Designing a Community

Village Homes is a well-known site at Davis, California, a lovely place where nature and society have the same level of importance. The main theme that surrounds the location is sustainability. Judy and Mike Corbett are the designers of Village Homes. They combined the ideology of creating a sense of community like the 80s; where people will know their neighbors, communities were gather together, and where kids could play outdoors with enough security they will come back home safely, and focusing in society’s needs. One example is that they narrowed the streets, so indirectly the drivers are forced to drive at a low speed that as a consequence provides safety to pedestrians to walk in streets.

The place is considered to be sustainable because most of the houses use alternative ways to obtain energy: solar energy is one example, all the houses are ori

ented north-south and have solar panels attached to their homes. Additionally, it offers alternative ways to transport like pedestrian and bike paths. It also contains natural drainage where the water can be reused and recycled to water the green surroundings.

The design of the site not only provides functionality and

practicality, but it also provides an aesthetical environment for the residents at

Village Homes. These aesthetical views are mainly made out of edible landscape, where residents have the opportunity to plant a variety of fruits, and it also contains two open spaces, parks, where the community can gather together.

Village Homes is an example of a community where nature and society can work hand in hand. Unfortunately, there are few places around the world that considered people’s needs more than automobiles. Now, streets are construct wider to, supposedly, prevent traffic, and do not considered the danger of pedestrians crossing those streets. Hopefully, as new generations of Landscape Architectures and Architectures come the new designs will follow Village Homes principals.

References:

http://www.villagehomesdavis.org/public/about

http://www.rte50.com/2007/07/village-homes.html