These Families Wanted a Village, So They Built Their Own
A new cohousing development in Madrid aims to serve as a model, where impromptu gatherings of kids and families are by design.
A 3D model of the cohousing development Entrepatios, designed by sAtt Arquitectura and Pascual Pérez.
Photographer: Miriam Foley
When Madrid’s schools were closed in January due to the coldest weather in fifty years, parents living in the Entrepatios cooperative housing development already had a model that would have made many parents struggling through pandemic closures jealous. Their onsite “school” was inaugurated. Thanks to child care shifts and a Google calendar, working parents were able to focus on their day jobs most of the time, while their children took part in a kids’ yoga class, a sleigh ride in the snow or a performance in the communal playroom.
“It’s like a village,” says Cintia Díaz-Silveira, who moved into the new cooperative housing apartment block at the end of 2020 with her partner and two children, ages three and one. For Díaz-Silveira and her fellow inaugural residents, their new living situation is their answer to the refrain “it takes a village to raise a child.” And they hope it can be a model for others who want to start something similar but don’t know how.