Free range
E ALL NEED SOMEWHERE NICE a house with a way in, some friends and a little respite. Yet, these days, private life seems to require more planning than ever: setbacks, height restrictions, living circles, fencing, acoustics, fire ratings. Throw in some curtains or blinds and our seclusion seems well guarded if not a little blinkered. Boundaries increasingly come with walls and, as housing efforts ramp upwards and outwards, communities are easily lost amongst all that privacy. Going to town with your housing development and pushing copy on that plan for the afternoon can quickly contribute many individual spaces but the divided uniformity of a spreadsheet. It’s all math and ever-decreasing squares. Ironically, in the search for neighbours, plans that follow the plan seem to do well keeping us apart.
