The Commons @Hayes Valley, SF
I am invigorated by all the fresh ideas I've come across and been inspired by lately. I have come to realise that there are two core threads around my impetus. Relationships and ideas. These two themselves are linked because my philosophy is a relational philosophy, that everything is a relationship. I believe relationships are at the core of human existence, not just existence but human flourishing. Humans are made to love and to be loved, and that is the greatest thing to which we can aspire to. I also am a deep thinker, and love thinking about ideas and seeing them everywhere in the world around me. Ideas aren't just ideas, they are powerful, and are the basis of all human action. Here are the ideas that I've been excited by.
Coliving - the idea of having shared residential spaces where many people, in some cases up to hundreds, can all inhabit the same space and form a vibrant community.
Third spaces - the idea of having a place that is neither your home, nor your workplace, to which you go to for learning, relaxing, socialising, etc.
This is what my vision for both of those are.
Coliving:
I imagine a home where many people and families can all live together, not separated by family unit. It would take the form of something like a square, with living quarters on the periphery, and shared spaces in the center, along with one side exposed to the outside. This structure is similar to college dorm rooms, or the Fujian Tulou's. The living quarters would be private spaces, but only contain a bedroom, bathroom, and small multipurpose space. Family sized units would also be available which will have an additional bedroom available, and possibly the option for expansion. The shared spaces would involve entertainment, culinary, office, and fitness regions. Household chores would be split between the inhabitants, and dinners would be shared communally. A small number of people will cook food that is enough to feed everyone.
The main goal behind this is to retrieve the village lifestyle of old, where people are constantly in close relationships with many other people, not just their family. This is something that is incredibly lacking in modern cities. This also has the added benefit of solving the housing crisis by providing affordable housing. By increasing the density of housing, we are able to leverage economies of scale to provide a home that is not only cheaper, but more conducive to human flourishing than existing housing arrangements in cities. With all the savings, it allows room for luxuries such as a swimming pool, or home theater, that aren't accessible to the middle class. This model will also be able to scale, simply stack multiple floors of this above each other. It is modular by design, and can easily be imposed upon many different residential environments.
Third space:
I've had this dream of creating a great place since I was a teenager. I longed to have a place where I could come and engage with the great minds of the world. A place which would inspire me and be my intellectual home. It would be a place that I would hang out at all the time, when I'm not busy doing anything else. Inspired by the Parisian and Viennoise cafes in their heyday, I wanted to create a place for great minds to gather, and also inspire the next generation of great minds. Out of it would come a new philosophical movement, that would deeply impact the fabric of society. The core idea behind a great place, is that ideas are everything. Human progress can be attributed to the discovery of new ideas. As such, it is of immense value to create a place which can generate these ideas at a quantity and quality like no other. Universities have historically played this role, however they have been plagued by lethargy that is not going away. In my mind, what a great place looks like is quite murky. It is something of a cafe, library, town square, cathedral, all mixed together in one beautiful kaleidoscope. The form is not as important, but rather the activity that I imagine there. It is a place of comfort, of refuge from the outside world, where you feel free to roam as far and wide as your mind allows, yet further than you believed you could. People from all sorts of backgrounds could come and take part in discussions, young and old, rich and poor, no one is disqualified.
What I saw in The Commons in San Francisco was something that combined aspects of both my visions. I saw a space where people came to hang out, to work, and to explore. The people there were very curious, and approachable to a fault. It was a home away from home. In The Commons, I found a physical representation of what I had dreamed of, even though it doesn't exactly fit the bill. However, the spirit of it is much the same. What's more is that they have made it work, something which is to be admired greatly. I know for certain that if I lived in San Francisco, I would want to be part of The Commons. Seeing all this has given me the inspiration to pursue my visions today, however small those steps may be today. Rather than wait, I know I can create something now that gets me closer to my final destination, thanks to the example of The Commons. A special thanks to @stedmanhalliday for inviting me to The Commons, and all the lovely people there that I met and welcomed me. Especially and Adi Melamed for giving me the encouragement to take these ideas and bring them to life.
If you’re in Sydney and these ideas interest you, get in touch with me. This is going to happen.
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