Re: Community Building | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: Eric Hart (harteFree-Net.Mpls-StPaul.MN.US) | |
Date: Mon, 28 Nov 94 21:55 CST |
The book _Seven American Utopias_ by Dolores Hayden is a very good introduction to Intentional Communities in the United States. It is historical, covering from the 18th century to the present and looks at the good and bad aspects of those intentional communities. The thing I find very useful is at the end of the book (p. 351-54) she lists seven "Design Recommendations". This explains what aspects of community design (and the processes used to get that design) have aided or detracted from the long term health and/or existance of the community. The one I liked the best is "Needs for private territory are not best served by private houses." I take this to mean that having a private space in a shared structure is better for community than having a detached single family home. This runs counter to our societal "need" for a detached single family home and makes me even more of an advocate for the intelligent design of structures with several units in them. I realize some cohousing communities have to be designed this way due to space considerations, but whenever we have the space (in a rural or suburban space) people tend to automatically think of a detached single family house. Anyway, this is a good book and well worth reading if you want a sense of the history of intentional communities. Even though cohousing is not purely an intentional community as some may see it, there are enough similiarities to be useful in designing cohousing. Eric Hart harte [at] free-net.mpls-stpaul.mn.us
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Re: Community Building Eric Hart, November 28 1994
- Community Building Raymond D. Gasser, November 9 1998
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