As architects, we design the city of tomorrow. We must therefore always be critical not only of the places around us but also of our society, our economy and the viability of what we know today. We must be able to imagine the space that will best accommodate tomorrow’s life and allow us to move forward. In the face of the economic crisis, the demographic explosion, global warming and the incessant expansion of cities, we must review our way of life. Of course, there is not only a purely educational and social aspect behind this, but also a spatial one.
One answer was unanimously agreed: we must share space in order to use less per inhabitant but maintain a quality of life. If the answer seems obvious, putting it in place is another matter. Individualism has grown continuously in recent decades. We no longer imagine losing our privacy, sharing our private space or wasting time. Our company always pushes us to develop ourselves personally, self-confidence is a concept put at the forefront. Technology is always evolving to save us time. The car, washing machine or dishwasher saved the housewife time and allowed her to go to work.
Today we are told to share space, cars, take the bus or the subway and trade the supermarket which gathers all our needs in the same place for small local shops.But how can we imagine, realistically doing all this by continuing our lives and jobs, picking up children from school to take them to extracurricular activities and then going home to cook while stopping to buy food at the store?
An answer appeared, sharing place. Unfortunately, this answer is far from seducing everyone. After talking a lot of time about that with people, a minority of people seem to feel capable or simply want to be part of such a habitat. The idea looks nice but the reality is still scary for them. When we look at these projects, many have difficulty functioning because of disagreements between the inhabitants.
So what can we practically propose as an architect and urban planner today?
In order, to try, to answer this question it is important for me to make the link between the commons and the shape of the space to understand their interactions.
