Cohousing-L Mailing List: cohousing design experts or local architects

[Joani Blank (jeblank]

At 06:32 PM 10/17/1999 -0500, you wrote:
>                           COHOUSING-L Digest 173
>
>Topics covered in this issue include:
>
Lydia and Ray,

The answer to this question, IMHO is the same as the answer to other parts
of cohousing development which groups are trying to decide whether to hire
a cohousing professional or hire a local professional or do-it-themselves.

And that is:  Talk to several groups who used a cohousing architect and
several groups who used a local architect who had no experience with
cohousing.  Ask each group what were the positive and negative aspects of
the choice they made, and if they had to do it over again would they do the
same or make the other choice.

Also, there is a middle ground that a number of groups have used with great
satisfaction.  That is, find a local architect (probably better if he or
she is not a member of your group, at least at the outset--but that's
another topic) who is willing to work with a consulting architect who is a
specialist in cohousing. This consultation could range anywhere from a
series of consulting phone conversations and one or more plan reviews all
the way to something that amounts to a full collaboration between the two
architects. In between could be a visit of a week or so to your group and
to the local architect, or calling in the consulting architect to do the
site plan or the common house design or another "piece" of the project.  

One of the most important services a cohousing architect can provide for
your group is guidance for the group about how to work with the local
architect, and support  and guidance directly to the architect about how to
work effectively and collaboratively with us sometimes unruly clients.

I can barely imagine an architect trying to built a custom single family
home for a couple who are of at least two minds about every little detail.
It's completely beyond my imagining capabilities to think about what it
might be like for an architect trying to build a dream community, with a
group of 20 or more clients hanging over his or her shoulder, wanting
everything their way, whining that every piece costs too much, insisting on
group input every step of the way. Yikes, it boggles the mind. And on top
of it all, we want this local architect to actually finish up our project
loving the process and committed to designing at least one more community
every year for the next decade.   Hmmmmm.  Enough--perhaps more than
enough--said.