A more social and cooperative living milieu

Around three decades have now passed since the first collective houses were constructed in Sweden. The main principle behind the initiative is buying or renting out an apartment, and mutually possessing and undertaking the responsibility for administrating the common areas of the building through consensus and cooperation. As a compensation for the generously spacious and quality shared spaces such as kitchen, dining hall, gym, sauna, guest apartment, and library, buyers and tenants have to pay for a slightly higher surface area than their own unit. One who rents out a 37 sq.m. apartment, for example, pays the rent for 44 sq.m. 

Yesterday, I showed up for a visit to Dunderbacken collective housing complex which was built in 2010 in Hägersten (Stockholm). The visit was organized by the Swedish Museum of Architecture. General information about the community and administrative routines by the head of the association (föreing) were followed by explanations from the building's designer, Thomas Hultegård, from the Architects' House (Arkitekthuset) in Jönköping. According to him, the core idea was to create a number of inner yards, keep a distance from the excavated rocky hills in the vicinity, and provide residential units with numerous and various views through a crooked layout for the building's footprint (in the southern side). This helped  Shrewd choice of material and detailing has been made to prevent formation of algae, mosses, and fungi on façades. Balconies (the very popular elements!) were contrived for as many units as possible within spatial and economic restrictions. 

Collective housing is now much more popular than its early times in Sweden, when it was mainly the way of living some intellectuals had acquired as a way to challenge the ever-increasing consumerism, alleges Dick Urban Vestbro, professor at KTH and the chairperson of the "Collective Housing Now" (Kollektivhus Nu) association. This form of living is not specific to Sweden and is also practiced in Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, United States, and Italy. There are however also some drawbacks with this approach: quite often, it becomes rather difficult to maintain the gender balance among residents and women take the majority; besides that, housing shortage causes that even people who have no genuine interest for such a life style end up in collective houses barely in search of accommodation.

Sources:
http://www.arkitekturmuseet.se/program/
http://dunderbacken.dinstudio.se/
http://www.familjebostader.com/Ny-bostad/Bogemenskap/Ett-satt-att-bo-och-leva/
http://www.svd.se/naringsliv/livsstil/bo-tillsammans-har-blivit-inne-igen_7921410.svd