As fas I remember I've been attracted by the whole co-living idea. First I grew up in a family of 6, then, during my studies, I lived in a flat of 4 right next to the campus -i.e. we hosted many parties and gatherings- and I continued to share flats in the beginning of my adult life. Like there were 5 of us in our incredible rooftop -probably still one of the best flat I used to live so far- in Geylang, Singapore.
Of course at some point I ended up living just by myself with Mathilde, my other half. Even though, thanks to our decade-long partnership with Max at work, we've always had interesting set-ups where he'd live in his own flat but on the same floor, or in the building across the street or -like these days- 15min. from us by walking.
So we've contemplated the idea of co-living for a long time. And we've talked about it to many friends. Some of them seemed really into it too but we never agreed on the geography. I think we've fallen into the trap of 'let's make a lifelong decision right now and make it perfect'. Which was too much to handle for everyone involved.
Along the way, we've experienced the most intriguing and amazing architecture possible while living in Lisbon. Every 3-floor building of the street enjoyed some shared between 2 flats backyard gardens, at every floor. Which means that when you were living on the 3rd floor, you shared a bridge with your neighbors to reach your own garden. While on the bridge, you felt extremely closed to all the other bridges and the gardens below you. It looked -and felt- like a village. But we were all living in a very urban European capital. In retrospect, this definitely helped us all experience a not-so-dramatic COVID time. And we've never felt so close to our neighbors. They really became -and still are by the way- close friends.
People feel lonely. And as Phil is saying in the video below, "our housing is a big contribute to this. We need to figure out ways to build housing where you get social connections by default; because it's built in the housing". I can't agree more.
Phil and Kristen wanted to live near their friends, but they didn’t want to sacrifice their privacy, so they started their own intentional community where you can choose your neighbors and eat together but still have your own home. They called it Radish.
"Radish is built around the “Obvious Truth” — that people are happiest and healthiest surrounded by people they love and admire," they explain on their website. They all have their own homes, but they eat dinner together (nowadays, they have hired a cook which they can "afford to split among 20"). Phil wants to help other people do what they did, so he started a website called "Live Near Friends" that searches for available housing that could accommodate groups, whether a duplex, a home with an ADU, an apartment cluster, a mini hood, a pocket hood, or a full "friend compound."
I found this very inspiring. This is co-living done right. And now that we're parents, we're more convinced than ever that we should try to make something like this happen. 'It takes a village' as they say.