Co-housing as a tool to mitigate the care crisis: Case studies of La Borda and Les Voirets

Abstract

Current figures show that housework is still carried out by women, being an obstacle

to their emancipation. This paper examines in what manners can the model of co- housing reduce the care crisis at the micro-level while analyzing the gender

perspective of the model. The ideal of living in a community with cooperation among the neighbors has already been claimed by feminists for over a century as a solution to the burden of social reproductive tasks. Moreover, this project offers an alternative housing option to the current housing crisis and an environmentally sustainable solution to the climate emergency. Through two case studies -La Borda in Barcelona and Les Voirets in Gèneve-, the analysis shows a strong correlation between co-housing and a decrease in the housework burden, as a result of establishing common visible spaces and the sharing of historically feminized rooms including the laundry and the kitchen.