Archinect - News

French 2D completes Boston co-housing complex grounded in community connections

2023-12-19T12:02:00-05:00

Boston-based French 2D has completed a 45,000-square-foot collective housing complex in Malden, on the outskirts of Boston. Named Bay State Commons Cohousing, the thirty-unit scheme was conceived as a collaboration with residents “through a participatory design process emphasized mutual support and the central values of consolidating and sharing resources from land and energy to cars and material goods.”

Image credit: nkubota

The scheme’s form is defined by a series of stacked, interlocking units, ranging from micro-studios to three-bedroom homes. Half of the units and common spaces overlook an interior courtyard and lawn, with exterior spaces at every level encouraging spontaneous interactions among residents.

Image credit: nkubota

“Rather than being about surveillance, these connections create reciprocity across multiple places for gardening, chatting, playing, reading, or lounging,” the team explains. “Many of the community’s older resident...

Ghent's new Bijgaardehof complex completes a collaborative vision of social housing and city life

2022-06-27T13:26:00-04:00

A transformed brownfield site in Ghent’s historic central core has been revealed, showcasing BOGDAN & VAN BROECK’s vision for a “world in itself” set amongst industrial ruins and characterized by what it calls “lockdown-compatible” living.

The factory building had sat unoccupied since 1997 before being acquired by developer sogent, who organized an international competition for the redesign project in 2009. The new cohousing project that resulted includes some 59 residential units, a network of landscaped communal gathering areas, and a health center in what is said to match a number of criteria central to the practice’s core mission to “offer a higher quality of life at an affordable cost.”

Image © Laurina Ghinitoiu

Per the architects: “The starting point for the design of Bijgaardehof was the triangular footprint of the industrial site. The perimeter walls form a simple and strong figure that defines the boundary between 'the wor...

Norwegian firm Helen & Hard present their experimental cohousing model at the 2021 Venice Biennale

2021-01-26T14:54:00-05:00

While the 2020 Venice Biennale was postponed, many look forward to what 2021 has to offer with the announcement of the event's opening date on May 22.

Carrying on with the theme "How will we live together," Hashim Sarkis, curator of the exhibition, shared, "the world is putting new challenges in front of architecture. I look forward to working with participating architects from around the world to imagine together how we are going to rise to these challenges."

With this in mind, exciting projects and exhibitions make way for their debut at the Biennale. Take the Nordic Pavilion, for example. They've announced the Pavilion's participation in an experimental cohousing project led by Norwegian firm Helen & Hard. The firm's expertise in wood use and experimental housing projects will come to life in their exhibition titled, "What We Share."

Vindmøllebakken co-living project by Helen & Hard. The project was b...

Multigenerational and communal, but not a commune

2018-03-06T18:26:00-05:00

The heart of each community is the common house, or a space, where group meals are offered once or twice a week, together with activities and events. Houses are connected by pathways. Instead of a lawn mower in every garage, there often are no attached garages. Cars are exiled to peripheral parking areas, while a single, shared lawn mower suits the needs of everyone.

Tom Verde covers a new trend in retiring, not communes but cohousing communities. From Denver and Boulder, CO to Amherst MA or Davis CA, currently there are only 165 communities nationwide, but another 140 in the planning stages.