From Papakainga to Co-living: An Architecture of the Communal

Abstract

This thesis investigates the inner workings of communal living, concerning architecture and endeavours to extract spatial archetypes which may foster a sense of community. The communal is defined as "A small, localised community of persons or families pursuing common interests or values, and usually sharing responsibilities"1. In discussing the communal, questions arise of ownership, the public and the private, the personal and the communal and how they inform the communal archetype. The research explores the architectural environments of communal settlements and the redesign of the author's family's example of a communal built environment on Kawau Island. The thesis begins with the examination of how interactions and activities shape the communal, informing the architectural analysis of the existing. Further interrogation into what we can learn from communal living, and how its spaces serve the individual, the collective and personal experience. The analysis of Māori, New Zealand and international manifestations of communal living inform the redesign of my family's Bach site, creating a proposal of spaces which reflect a communal archetype beyond that of a cluster of Baches. The final design consists of a spectrum of personal and communal spaces, that function as a collective like the members of the community should. The spaces bring to attention the core focus of this thesis which is an analysis of the social benefits of a beach architecture focusing on the collective.