0:00:00.907,0:00:02.119
Loneliness.

0:00:03.475,0:00:05.826
All of us in this room[br]will experience loneliness

0:00:05.850,0:00:07.212
at some point in our lives.

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Loneliness is not[br]a function of being alone,

0:00:10.989,0:00:13.648
but rather, a function[br]of how socially connected you are

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to those around you.

0:00:15.959,0:00:18.153
There could be somebody[br]in this room right now

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surrounded by a thousand people

0:00:19.738,0:00:21.092
experiencing loneliness.

0:00:23.284,0:00:26.937
And while loneliness[br]can be attributed to many things,

0:00:26.961,0:00:28.692
as an architect,

0:00:28.716,0:00:31.653
I'm going to tell you today[br]how loneliness can be the result

0:00:31.677,0:00:33.633
of our built environments --

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the very homes we choose to live in.

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Let's take a look at this house.

0:00:39.519,0:00:40.740
It's a nice house.

0:00:40.764,0:00:43.179
There's a big yard, picket fence,

0:00:43.203,0:00:44.404
two-car garage.

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And the home might be[br]in a neighborhood like this.

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And for many people around the globe,

0:00:52.104,0:00:54.324
this home, this neighborhood --

0:00:55.069,0:00:56.245
it's a dream.

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And yet the danger of achieving this dream

0:00:59.723,0:01:01.425
is a false sense of connection

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and an increase in social isolation.

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I know, I can hear you now,

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there's somebody in the room[br]screaming at me inside their head,

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"That's my house,[br]and that's my neighborhood,

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and I know everyone on my block!"

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To which I would answer, "Terrific!"

0:01:17.379,0:01:19.525
And I wish there were[br]more people like you,

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because I'd wager to guess[br]there's more people in the room

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living in a similar situation

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that might not know their neighbors.

0:01:27.716,0:01:30.457
They might recognize them and say hello,

0:01:30.481,0:01:31.821
but under their breath,

0:01:33.416,0:01:35.219
they're asking their spouse,

0:01:35.243,0:01:36.641
"What was their name again?"

0:01:37.593,0:01:40.674
so they can ask a question by name[br]to signify they know them.

0:01:43.155,0:01:47.654
Social media also contributes[br]to this false sense of connection.

0:01:47.678,0:01:49.676
This image is probably all too familiar.

0:01:49.700,0:01:51.269
You're standing in the elevator,

0:01:51.293,0:01:52.447
sitting in a cafe,

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and you look around,

0:01:54.131,0:01:55.575
and everyone's on their phone.

0:01:57.055,0:01:59.278
You're not texting or checking Facebook,

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but everyone else is,

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and maybe, like me,[br]you've been in a situation

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where you've made eye contact,

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smiled and said hello,

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and have that person[br]yank out their earbuds

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and say, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

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I find this incredibly isolating.

0:02:16.501,0:02:18.685
The concept I'd like[br]to share with you today

0:02:18.709,0:02:20.293
is an antidote to isolation.

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It's not a new concept.

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In fact, it's an age-old way of living,

0:02:24.105,0:02:26.585
and it still exists in many[br]non-European cultures

0:02:26.609,0:02:27.836
around the world.

0:02:28.517,0:02:30.395
And about 50 years ago,

0:02:30.419,0:02:33.536
the Danes decided to make up a new name,

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and since then,

0:02:34.742,0:02:38.839
tens of thousands of Danish people[br]have been living in this connected way.

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And it's being pursued[br]more widely around the globe

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as people are seeking community.

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This concept

0:02:49.818,0:02:51.018
is cohousing.

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Cohousing is an intentional neighborhood[br]where people know each other

0:02:56.898,0:02:58.249
and look after one another.

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In cohousing, you have your own home,

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but you also share significant spaces,[br]both indoors and out.

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Before I show you[br]some pictures of cohousing,

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I'd like to first introduce you[br]to my friends Sheila and Spencer.

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When I first met Sheila and Spencer,[br]they were just entering their 60s,

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and Spencer was looking ahead[br]at the end of a long career

0:03:17.206,0:03:18.440
in elementary education.

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And he really disliked the idea

0:03:20.717,0:03:23.230
that he might not have[br]children in his life

0:03:23.254,0:03:24.443
upon retirement.

0:03:27.053,0:03:28.474
They're now my neighbors.

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We live in a cohousing community[br]that I not only designed,

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but developed

0:03:32.724,0:03:34.548
and have my architecture practice in.

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This community is very intentional[br]about our social interactions.

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So let me take you on a tour.

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From the outside, we look like[br]any other small apartment building.

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In fact, we look identical[br]to the one next door,

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except that we're bright yellow.

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Inside, the homes are fairly conventional.

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We all have living rooms and kitchens,

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bedrooms and baths,

0:03:57.135,0:04:00.527
and there are nine of these homes[br]around a central courtyard.

0:04:00.551,0:04:01.720
This one's mine,

0:04:02.450,0:04:04.236
and this one is Spencer and Sheila's.

0:04:04.935,0:04:07.572
The thing that makes this building[br]uniquely cohousing

0:04:07.596,0:04:08.878
are not the homes,

0:04:09.743,0:04:11.610
but rather, what happens here --

0:04:12.430,0:04:16.255
the social interactions that happen[br]in and around that central courtyard.

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When I look across the courtyard,

0:04:18.618,0:04:20.633
I look forward to see Spencer and Sheila.

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In fact, every morning,[br]this is what I see,

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Spencer waving at me furiously[br]as we're making our breakfasts.

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From our homes, we look down[br]into the courtyard,

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and depending on the time of year,

0:04:31.954,0:04:33.303
we see this:

0:04:33.327,0:04:36.733
kids and grownups in various combinations

0:04:36.757,0:04:39.121
playing and hanging out with each other.

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There's a lot of giggling and chatter.

0:04:41.479,0:04:43.114
There's a lot of hula-hooping.

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And every now and then,[br]"Hey, quit hitting me!"

0:04:48.361,0:04:50.133
or a cry from one of the kids.

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These are the sounds of our daily lives,

0:04:53.585,0:04:55.706
and the sounds of social connectedness.

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At the bottom of the courtyard,[br]there are a set of double doors,

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and those lead into the common house.

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I consider the common house[br]the secret sauce of cohousing.

0:05:06.383,0:05:07.546
It's the secret sauce

0:05:07.570,0:05:10.444
because it's the place[br]where the social interactions

0:05:10.468,0:05:12.990
and community life begin,

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and from there, it radiates out[br]through the rest of the community.

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Inside our common house,[br]we have a large dining room

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to seat all 28 of us and our guests,

0:05:24.857,0:05:27.031
and we dine together three times a week.

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In support of those meals,[br]we have a large kitchen

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so that we can take turns[br]cooking for each other

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in teams of three.

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So that means, with 17 adults,

0:05:38.096,0:05:40.548
I lead cook once every six weeks.

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Two other times, I show up[br]and help my team

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with the preparation and cleanup.

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And all those other nights,

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I just show up.

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I have dinner, talk with my neighbors,

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and I go home, having been fed[br]a delicious meal

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by someone who cares[br]about my vegetarian preferences.

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Our nine families[br]have intentionally chosen

0:06:01.601,0:06:03.122
an alternative way of living.

0:06:03.835,0:06:05.955
Instead of pursuing the American dream,

0:06:05.979,0:06:08.877
where we might have been isolated[br]in our single-family homes,

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we instead chose cohousing,

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so that we can increase[br]our social connections.

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And that's how cohousing starts:

0:06:16.263,0:06:17.917
with a shared intention

0:06:17.941,0:06:19.425
to live collaboratively.

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And intention is the single most[br]important characteristic

0:06:22.352,0:06:25.411
that differentiates cohousing[br]from any other housing model.

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And while intention is difficult to see

0:06:28.794,0:06:30.624
or even show,

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I'm an architect, and I can't help[br]but show you more pictures.

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So here are a few examples to illustrate

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how intention has been expressed

0:06:38.014,0:06:40.126
in some of the communities I've visited.

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Through the careful[br]selection of furniture,

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lighting and acoustic materials[br]to support eating together;

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in the careful visual location[br]and visual access

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to kids' play areas around[br]and inside the common house;

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in the consideration of scale

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and distribution of social gathering nodes

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in and around the community[br]to support our daily lives,

0:07:07.913,0:07:11.259
all of these spaces help[br]contribute to and elevate

0:07:11.283,0:07:12.601
the sense of communitas

0:07:12.625,0:07:13.964
in each community.

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What was that word? "Communitas."

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Communitas is a fancy social science way[br]of saying "spirit of community."

0:07:23.765,0:07:26.227
And in visiting[br]over 80 different communities,

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my measure of communitas became:

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How frequently did residents eat together?

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While it's completely up to each group

0:07:34.971,0:07:37.034
how frequently they have common meals,

0:07:38.406,0:07:41.445
I know some that have eaten together[br]every single night

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for the past 40 years.

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I know others

0:07:46.239,0:07:48.791
that have an occasional potluck[br]once or twice a month.

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And from my observations, I can tell you,

0:07:51.769,0:07:53.858
those that eat together more frequently,

0:07:53.882,0:07:56.627
exhibit higher levels of communitas.

0:07:58.170,0:08:00.966
It turns out, when you eat together,

0:08:00.990,0:08:03.153
you start planning[br]more activities together.

0:08:04.200,0:08:06.373
When you eat together,[br]you share more things.

0:08:06.397,0:08:08.181
You start to watch each other's kids.

0:08:08.205,0:08:11.120
You lend our your power tools.[br]You borrow each other's cars.

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And despite all this,

0:08:13.578,0:08:15.095
as my daughter loves to say,

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everything is not rainbows[br]and unicorns in cohousing,

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and I'm not best friends[br]with every single person in my community.

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We even have differences and conflicts.

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But living in cohousing,[br]we're intentional about our relationships.

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We're motivated[br]to resolve our differences.

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We follow up, we check in,

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we speak our personal truths

0:08:39.564,0:08:40.903
and, when appropriate,

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we apologize.

0:08:43.986,0:08:48.122
Skeptics will say that cohousing[br]is only interesting or attractive

0:08:48.146,0:08:49.731
to a very small group of people.

0:08:50.429,0:08:51.888
And I'll agree with that.

0:08:52.648,0:08:54.989
If you look at Western cultures[br]around the globe,

0:08:55.013,0:08:57.729
those living in cohousing[br]are just a fractional percent.

0:08:58.910,0:09:00.280
But that needs to change,

0:09:01.172,0:09:03.255
because our very lives depend upon it.

0:09:04.820,0:09:08.503
In 2015, Brigham Young University[br]completed a study

0:09:08.527,0:09:13.256
that showed a significant[br]increase risk of premature death

0:09:13.280,0:09:15.416
in those who were living in isolation.

0:09:16.905,0:09:19.299
The US Surgeon General[br]has declared isolation

0:09:19.323,0:09:20.890
to be a public health epidemic.

0:09:21.424,0:09:25.014
And this epidemic[br]is not restricted to the US alone.

0:09:27.179,0:09:29.253
So when I said earlier

0:09:29.277,0:09:32.155
that cohousing[br]is an antidote to isolation,

0:09:33.767,0:09:35.388
what I should have said

0:09:35.412,0:09:38.566
is that cohousing can save your life.

0:09:40.840,0:09:43.799
If I was a doctor, I would tell you[br]to take two aspirin,

0:09:43.823,0:09:45.182
and call me in the morning.

0:09:46.536,0:09:47.855
But as an architect,

0:09:47.879,0:09:50.910
I'm going to suggest[br]that you take a walk with your neighbor,

0:09:50.934,0:09:52.393
share a meal together,

0:09:53.281,0:09:54.975
and call me in 20 years.

0:09:56.010,0:09:57.288
Thank you.

0:09:57.312,0:10:01.079
(Applause)