“Commoning Domestic Space” is an in-depth examination of the architecture and social structures of collective living. As the urban housing crisis deepens in cities around the world, city dwellers are starved for affordable models of housing that support today’s increasingly varied, and frequently post-familial, modes of living. In response to both economic pressures and social desires, housing types centered on the commoning of domestic space—communes, co-living, cooperatives—are growing in popularity. But living together is not easy; it requires an architecture that carefully balances personal and shared space, individual identity and mutual interdependence.

“Commoning Domestic Space” explores the challenges and opportunities of collective living through case studies (both built and projected, designed and informal) as well as speculative design proposals by THE OPEN WORKSHOP. The exhibition, comprised of both models and drawings, unpacks three key elements of successful collective dwellings: (1) Hardware, which refers to the architecture proper of the dwelling as it structures and supports relationships among residents; (2) Software, which examines how residents identify with and claim domestic space; and (3) Orgware, which focuses on the organizational frameworks and governance systems that make collective life possible. In addressing the building, maintenance, and governance of a domestic commons, the research and projects collected in “Commoning Domestic Space” offer fresh insights into the ways in which we can live together.