Rethinking Urban Living: 8 Conceptual Collective Housing Projects from the ArchDaily Community

Symbiosis, a Prototype for Living and Working. Image Courtesy of contexo

The future of urban life is increasingly being imagined as collective, layered, and adaptable. As cities grow denser and the boundaries between work, home, and leisure blur, architects are rethinking the traditional notion of residential living, shifting from isolated units to integrated, community-driven environments. This collection of unbuilt projects, submitted by the ArchDaily community, reflects this shift: a global exploration into how design can shape more resilient, inclusive, and connected ways of living.

Many of the proposals take the form of vertical villages or mixed-use ecosystems that intertwine housing with amenities, nature, and public space. In North Macedonia, Urban Hills reimagines a high-rise as a mountain of stacked gardens; in Texas, West Parkway Residence creates communal experiences through elevated social spaces. Others, like Symbiosis in the Netherlands, propose hybrid models for co-living and co-working, while Build Now: Waterloo Region in Canada prioritizes affordability within a complete community framework. From symbolic gestures of national identity in THE EAGLE in Albania to the urban-natural interface in Rive Nature in Paris, the projects demonstrate a shared ambition to design not just buildings, but urban conditions that foster belonging and transformation.

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