Aria Denver is part of National Building Museum exhibit

A Denver developer’s cohousing project is featured in a National Building Museum exhibit called Making Room: Housing for a Changing America.

Located in Washington, D.C., the museum’s exhibit explores new design solutions for the nation’s evolving, 21st-century households. From tiny houses to accessory apartments, cohousing and beyond, these alternatives push past standard choices and layouts. the exhibit will run through Sept. 16.

Urban Ventures’ 28-unit Aria Cohousing Community, on the site of the former Marycrest Convent at West 52nd Avenue and Federal Boulevard, is similar to other cohousing developments in that residents have private living spaces, as well as community-based common areas that allow them to share meals and interests. The goal is to create an intergenerational and mixed-income community that is committed to sustainability, inclusivity and intellectual growth.

“We are honored to have the Aria Cohousing Community showcased in the National Building Museum as recognition of cohousing as a successful lifestyle that promotes community engagement and social cohesion at a time when there is so much isolation in our country,” says Susan Powers, president of Urban Ventures.

The post-World War II suburbanization of America was driven by the housing needs of nuclear families, the nation’s leading demographic, according to the National Building Museum. In 1950, these families represented 43 percent of households; in 1970 it was 40 percent.

Today, nuclear families account for 20 percent of America’s households, while nearly 30 percent of people are single adults living alone, a growing phenomenon across all ages and incomes, and it’s causing developers to reimagine the way they build communities.

In addition to the Aria Cohousing Community, the Making Room exhibit features housing alternatives like micro-apartments in New York City; backyard accessory cottages in Seattle; and tiny houses that are helping the formerly homeless in Austin.