Your piece came at an interesting moment. Last week, I finished reading Atul Gawande's book "Being Mortal" in which he discusses housing innovations for seniors, even those going thru the last mile of their lives, pointing to the work of gerontologists like Bill Thomas and Karen Wilson and "senior housing" like Eden Alternative and New Bridge on the Charles. Their work reminded me of your writing about 19th Century Boarding Houses and Multigenerational Housing and got me back to rereading Brave New Home.
But there's a difference: the Thomas and Wilson housing for seniors provide autonomy and purpose, as well as the chance to engage with others. It's not merely a question of "co-living" but something closer to "co-action" as a way to remember the value we all have and can provide.
If one were to incorporate your idea about re-purposing office space so it can be used by the growing demographic of the old (and retired), one would also need to design it in ways in which those who live in these spaces can connect, find purpose and meaning -- to give back and do, not merely to survive. It's not merely a question of "making office building fun" -- although that ain't bad. It's making a building into a functioning eco-system...ideas to be developed, teams to be supported, autonomy to be encouraged, and isolation and loneliness pushed aside.
There's much more to think about. Perhaps you could invite a gerontologist to think with you (or on a collective zoom) about how housing (from old offices) might be refashioned and reprogrammed.
I love this idea and this comment. This is all so true. I think that many "senior living" places try to encompass what you're talking about, but they are prohibitively expensive in the country's most expensive cities like NYC. Senior living is very akin to co-living, but I hate the age segregation of it. What I think you're getting at is the idea of purpose in a housing community, perhaps? Especially as people age and their identities are no longer defined by work and your kids have lives of their own, how do you find purpose? It might be nice if you found that in a kind of interdependent living situation.
I rented at the Crystal City WeLive for three months while transitioning back to DC. It was great -- It felt like living in a combination of a West Elm showroom and a Marriott Residence Inn. Had it not been in the hand of Adam Neumann in his final days at WeWork, I feel concept could have had legs.
Your piece came at an interesting moment. Last week, I finished reading Atul Gawande's book "Being Mortal" in which he discusses housing innovations for seniors, even those going thru the last mile of their lives, pointing to the work of gerontologists like Bill Thomas and Karen Wilson and "senior housing" like Eden Alternative and New Bridge on the Charles. Their work reminded me of your writing about 19th Century Boarding Houses and Multigenerational Housing and got me back to rereading Brave New Home.
But there's a difference: the Thomas and Wilson housing for seniors provide autonomy and purpose, as well as the chance to engage with others. It's not merely a question of "co-living" but something closer to "co-action" as a way to remember the value we all have and can provide.
If one were to incorporate your idea about re-purposing office space so it can be used by the growing demographic of the old (and retired), one would also need to design it in ways in which those who live in these spaces can connect, find purpose and meaning -- to give back and do, not merely to survive. It's not merely a question of "making office building fun" -- although that ain't bad. It's making a building into a functioning eco-system...ideas to be developed, teams to be supported, autonomy to be encouraged, and isolation and loneliness pushed aside.
There's much more to think about. Perhaps you could invite a gerontologist to think with you (or on a collective zoom) about how housing (from old offices) might be refashioned and reprogrammed.
I love this idea and this comment. This is all so true. I think that many "senior living" places try to encompass what you're talking about, but they are prohibitively expensive in the country's most expensive cities like NYC. Senior living is very akin to co-living, but I hate the age segregation of it. What I think you're getting at is the idea of purpose in a housing community, perhaps? Especially as people age and their identities are no longer defined by work and your kids have lives of their own, how do you find purpose? It might be nice if you found that in a kind of interdependent living situation.
I rented at the Crystal City WeLive for three months while transitioning back to DC. It was great -- It felt like living in a combination of a West Elm showroom and a Marriott Residence Inn. Had it not been in the hand of Adam Neumann in his final days at WeWork, I feel concept could have had legs.
Yes! Totally. I really do think the concept will come back in office buildings. It makes too much sense to not work.