Glimpses

Since commercial developments were scarce in the post-recession financial climate, urban decision-makers invested a lot of hope in private, bottom-up initiatives, especially collective private commissioning (CPO) and building groups, usually composed of friends or like-minded people. 

We imagined what it would be like if a complete neighbourhood were built up by clustering together these so-called building groups into interest-based building blocks, joined together by collective courtyards. In this scenario, residents of the block would be responsible for filling the ground-floor plinth with bespoke, shared and accessible amenities.

The project brought up a number of important questions: If people feel safe in such collective dwelling environments, would they be more open to others? Does approaching cultural differences at this block-scale create an inviting and accessible heterogeneous environment? Could this juxtaposition of different groups help enable a more socially sustainable society?

This glimpse into the future shows how the trend towards polarisation could be transformed into a cohesive strategy for a sustainable society.