Page 13 - Decor & Lifestyle 2025 Issue 1

LIFESTYLE

Features That Foster
Belonging
So how does design create that?
With intention. And softness. And
the kind of spatial rhythm that
makes proximity feel easy, not
forced.

• Walkability
Wide, tree-lined pavements. Safe
crossings. Routes that invite
wandering and return. When
people can move on foot, they
slow down. And when they slow
down, they notice. And when they
notice, they connect.

• Purposeful Shared Spaces
Thoughtfully designed common
areas that support real-life
use: coworking lounges with What the People Say More Than a Trend
good coffee. Shady parks with A well-designed community doesn’t This isn’t branding. It’s not a lifestyle
scattered benches. Clubhouses need marketing language. It speaks add-on.
that host more than just functions for itself – through lived experience,
– morning yoga, film nights, ease, rhythm. Designing for connection speaks to
community dinners. Places something primal.
that aren't just ‘nice to have’ but “I didn’t realise how much I needed it
genuinely useful. until I had it. It’s not that we’re in each The need to belong. To feel part of
other’s lives every day. But the texture something – whether that’s a shared
• Casual Collisions is different – you’re not anonymous courtyard, a tree-lined path, or just a
This is the magic. A child asking here.” sense of safety in waving to someone
to swing on someone else’s swing. – Resident, mixed-use estate, familiar as you lock your door.
A chat between neighbours while Gauteng
watering a verge garden. A laugh What’s emerging is a new kind of ease.
shared while watching dogs “Design is often so focused on
play. These moments can’t be structure and form. But the real Not transactional. Not performative. But
manufactured – but design can beauty comes in the spaces in real. Sustained. Slow.
give them room to happen. between. The thresholds. The
moments that allow for interaction Because designing for connection means
The best connections often begin without obligation.” designing for the kind of ease that can’t
where no one is trying too hard. – Community landscape architect be bought – only built, together.

11 | DÉCOR & LIFESTYLE Issue 1 2025