Abstracts Sociology

Neighborhood: Neighborhood

by Roman Bartoš

For millennia people modified and adjusted their surroundings in an endless hunt for comfort, safety and survival. Humanity grew, evolved, matured and died together. The environment directly reflected the efforts made by its community. Families lived under one roof together, right next to the village common. Humans knew to respect the nature and coexisted with it. This changed drastically over the last couple centuries. After several technological breakthroughs and a few wars the technological evolution accelerated right out of control. The need for a neighborhood begun to fade. Sunday markets were replaced by supermarkets, eye-to-eye talks became scarce as we glued ourselves to various screens. Low fences were replaced by tall concrete walls, we built a system of selfish private bubbles. NEIGHBOR+HOOD attempts to find a compromise between both extremes. It is understanding and balance among the spaces for ME and the spaces for US. It is a place for neighbors, a tight-knit community of friends under one tree, sitting at a common table. It is a natural, comfortable, peaceful, safe and humane environment in the suburbs. The design offers to the fictional inhabitants of Udánky hill an opportunity to identify with their home and its surroundings. All that and more in total symbiosis with surrounding nature. NEIGHBOR+HOOD is human, self-sustaining, ecological housing estate. It is the home of neighborhood.