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Paint Them Red and Yellow, Blue and Green - Georgia Annwell

Cohousing: A Contemporary Approache to Housing Ourselves - Vera Westerfaard

ArtMarin: A Pproposesd Ccontemporary Art Center, San Geronirno, CA. - Georgia Annwell

Back by Popular Demand: OWA Mid-career Retreat - Yvonne Hobbs

Money, Money, Money - Georgia Annwell

IAWA Seeking Women's Manuscripts - Laura H. Katz

June Meeting: "Project Management and Business Development" - Marlene Berkoff, AIA

The book Cohousing is written by Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durett, forwarded by Architect Charles W. Moore, published by Ten Speed Press.

Women design professionals know the problems and the dilemma of wanting both professional career and family. We know how hard it is to find and afford a home, an increasingly difficult task for more and more Americans. We know that more housing is needed. We feel the threat of homelessness in the background. But all we see as a solution to the housing crisis is more of the same, more suburbia and more "urban renewal". What we need is a new way to address the larger social issues, a new way to address the fact that we are experiencing radical changes in our family life and.patterns of work.

One shift in the pattern of American life is the increasing mobility and shrinking household size of the family. Life is becoming fragmented and many Americans are finding the lack of community to be an unfortunate by-product of this changing lifestyle. Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durett, in their new book Cohousing, begin with the premise that "traditional fonns of housing no longer address the needs of many people. Many are mis-housed, ill-housed or unhoused because of the lack of appropriate options". Their own search for appropriate housing brought them back to Denmark where they had studied earlier. They sought a balance between community and privacy. They were frustrated at the isolation offered by current housing options. They wanted a spontaneous social life that did not require making appointments with friends. They wanted more contact with people of different ages and needed a better and safer place to raise children.

The authors spent thirteen months living in and visiting forty-six cohousing communities. Their book tells the story of what they found and how cohousing works.

Cohousing is a new housing type which redefines the concept of neighborhood to fit contemporary life. The concept is pedestrian oriented. Cars are parked on the periphery of complexes so that children are safe from traffic. Individual homes are clustered around a common house. Shared facilities include dining, children's play and care areas, workshops, guestrooms and laundry facilities. In this way cohousing combines the economy of private dwellings with the advantage of cooperative living. Although individual private residences are designed to be self-sufficient with their own kitchens, the common facilities, particularly those for evening meals, are an important part of community life. They are supported for both social and practical reasons. These communities are unique in that they are organized, planned and managed by the residents themselves. Often they result in cross-generational neighborhoods of singles, families and elderly. Pioneered in Denmark twenty years ago, nearly one hundred cohousing communities have been built there. Other countries are following suit.

The book is written in a relaxed narrative way and divided into three sections. The first offers a thorough introduction to the cohousing concept. The second gives an inside look and eight unique cohousing communities. It shows how they work and how community developed. It includes conversations with residents and indicates how the concept Works for them. It shows the determination of the inhabitants to improve the quality of their lives through their built environment. The third and final part is called "Creating Cohousing". It is devoted to the evolution of cohousing and to the design and development considerations necessary to create successful cohousing. Throughout the book there is a lot of attention to detail in research, information. and layout. The text is enhanced by black and white and color photographs, diagrams and drawings.
As architects, designers and planners, we all have concerns for how our lives and work can have an impact, how we can positively effect change through the built environment. Here the book is powerful. It succeeds in giving a realistic contemporary alternative to the confused and dismal United States' housing situation. Somehow it all starts at home. Currently there are fifteen groups actively planning cohousing communities throughout the western states. Many more are to follow.

Kathryn McCamant and Charles Durett can be reached by writing to 48 Shattuck Square, Suite 15, Berkeley, Ca. 94704.

Larger developments can be subdivided into smaller clusters to retain a more intimate community atmosphere.

So far this year there are only eight-some paid members. This is fewer than the one hundred and sixty-eight of last year. Resultant are serious budget concerns. One emergency measure that may soon be instituted is the shortening of the newsletter from six to four pages. The cost of the newsletter has escalated over the past year. Costs per issue have been twice the amount budgeted. Georgia is exploring desktop publishing as an alternative to typesetting. Meanwhile Caitlin is contacting unpaid members by mail.
The steering committee realizes the need for major fundraising efforts. Proposed is the establishment of an Annual Women's Architectural Exhibition to feature OWA members' works. Those interested in working on this should contact me or other steering committee members.

Fund Raising OWA LOGO $15

Ms. Berkoff will talk to us about project management and business development and their relationship to career advancement. She plans to focus especially on the position of women in large architectural firms.
Marlene Berkoff is a registered architect who has planned and designed health care and institutional facilities for seventeen years. As a former Managing Associate and Director of Health Care Architecture for the NBBJ Group, Palo Alto, and a former Senior Project Manager and Project Architect for large mid west design firms, she has managed a wide variety of complex projects. Past work ranges from the $80 million Stanford University Hospital addition and the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City to a wide range of community general hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, medical office buildings, and some non-health care projects.
Since co-founding Drever/Berkoff in 1987, she has concentrated on architectural consulting and "front end" planning for health care and institutional facilities. Projects have focused on master planning, feasibility studies, and space and functional programming. Current clients are consulting firms, such as Ernst and Whinney, and other architects who wish to supplement their services with specific health facility planning expertise.
During the last eight to ten years, Ms. Berkoffs role has focused on project management and business development, both within large architectural firms and now in her own firm. She is a member of the AIA and the National Committee on Architecture for Health, which she chaired in 1982. She is also a member of several hospital related organizations and chaired the Architects' Section of The Healthcare Forum (formerly the Association of Western Hospitals) in 1985. She has written a number of articles on ambulatory care planning and design and has served as a guest lecturer and faculty member of the American Hospital Association, the Association of Western Hospitals, the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin Extension, and the University of California at Berkeley.
Ms.Berkoff is a registered architect in California, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. She is certified by the NCARB and holds a B.A. in Economics from Barnard College in New York and B. Arch and M. Arch degrees with highest distinction from the University of Michigan.
Monday June 19, 1989, 6pm Le D�jeuner, 7pm Le Programme in the Fireside Room of the Unitarian Church, Corner of Geary and Francklin, SF.

Newsletter this issue Georgia Annwell
Education:Georgia Annwell, Kathleen Cruise
Employment: Moonyeen Alameida, Vera Westergaard
Finance: Merle Easton
Visibility: Corazon Meterparel, Caitlin Smith
Health Plan: Janet Crane

(Phone numbers on original, Archived here by Wendy Bertrand)