Cohousing-L Mailing List: A cohousing pattern language [21-37]

[Frank Boosman (frank]

Here's what I have put together so far on a pattern language for cohousing.
The following consists of 29 of the 253 patterns provided in "A Pattern
Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction." These are the patterns that I
thought might be useful and valid in designing cohousing projects, not
including interior layout and design (which doesn't interest me as much as
site layout, sorry).

[Note: the presence of two asterisks after the pattern title indicates that
the authors thought they had found a property common to all possible ways
of solving the problem. One asterisk means they thought they had found a
good solution, but possibly not the best. No asterisks means they couldn't
find a universal solution, but instead have provided the best they could,
at least as a reference point.]

For each pattern, I have included the title, the problem statement, and the
solution. Where appropriate, I have added my own notes. I have also
included the numbers of the patterns as they are numbered in the book, but
as this moves along, it will make sense to drop them, except as footnotes.
If we find this useful, I would be more than happy to collate thoughts,
layout a document, and send it to people upon request. 

Also, I will parcel this out over the next few days, so as not to overwhelm
everyone. Therefore, below are the first four of the patterns I have
extracted. Anyway, without further ado, here we go:

--

21. Four-story limit**

There is abundant evidence to show that high buildings make people crazy.

Therefore: In any urban area, no matter how dense, keep the majority of
buildings four stories high or less. It is possible that certain buildings
should exceed this limit, but they should never be buildings for human
habitation.

[Frank's comments: I don't know of a from-scratch cohousing development
that violates this rule. It's hard to imagine one. This is definitely
fundamental.]

--

22. Nine per cent parking**

Very simply--when the area devoted to parking is too great, it destroys the
land.

Therefore: Do not allow more than 9 per cent in any given area to be used
for parking. In order to prevent the "bunching" of parking in huge
neglected areas, it is necessary for a town or community to subdivide its
land into "parking zones" no larger than 10 acres each and to apply the
same rule in each zone.

[Frank's comments: I don't have a good intuitive feel for how much nine
percent represents of a given land area. I don't usually think about it.
I'll have to start trying to make some rough measurements as I go about my
daily business. However, on the surface, this seems sensible. I would be
interested to know what some existing cohousing developments have done
here.]

--

35. Household mix*

No one stage in the life cycle is self-sufficient.

Therefore: Encourage growth toward a mix of household types in every
neighborhood, and every cluster, so that one-person households, couples,
families with children, and group households are side by side.

[Frank's comments: Most of the cohousing developments I have read about
have strongly encouraged such a mix. This seems eminently logical. However,
I note the authors only placed one asterisk here. They felt that a better
solution to the problem might exist. I wonder...]

--

37. House cluster**

People will not feel comfortable in their houses unless a group of houses
forms a cluster, with the public land between them jointly owned by all the
householders.

Therefore: Arrange houses to form very rough, but identifiable clusters of
8 to 12 households around some common land and paths. Arrange the clusters
so that anyone can walk through them, without feeling like a trespasser.

[Frank's comments: I find myself strongly tempted to diverge from the
authors here. In "Cohousing," McCamant and Durrett provide plenty of
examples of cohousing projects which include more than 12 households
without clustering, yet which (the residents claim) are perfectly livable.
In fact, McCamant and Durrent claim that the optimal size for a cohousing
community seems to be 18 to 25 units. Is clustering within such projects
necessary? Would that form cliques?]

|  Frank Boosman   |   Morrisville, NC   |   frank [at] internet.net  |
|       Have you read "Snow Crash" yet? If not, you should!      |