Sharing community space

A good example of how to share community space is in Aoi Care in Tokyo that provides a space including a small scale care home, a public shortcut and a community garden. It’s a lively, homely place, where you can walk through, passing flowerbeds and driveways with cherry blossom trees, fire pits, pottery, garden tools, a wheelbarrow, wooden benches, plastic tricycles, toys, mobility scooters and bicycles.

The designer had experience of working in a nursing home and realised how scheduled and mechanical it was. After speaking with the older people and community members, he designed a place with diversity, understanding difference being an essential part of who we all are. The space consists of four houses connected by gardens which gradually attracted members of the community to the area. After the walls were knocked down, trees were planted and grown which the children could climb. Fruit fell from the tress, free for anyone to eat. Through time the home became integrated into the community building relationships between all age groups.

If space is made available for people of all ages to share and interact we can watch the the magic which happens when intergenerational relationships are formed.

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