Shelter ...

Shelter, being one of the basic needs of humans, takes many forms, from the simple to the excessive ... simple varying according to climate, excessive sometimes as one huge property, sometimes two or three homes in different places ... leaving the excessive problems aside for now, some ideas are arising for other ways to live simply ... the typical model has the family or single person in a house or flat ... co-housing models, pioneered in Denmark and Canada, are being tried ... pooling resources for bigger properties to share ... experience of hostel living extends this idea ... using the time-share model, without the negative aspects, to broker co-housing units in different parts of the world ... recognising the current obsession with property as investment, whilst preparing for the coming changes ... indeed shaping them ... using the tools of interactive internet, maybe Noomap, to help create more desirable ways to live.

Transcending attachment to shelter as "home", open to living simply and in more than one place, a design arises for folks to collaborate in experimental forms ...

For example: a large house in a village in the North-East of England ... configured with 5 bedrooms, two bathrooms, two large reception rooms, a kitchen cum dining room, utility room and large cellar ... plus fair sized vegetable garden ... 4 or 5 core residents may take a share, with options to share their room with others on a time and/or space basis ... a common set of values establishes a basis for harmony and clear agreements a framework for resolution of any disagreements ... other sleeping arrangements may cope with visitors on bedrolls in a reception room ... a useful service may be a virtual address for wandering folk, maybe a cupboard for some stuff, a mailing address and a bedroll when needed ... in the cellar, meditation, chanting, dancing and an installation of Indra's Net ... why not?!

Sounds like quite a Place to Be ...

Other versions evolve, the place itself a creative hub for redesigning the world ...