Meristem Communities
Developer / Builder
Modern development patterns have broken critical naturally-forming community bonds: both in the case of racist infrastructure planning literally tearing gashes through vibrant communities as well as figuratively through the development of car-centric communiti...es that isolate and disempower their youth and elders. Humans need a wide range of social and environmental interactions to remain happy and healthy. But it is critical that these interactions are designed into the built environment in a manner that makes them a part of their everyday lives. They don’t have to pave paradise and start society over to accomplish these goals; it can be done in any place at any scale. From a single temporary retail cart to master planned communities, how do they create better places for people? Make places that are interesting to people by designing visual interest for human views and perspectives, at distances that are pleasantly rhythmic at people-powered speeds (walking, jogging, cycling, etc). Create spaces at varying volumes; large to inspire awe, small to provide comfort, moderate to energize. Design fixtures and furniture for a range of human bodies, not just Michelangelo’s Vitruvian Man. Build long lasting spaces that improve with age. Eschew consumerism and planned obsolescence which benefit corporations and not people or their environment. Celebrate openness and resist excessive enclosure. Design spaces with at least ten different uses. Support t neighbors who cannot (or choose not to) drive by creating a safe walkable network of spaces that take people from their homes to places they actually need to go. Shift spaces from inefficient private yards that rarely serve few to public spaces that always serve all. Incorporate nature and natural systems into the public realm. Build public spaces that attract a vibrant diversity of humans: proximity breeds understanding. Create intentional transitions from public to private space with distance, elevation change, visual barriers, physical barriers, front porches and doorbells.
