and mood is completely true, but sometimes it becomes difficult as architects knowing which specific design decisions will lead to the desired effect. That's why it's great to have videos like this where the subjects can not only be discussed, but also that show real examples where architecture was successful.
We need more plazas, parks and the like. When at my own home (be it a house or condo), I rather it to be private.
I don't know anything about architecture but I love your channel. Thank you
I would go mad if the rooms in my place were all interconnected, especially now both myself and my flatmate have to work from home. There needs to be good balance between private and communal spaces, and in my twenties I had to live in studios or small flats that were open plan. Not having a quite space to think really got me down.
I'd argue that loneliness is less rooted in the spatial conditions of architecture and more the material conditions of its inhabitants. That's not to say that architecture is unimportant, but that too is mostly dependent on the material conditions of its benefactors
as someone that doesn't particularly have an interest in architecture, your videos have captivated my attention! (commenting for the algorithm)
Architects have been trying to design for 'social interaction' for ages. That condo tower isn't really a new idea, it's basically a slab & podium block, a type that started in the early 50s. That building with its angles looks the same as some in Britain from the 70s, apart from the window frames and frankly ugly dot-matrix print on the podium block. My balconies open to other balconies on the side of my block, which was built in the 1960s. I also have a common room on the top floor, there is a huge double height lobby, and congregation space by the central elevator on each floor. And it's still quiet and lonely inside the dwelling. This is because our culture has become anti-social; not because our buildings made it any less so.
Cities are designed for loneliness. The more you cramp people together, the more you push them appart... .
I come from a communist country where architects were trying to create common areas for the tenants and everyone hated them and only used them in absolute urgency. The effect was that there were many common areas filled with clutter and never cleaned (who cleans the common kitchen or bathroom?). Then in the ‘90s, there was a huge move to get people out of those ghettos and move them to villages and small towns around cities, which offer a real chance to interact with people in well designed places like libraries, cafes and farmers markets and not in dirty cellars, laundry rooms or, the horror, shared kitchens.
I actually wonder if purposefully taking away peoples privacy could make the loneliness issue worse. Because then people may get frustrated, uncomfortable and almost feeling unsafe by not having it, and deal by intentionally ignoring people there or avoiding that place instead. People tend to ignore each other in the open public, where we aren't truly comfortable with the people around us. If people get to meet at their own premises and initiative, maybe they will also be more comfortable and motivated to talk to each other once they are there. Especially if its something that bonds people over a common interest.
Also remember people no longer have a natural connection with most of their neighbors, in the past they used to be family. You cant just automatically expect a bunch of strangers placed together at adult age, having often nothing in common but the place they live, to get the same connection. And what makes people lonely is hardly ever a lack of seeing or encountering people, but a lack of actually close relationships where people care about, trust and accept each other. Anywhere in public you can simply come across people
This is very insightful Stewart - thank you
The architecture of spontaneous interactions reminds me a lot of Wes Anderson movies, where characters are followed via tracking shots through long corridors of storybook like rooms.
I want my privacy for me ,no need to socialize with people I happen to live close to by chance .
Most buildings seem to go all in on one direction or the other. Buildings absolutely should be designed to facilitate meeting and interacting with one's neighbours... but Not at the expense of the ability to withdraw into one's private spaces when desired. Those balconies aren't great, the social aspect would be better served by turning them into large, connected, walkways with appropriate amenities and having them open into the more 'public facing' parts of the apartment just like any other entry, and if that isn't the goal they'd be better designed to be actually private outdoor space.
At the same time, large, shared, open park space between apartment buildings, shared courtyards within such buildings, and so on are absolutely beneficial, easily mitigating some of the downsides of small apartments, making socialisation easier (without necessarily forcing it) and helping make the whole arrangement more accessible (not so much from the point of view of people with disabilities, that takes more work, but speaking more generally).
Anyway, the point I'm getting at is that Forcing either socialisation or isolation/privacy isn't necessary, or even desirable, but Facilitating both sure is.
I never made the connection between architecture and loneliness before, but now it totally makes sense.
When I moved back in with my family after college and started working remotely (cus Covid) I used my room because I had a desk and it was private. But I found myself missing the constant interaction with my family, because in our house the living, kitchen, and office area is all connected so we can see and talk to each other, while the bedrooms are down the hall. It made work feel even more isolating and boring, so after a month I moved my stuff out to the living room/ kitchen area to work at a smaller desk. Even though it’s cramped and I don’t have as much privacy, I much prefer it to being stuck in my room. My mom will come upstairs and talk to me while she’s making her breakfast or lunch, my sister and I can just put something on tv to have in the background, and I can talk to my dad from his office. Also I can see my dogs and the outside so much better. So it all worked out!
Great video! I remember seeing the Tulou in Disney’s Mulan! These are definitely some lonely times. Praying for everyone’s mental health ♥️🥺
your videos are inspiring and give me hope. I look forward to each new one.
Man, I love you. Thanks for your work. Peace. ✌🏼
I mistakenly clicked in your video, thinking it was the Vox guy and... loved the channel. Keep up the great work.
+1 subscriber
I am so grateful for this.
Great content! The timing of the honk at 8:08 tho, perfection
Wow! I've wondered for ages how apartment buildings could bring their residents together. It seemed hopeless with how many community spaces go unused. But the idea of hallways being wasted space that could be used for generating spontaneous interactions! That's brilliant!
Great video and great examples. A sense of community helps fight loneliness, and this can be achieved with communal spaces and chances to interact. I used to like in a flat that had a shared garden, where some neighbours had build a children's play space. It brought people together. Then the landlord got rid of that, as parking was considered valuable space. Then people started leaving. It was sad to see. Otherwise it was a great landlord so I'm not going to blame them but it was nicer with the play space, and people were friendlier.
A sense of community does not help fight loneliness, at all, it's a fucking ridiculous idea, people need human interaction, not being forced to listen to your neighbors moan at night, due to architects thinking ooh let's put 500 losers together in the same space. Regular houses in rural areas are about a billion times more efficient in combating loneliness, after all, privacy is good for the soul, being forced to live in a confined space, it's such a perverse notion, humans need to be able to just go out, and take a hike at a moment's notice, closest neighbor should be at least 60 feet away from your property. Because we need space, I'm not saying we don't need to feel affinity and belonging to a group, but to feel a community with the dumbasses that live in a highrise building it's about as much as giving up on life totally, as you can get, drinking bleach is a smarter idea for ones wellbeing.
great video, it was very interesting , makes me wanna build that weekend house.
I love the mum watering her plants and smiling....
i learn a lot from you,i get inspiration from you. your explanations are direct and simple....keep it up! your doing great
I've never seen the tolou before, but what a simple and elegant solution to this problem, like a benevolent communal panopticon!
For years I've had the idea of a different kind of mall, consisting mainly of DIY shops coupled with clubs (art supply, yarn shop, hardware store, leatherwork supply, etc.) and a few anchor businesses (a grocery, a laundromat) to provide practical reasons to go there. Each club is entered through the shop that supplies what that club uses, which would increase sales of the relevant tools and raw materials. All of these in turn would cluster around a synergy atrium. I would also make passing a test on safety in using the equipment mandatory for membership, not only for obvious insurance reasons (with insurance paid by the membership fee) but also because people are more likely to value something that they had to put in some effort into getting, which would increase participation. And there would be low-cost housing in or around the mall, and parking underneath.
People who like to work with their hands usually can't afford enough space to do so, and if they can afford the space, they don't have the time. By providing things like woodworking clubs, sewing clubs, etc., you provide the space, plus the synergy of interacting with others with the same interests, plus the proximity of all of these shops together would promote collaborations between different kinds of artisans. And by providing a housing layer, you increase available time to participate.
Love this idea.
Great video as always
I'm going to share this with my firm. Thanks!
i really enjoyed this video. Thank u very much.
I assume this has something to do with cleanliness and disgust. With all rooms connected, if one person gets sick everyone gets sick. The time periods you mention seem to sync up with "Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined" by Steven Pinker and the emerging understanding off germ theory.
Love your presentations
Very much enjoying your videos!
Really great, thoughtful video Stewart.
Thank you!!!
8:08 I'd like to thank the driver for being so considerate as to wait for a break between sentences before honking.
I love your videos. Can you suggest some more channels like yours? Big cheers from Colombia South America
Enjoyed this and learnt something.
I had the opportunity to live in Hong Kong. The neighborhood is called Caribbean Coast in Tung Chung, it is mostly high rise with some medium and low rise. The area is designed to be very social and interact with each other. It is easy to see this area on the internet. Walking, jogging, cycling, private/public gyms, small parks, public transportation, markets and medical. It is the best designed place I have ever seen/lived. I met my neighbors of various nationalities in the small hall, elevator or elevator lobby. Looking out for each other is very important and community such as the gardens, complete recycling options, libraries is important and expected. I also have lived in the Philippines and the US where this sense of community and interaction among strangers is not near the same level.
Great video as always!
That corridor-less house plan looks like an absolute nightmare to live in. I'll happily keep the hallways in my house, thank you very much.
so I am a game dev, and your videos are teaching me a lot about how to design the architectural motifs for a game I am designing!
Your videos are fantastic!
it is a very academical video possibly working for those who study in colleges. thank you for the post
When I lived in the UAE our neighbourhood had a small mall with groceries, a cafe, pet supply store, Starbucks, several fast food , all within walking distance to residents….it was great!
There is something fundamentally at odds with building ‘better units’ and social interactivity. Perhaps architecture that moves away from treating people as units to be contained within units would be a good start. To me, the first example offers nothing to alleviating loneliness - supermarkets are not exactly bump zones for community building.
Great video! Id be interested in an even deeper dive on that matter
Excellent presentation and history
Reminds me of the Rokko housing by Ando -- how the terraces have privacy but also ability to meet neighbors on their own terraces
The Chorizo/Standard houses of Argentina and Uruguay (built mostly between 1860 and 1940), consist of a series of square rooms looking into a patio on the side, most of them have both connection through the rooms and a roofed gallery
Yes these are subjects very dear to my heart.
I have seen for a while a trend to show how cool are the small spaces: UA-cam channels like «Never too small» for instance. Now, this video was recommended to me and I have to think... Really? Are they selling us overcrowded buildings like «Less lonely Living»?
Now, if you say that these new way living is cheaper or at least affordable I would say GREAT! but somehow I have a feel that there is a brainwash of some sort to "force" us to live in those places and still pay a massive amount of money for those minispaces.
Is just me?
With this buildings they are putting more people in the same land with the idea that we will be together.
Ney! For those who live in a big buildings or in a crowded neighbourhood:
How many friends do you have in your building?
Do you really know them?
Do you feel less alone just because you are surrounded by strangers?
I dont live in such a space thankfully. Watching this video almost makes me anxious thinking about living there (and i dont have social anxiety normally). It must be terrible to not have any sheltered personal space where you can actually be yourself and truly relax. It makes me angry some people will probably be kind of forced to live there, because not everyone have a free choice of where to live, some may have to choose something because its cheap, or because of distance to their workplace. And I think it ironically would only aggravate the loneliness issue at the same time. Because it greatly underestimates the need to first be comfortable for social interaction and actual bonding to happen. Not even having privacy in your own home is just gonna make people frustrated and uncomfortable and almost unsafe. And I predict people will compensate by ignoring each other even "harder". If you think of it, people in open public spaces tend to ignore each other.
I think in order for people to make friends, they need to have the interaction at their own initiative, when each person is actually ready, and not forced to be there or in a hurry. Ideally bonding over common interests. The reason people are more lonely now is because the people next door used to be your family, but now they are just a bunch of random strangers thrown together who often dont even have something in common besides where they live. You cant possibly expect the same closeness, especially not by forcing it
thank you !!
The tulu you mention is one of my ideal concepts of communal living (though brought to modern technology standards). Everyone gets their private spaces, but there is that easily accessed central hub to go be among people as you want, and all the floors are very easy to interact with others from the inner balconies.
There are a lot of people who LOVE their personal time, controlled environment, and comfort zone. But giving them that option of a public space free of cost or extra travel where they can interact with others at their choice does a great deal to make them feel wanted and welcome.
All of my dream small communities revolve around this central communal space surrounded by dwellings where people can be as social as they want and never feel obligated or uncomfortable seeing the people who surround them, but always have that ability to go into their personal home and control their environment to their needs.
As someone brought up in a large family, I have my concerns about that ancient concept of having to share personal spaces with other people. It must literally put you in contact, but it also brings stress when you need privacy or worst, when the people you live with disrespect you.
To me, the spaces that need to be shared are the ones that you don't need to do anything specific, like yards.
I have mixed feelings about those design strategies.
I am now working on a project about renovate/rebuild an old house for a huge family and they want to separate the 102m2 house into 3 different sections and keep it private with each other. This is because their grandparents have 3 kids and now they all passed away and the kids want to have home for their own. They can't afford purchase new houses.
In this case, due to lack of space, plans with no dedicated corridors are much more preferred because it enlarge the living room. The shared function room is only welcomed when necessary.
Ironically, I think the outcome kind of match every strategies you've mentioned in this video, but I'm doing this with no goal of decreasing loneliness in mind.
As a result, after watching your video, especially after you presenting that affordable housing project apartment I could not help but comes up with a "negative idea". I mean no offence but:
Is it really a good strategy to cure/decrease loneliness or a more elegant way to tell your client "Your budget is limited so architects have no choice but to ask you to share living space with other strangers " ?
Stewart, I just love your videos!
This one was special because it's my favorite research topic - the relationship between housing and livelihoods.
Did you see anything about Noreena Hertz's book "The Lonely Century"? I find her arguments about loneliness in the 21st century very interesting, as well as the cases she brings to illustrate loneliness in different societies around the world. It really is an epidemic 😐
I was curious about Gang's project, especially about the configuration of common spaces. In essence, it doesn't seem to me to add so many innovative aspects to combat loneliness. The arrangement of the apartments is traditional, and I wonder if the balconies work effectively to promote social relationships...
Thanks for your videos, they keep getting better!
I've learned alot from this video
"We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us"
Winston Churchill kinda aced this one
Great video👌,
less academic than other videos of yours that I’ve seen and more relevant for people that like architecture without being architects ✅
I've never studied architecture at all nor will I ever become an architect (I don't want to go to college for 7+ years lol) but I much prefer more academic and theory-heavy videos on architecture.