Three Rich Aunties
by Yvette Njoki Waweru
THE CASE FOR CO-LIVING COMMUNITIES
I have three rich aunties with lots of money and lots of land. They are perfect clients for a budding architect like me. Scenic land in the Great Rift Valley with views to Mt. Longonot and wandering giraffes in the distance. Exclusive locations off Kiambu Road, a wealthy neighbourhood in the leafy suburbs of Nairobi. Prime properties for the kind of investments that build wealth on top of wealth.
I have three poor aunties - the same three rich aunties. Poor in either health, community, wellbeing, and environment, in a poor society, with poor governance. My poor rich aunties are financially wealthy. Rich in high-rise apartments but poor in the quality of air they breathe. Rich in melanin but poor in the amount of sun that falls on their skin. Vitamin D deficient with weak bones, in a city of weak bones of infrastructure crumbling on the weight of poor governance. Rich in time to spend, but poor in community to spend time with. In their younger years, they were rich with community but poor in time as it was spent in pursuit of riches. Riches of one kind that cannot be traded for riches of another kind.
I have three poor rich aunties. What can a budding architect like myself offer the poor rich? I propose a different kind of investment that bears no financial gain, but an investment into their health, community, wellbeing, and a thriving quality of life for their sunset years. I propose the logic of traditional life, with the benefits of modern methods. A co-living scenario where modern privacy is traded back for traditional community, and every family’s needs are honored, without throwing out the benefit of intergenerational and communal living. I propose that modern conveniences are exchanged for traditional sustainability. Where high rise views are traded for low lying sunsets. Where doctors visits are supplemented with herbal soups from on site nutrition gardens. I propose the planting of trees that shade generation after generation. I propose the use of biodegradable materials from their lands, that go back to their lands: non-toxic materials that have no negative effects on health. I propose the infusion of modern technologies not for the sake of blind progress, but as an improvement of what was once traditionally working.
I propose open verandas between spaces, and breathable rammed earth walls.
I propose lavender beds at bedroom patios, and floor rugs made from locally grown sisal.
I propose solar energy with maximized daylighting hours for every room.
I propose a bridge from the lives they once knew, and the lives they now have; a bridge between the extremes of traditional and modern ways of living.