Cohousing-L Mailing List: Designing Your Own CoHousing

[Cohomag (Cohomag]

Although there are obviously compelling reasons for future CoHousing
residents to be educated in design issues and deeply involved in the design
of their communities, Harry Pasternak has not convinced me that it is wise
for residents to assume they do not need the help of an architect.  True,
many architects have not received any training in participatory design or
social aspects of housing design, but I think we should be willing to acknowle
dge that at least a few have gone to the trouble and learned some things that
it would take years of study for the average person to assimilate.  

Like Harry, I have a high regard for Jan Gehl.  I can't help but respond to
the assertion, "I  suggested Gehl to the authors of the cohousing book, they
had never heard of him."  I find that statement hard to reconcile with the
following quotes from the FIRST edition (1988) of Cohousing:

  "The works of Clare Cooper Marcus, Christopher Alexander, Jan Gehl, Oscar
  Newman and others provide excellent references on the social considerations
  for designing conventional types of housing." (page 172)

  "A study by Jan Gehl compared outdoor activities in two Danish clustered
housing 
  developments..." (page 179)

To be wary of architects is one thing, but to dismiss them altogether seems
to me a little extreme.  P.S.  I am not an architect and have never studied
architecture (apart from taking a course from Clare Cooper Marcus).
Don Lindemann
Editor in Chief, CoHousing Journal
cohomag [at] aol.com