<< Like the country itself, cohousing in Denmark has two personalities – summer life and winter life. For most Danes, socializing decreases significantly during the long, cold winters. […] The architects of Jystrup Savvaerket […] responded by designing a cohousing community where a glass-coverd pedestrian street allows life to blossom in the winter.

“But the street! Nobody can imagine how we could function without it – here there is life all year round. Here we sit, talk, and drink coffee ‘til one in the morning, here the kids play when it rains and snows. The glass-covered street is simply one of the best parts of our house.”

As one resident enthusiastically commented, the narrow, blue-walled, glass-covered street at Jystrup Savvaerket is a great success. This community has 21 residences arranged along two covered pedestrian streets that meet at the common house, making not only the common house but the whole street an extension of the private living spaces >>

Charles Durrett, cohousing architect (in: ‘Creating Cohousing, Building Sustainable Communities’, 2011)

*****

<< De architectuur van Regnbuen […] springt direct in het oog. Het is in feite niet meer dan een smal straatje met twee reeksen rijtjeshuizen aan weerszijden, twintig woningen in totaal.

Eén simpel kenmerk maakt echter al het verschil. De straat is over de volle lengte overdekt met een hoog glasdak. Praktisch gezien houdt het glasdak het vaak regenachtige, gure Deense weer buiten, en creëert een prettig binnenklimaat waar zelfs vijgenbomen en druiven groeien.

Maar de ‘glasgang’, zoals de bewoners het noemen, doet nog veel meer. Het creëert een ruimte die als half binnen, half buiten aanvoelt. Dit ambivalente karakter trekt alle woningen in één keer bij elkaar, en lokt het leven de voordeuren uit en de glasgang in. De grens tussen het privéhuishouden en de gemeenschappelijke ruimte vervaagt hier, dijt hier uit.

De glasgang is bezaaid met persoonlijke eigendommen. Voor elke deur hebben de bewoners hun eigen zithoek, eettafel, welkomsthal, kruidentuintje of extra opbergruimte ingericht. Driewielers staan er naast rollators, en een pluchen aap omklemt de palmboomstam van de buurman. >>

Samenhuizen vzw (in ‘Verslag Reis Denemarken’ 2015)

*****

<< C’est très climatique chez nous.

C’est-à-dire que l’hiver on ne se voit pas beaucoup : et l’été, ici, chacun amène son repas, et une bonne bouteille : c’est vachement bon et je suis toujours invitée. >>

habitant d’un habitat participatif (dans: ‘Abécédaire de l’habitat participatif’, Éco Habitat Groupé, 2014)

*****

<< Talking with residents, it was clear that the glass-covered street was the most community-enhancing aspect of the design. Entering […] via the community’s front door, one’s eyes are immediately drawn to the soft and colorful “edge” of the street where plants in pots, and tables and chairs outside the individual front doors subtly extend each household’s domain out into the semi-public street. At the unmarked boundary lines between adjacent houses, wooden planters or trellises support vines and ivy climbing up the brick building wall. These household extensions are like front porches — people leave outdoor clothing there (coats, shoes) before going inside; newspapers, books, and coffee jugs are left on the tables; tricycles, watering cans, and toys decorate the pavement near the door; a mat marks the transition into private space […]
At most times of the day and into the early evening, the street is animated by children playing, neighbors sitting “outside” sharing coffee or wine, people returning from work or walking to the evening communal meal. Described by one resident as “a large extra room belonging to everyone,” the street is clearly the hub of social life at Drivhuset … >>

Clare Cooper Marcus, (in: ‘Site planning, building design and a sense of community: an analysis of six cohousing schemes in Denmark, Sweden, and the Netherlands’, Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 2000)

*****

<< Erst durch die Berührung mit der Dritten Welt, der verwandtschaftlichen Beziehung zu einem Psychologen, dem Studium der Berichte aus der Gartenstadtbewegung und der Kommunebewegung aus Dänemark und Holland, entstand […] die Idee zu einem neuen Wohnkonzept […].
Der Leitgedanken war […]: eine Hausgruppe, in überschaubarer Größe, um einen gemeinsamen “Dorfplatz”, einem winterfesten Atrium überdacht mit einem mobilen Glasdach, im Sommer als offener Hof, im Winter als attraktiver Raum für Spiel, Sport und Feste ganzjährig nutzbar. >>

Fritz Matzinger, architect, Oostenrijk (in: vortrag in Wien, 2000)

*****

<< A design that seemed to work well was Drivhuset [DK] with the wide glass covered “street” and also Windsong [CA], which has a very similar design. In these communities all households had tables and chairs at the front of their homes and spent time sitting out the front, leaving the way open for increased social interaction. A variation on this design, influenced by Drivhuset and designed by the same architect, is Thorshammer [DK], where the houses are around a quadrangle with a glasscovered corridor facing onto it. Asgard, across the way from Thorshammer, and Aadalen I and II, across the way from Drivhuset, have built their own variations on this design. All these designs create an environment where people chose to spend time in the glass covered area. At Aadalen where the pedestrian street is narrow there are enlarged areas at the ends and centre and people congregated here. >>

Jan Forbes, Housing Analyst, Housing Tasmania (in: ‘The application of age-integrated cohousing for older people’, The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust of Australia – Churchill Fellowship, 2002)