With multifaceted affordable housing solutions an ever-growing need in the region, PIVOT’s 2024 Fellow will study the roles intentional community models can play in finding solutions for the housing and loneliness crises.
Abby Brown will investigate intentional communities as housing models in urban settings that offer holistic solutions while addressing the needs of individuals, local communities, and urban centers. Intentional communities are groups of people who choose to live collaboratively and strive to create a lifestyle that reflects their shared values. Housing models like cooperatives, co-housing, housing collectives, and eco-villages fall under the intentional community umbrella.
Abby believes that intentional communities foster social belonging, instill a sense of ownership in residents, reduce individual economic burdens, support urban density, and prioritize collective well-being. She became interested in exploring the potential that intentional community housing models have in creating more socially sustainable associations after a recent studio project at the UO.
Abby just completed her fourth year in the five-year Bachelor or Architecture program at the University of Oregon College of Design. She moved to Eugene from Magnolia, Texas, and spent time studying in Stuttgart, Germany. When she’s not working or studying, she likes cooking, photography, sewing, paddleboarding, camping, and anything that gets her outdoors
The PIVOT Fellowship is a means of fostering original thought about issues outside the daily routine or obvious future trajectory of our firm’s thought process. PIVOT selects fellows based on the nature of their project proposal and other factors. It is a paid position and the term runs from June until September. The fellowship is open to students for the summer preceding their final year of study at the University of Oregon. The fellows’ projects constitute half of the candidates’ responsibilities. Fellows are also incorporated into PIVOT project teams for the duration of their term gaining real-world experience working side-by-side with our design teams.