“Sometimes we can build less and achieve more”
We started chatting with our keynote speakers and panelists prior to the conference and enjoyed hearing their stories and insights so much that we decided to keep going post conference!
Today we are bringing to you our “conversation” with Swedish architect Anna Sundman co founder of Theory into Practice who shared her and her team’s research on designing coliving spaces for all.
What got you interested in Architecture in the first place?
I’ve always been interested in the creativity in making and doing projects, and as I grew older the process of doing something grew stronger. How we collaborate, join visions, build a team, and collectively add to a project, that results in something bigger.
The process of making architecture is very exciting, and it can be in the process that most innovation is made, in order to achieve entirely new results.
You also have a strong interest in sustainability, how did that come about and is that what led you to dive into shared living?
Our built environment has a huge impact on the climate.
In Sweden, the building sector accounts for 30 percent of the emissions.
Architecture affects so many parts of human life and planetary resources, and of course we would like to use our knowledge to become more efficient with our use of resources.
Sometimes we can build less and achieve more, so we always need to consider how spaces can be better used to lower our impact.
Looking at the urban environment today, few buildings are used to its capacity. This is why we have a great interest in the sharing of space, and finding smarter ways to utelise structures over time.
What is the story behind starting Theory into Practice? What do you focus on as a team?
Theory Into Practice was founded on the principals of curiosity and an urge to contribute to society through more innovative architectural design.
We work a lot with innovation, and innovating the larger systems surrounding the design. The results are new interpretations of architecture, with a clear connection to more healthier and more liveable communities.
We focus on trying to make a positive difference in every project we engage in. Our strength as planners is our ability to visualize and suggest what has not yet been created, and link the physical world to dreamed visions.
Do you have personal experience of co living?
Yes, I’ve lived in many different coliving situations, right now I live in a shared flat. I got interested in this typology more seriously after having lived 2 years in Melbourne, where shared houses are common. It was great to see and experience the variety and the creative solutions, and value it can offer.
What has been the biggest challenge for your business so far? And the biggest learning?
We are often challenged by the current norms, and how to navigate to give us the right leverage to suggest an alternative.
Our practice mainly engages in innovative projects that relate to a bigger system transformation. Our ideas are a starting seed for the transformation, and it is always challenging before the project is made. It is challenging to convince and be allowed to experiment. But this also ties in to the fact of being extremely rewarding everytime our prototypes succeed, and we make it to the next level.
Do you have a dream project you would like to work on/create?
We have many dreams, and we always move one step closer to them in each project.
An ideal project of course has a strong and motivated team. The work is centered around the end user, with a creative user driven design process. And with that core team, we jointly create more innovative architectural designs that better meet the needs, and we get to work throughout the whole process and also follow the project for a couple of years, once people have moved in.
We are not far from this dream, and the beauty of architecture is that each project is unique, which makes it interesting to do.
What impact do you believe community living can have on Society?
We believe it gives the possibility to create a more varied, inclusive and socially connected society.
We know it can make a big difference in use of resources, especially if we look beyond the building process and consider the lives lived in the building. All appliances, items, foods and other being used collectively rather than each one of us needing our own one. It can offer society a more resourceful way of living.
What differs from designing “regular” housing ? Coliving being a quite recent trend, what were there things you had to challenge, adapt and re think?
A lot lies in connecting the spaces together, making a good flow between private, semi-public and public functions. It is important to care for the different levels and make the spaces cater for the diversity of interactions that is possible in coliving, and that the ordinary apartment is stripped from.
We need to take extra care of feeling secure and “at home”.
In an ordinary home this is made by making the space privat (locked and controlled), here we can work with materials, functions, acoustics, size, outlooks etc to better consider how to tie the space to a variety needed in a home to feel comfortable.
How can architecture impact a community?
It can impact a community on multiple levels, from the very basics of providing an easy and liveable home, where the space helps you overcome hurdles. It can help form social connections through providing a well thought out space, a stage for an easy sharing that takes into account different preferences and levels of interaction.
Architecture can be suggestive of a new future, preferencing new behaviours and urging communities to transform behaviours more quickly.
For example, car and bike sharing can increase when a space for shared mobility is designed better. Recycling of household waste can increase if the design makes it easy and accessible, and becomes a natural part of your everyday life.
It can create a space to make people healthier and happier!
Thank you so much Anna for taking the time!
Anna’s keynote reccording and all the talks from the conference and our monthly webinars are available to Coliving Hub members on our platform.
