Co-housing: Collaborative living and working

Can co-housing help with the housing crisis while also fostering thriving communities?

Natalia Irina Roman submitted the example of Projekthaus Potsdam through our website.

She described it as a collaborative form of living combined with working.

This co-housing project includes three houses: two bought and one constructed. It also offers various workshops on working with wood, metal, textile, ceramics, etc., that are open to the public.

The project is ran independently by the group of people living there. They have acquired this property through credits currently financed by the ongoing rents and other group efforts that generate income.

Natalia feels that this is a particularly relevant example for the New European Bauhaus for three reasons:

• its innovative funding models
• its collaborative & self-organisation processes
• the choice of building materials

The house was built by the people residing there and is passive, in other words, energy-efficient.

The example highlights how by putting the minds and skills of more people together we can find long-term solutions to problems as the scarcity of space in our cities.

This project is part of the Mietshäuser Syndikat, an organization intended to secure the collective ownership and low rents of its projects.

What are your thoughts on the idea of co-living in houses built by and for the residents?

Go to "Co-design" in our main menu and tell us how we can make our communities & the places where we live more beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive.

? Projekthaus Potsdam / © Natalia Irina Roman