More and more people are moving to cities. The general idea is that there is always something to do and there is always someone to meet with in those cities. The truth is different. A lot of those city dwellers are feeling lonely from time to time. They experience a lack of social contacts and relationships. The increase in loneliness is mainly caused by our individualistic oriented society and the fact that a growing number of singles lives in one-person households. Currently, those singles are living in houses designed for bigger households. Therefore, they are using a bigger amount of space and that is the exact thing cities are lacking.
In order to design dwellings for the future, a new way of living, which should tackle the social and spatial issues cities are coping with, has to be found. This research states that many of the problems could be solved with a more collective way of life.
The design goal is a residential building with the maximum achievable communal
space and only the minimum needed private space for every individual. Thus,
the focus in this living environment lies on the collectively organised activities.
Nevertheless, every individual demands and requires a certain amount of privacy.
This research questions the strict separation between private and collective spaces and activities and gives a better understanding of ‘what’ can be collectivised and what needs to stay private. This will result in architectural guidelines to design ‘a more collective way of life’.