Does anyone talk to their neighbours anymore?

One of the nice aspects of apartment living is that you have an alliegance to your immediate neighbours on your landing, a recognition with your stairwell passers and an identity shared with your fellow adresees… and you don’t have to engage any of them in conversation!

those in Belfast may find this of interest:

Voices of Cabrini
Director: Ronit Bezalel
1999 – 30 minutes.

A panel discussion featuring Ciaran Mackel (Architect), Billy Mitchell (Link Community Association), and Ciaran Kearney (Falls Community Council) will follow the film.

Shot over a three-year period, this superb documentary follows the residents of Chicagos best-known public housing development as their homes are marked for destruction in the interest of urban gentrification. The film captures the diverse voices of the community, many worried if the city will keep its promise to replace Cabrini with equally affordable housing. “…a gripping story about living in the city…”

The demolition of Cabrini Green is part of a nation-wide trend to tear down high rise public housing. What does this mean for the future of public housing?

Cultúrlann, 216 Falls Road, Belfast. Admission £2 @ 25 March 8.00pm

In the apatment complex I stay in in Dublin8 they only thing I’ve ever heard from any neigbour was a (music too loud) complaint that came from a neighbour via a caretaker to the landlord on on to an agitated phone call to tenant. Not the building blocks of community spirit.

But often people give a polite grunt to each while still within the cosy security gate, beyond that it’s everyone fro himself.

Maybe it’s that apartment living is new to us all and that irish people arent really used to the concept of apartment living yet. Nobody wants to bring childern up in such places so they usually just contain young and or single people who move frequently.. for a community to develop, their has to be at least a reasonable percentage of permanent residents.

I think the difference between today and comunities prior to mass urban environments is that people have large spheres of aquaintance now. In ‘ye olde days’ it was those in your immediate vicinity with whom you interacted- you didn’t just live near each other but worked in the same area,frequented the same shops and pubs and more often then not were related to people in the community. You only have to read someone like George Eliot to see how decades of inter-marraige and social reliance on a core group for economic prosperity (i.e a village or farming community) intertwines families and indeed the entire populas into longterm co-dependence. No bad thing, but today people create community within their workplace or among a group of similar minded friends. It simply would not be possible to bond and form these ties with several groups of people so we quite understandably pick and choose those who are most likely to have empathy with us. I think……I don’t really know its just a theory

Any from of apartment building has various areas in which chance encounters can take place. Car – parks, stairwells and hallways and the odd partition wall, which can be a contentious meeting ground!
I think that these meetings have a quality in that they have no strings attached – even a “grunt” is OK in my book. I would feel drawn in to inviting a neighbour around if I started any serious conversation. I would rather keep my distance.
One thing however – most stairways and hallways are built to a minimum size and are so claustraphobic that the physical proximity of a stranger can be intimidating. If we designed these spaces for chance encounters where both parties could feel comfortable enough to hang around for a chat in, then maybe more community spirit would develop.

I heard a story about how, when ee cummings ended up living next door to Djuna Barnes when they were both aged people in New York, he used to stick his head out the window every so often and shout – Are ya dead yet Djuna?

I agree with you WhiteCube, I live in Antwerp and everyone here is so damn nice and friendly
towards each other I sometimes expect to see Noddy driving by and offering me a lift to Toytown.

Who wants to talk to their neighbour anyway, what you want when you come home after a hard days graft is some peace and quiet. So long as we’re friendly(a good morning to you etc…) and respectful towards our neighbours we can all live and let live.

Brief, Design an apartment build to accomodate X amount of people.
You would imagine the first thing you would do is devote a huge amount of space to the foyer, with seating receprion etc… No No a narrow hall just wide enough for two ppl to squeeze by and miles upon miles of corradors, Each floor containing the same furniture (if your luck) and prints on the same spot in each floor and each floor identical to the one below it! Developers!!!!!

BTW Shooting for what?

The more middle class and well to do we become …the more reserved, uppity and private we become. There was and has always been a neighbourliness among working classes……which goes hand in hand with the borrowing and cadging culture. Human nature I suppose.