Swing space: Opening co-housing to the dynamics of living

Abstract

Buildings and interiors are often designed by reductive formulas. This is particularly true for housing, where such formulas stunt the potential lives an interior can support. In the face of rigid constraints, however, can designers approach housing optimistically but ruthlessly? Here, a design studio opens up the problem of housing by studying assisted living in Selma, Alabama. Because of the rapidly changing dynamics of the lives of elderly people, the studio proposed swing space, a design concept concerned more with adaptability – changes in social use – than with flexibility – changes in physical arrangement. Swing space defeats simplistic programmatic labels: rooms can evolve, swinging from personal to shared space with few modifications. Relying on a generous redundancy, swing space accepts change to anticipate unforeseen events. A further goal is to dissolve distinctions between assisted and independent living and other forms of co-housing. As a result, swing space opens to a more diverse population through expanded living and rental rearrangements. By celebrating the dynamics of living, swing space also opens to meaningful phenomenological and cognitive possibilities. This upends expectations of clients and sites often considered marginal, aspiring to collect diverse perspectives into a multi-racial community that enriches lives with dignity, hope and joy.