Building Community With A DIY Timber Frame Pergola Kit

Until the last few decades, most people grew up and lived in a world close to home, within ten or twenty miles from where they were born. Their communities are what they always knew as family, neighbors, and familiar places. The villages and towns were filled with natural gathering places such as a marketplace, pub, church, or village center, etc. People sat on their porches or visited by the street, talking with neighbors and those who passed by.

For them, the most common way to communicate was face to face. They gathered in the community to know what was happening, to buy what they needed and for entertainment. The daily rhythm of life, social systems, interactions and customs they accepted since childhood.

Now, with increasing emigration and mobility many people find themselves living in communities away from home, their known childhood acquaintances and cultures. Many places where people used to naturally gather have disappeared. Now there are shopping malls, sky scrapers and corporate buildings. There has been efforts to recreate places for people to interact, to come together as communities. Rather than knowing the neighbors as childhood acquaintances, in many cases they may not know their neighbor at all. Communication is largely due through television, computer, telephone etc. People no longer have to gather together to be able to communicate or to be entertained.

The term community means common. It used to be that a community was understood as being group of people who knew each other, shared interests, concerns, and cultural beliefs, because they lived with one another and always had.

To create a community today, it helps to create spaces where families and people can come together naturally, to care about one another and share common hopes for them and their children.

A good place for interaction is space that invites people in, a reason for them to go there, to stay, feel safe and comfortable, welcoming and accessible to everyone. Eating and drinking has always been a way to build community, it is why most holidays celebrate with a traditional meal or banquet. Sharing of food, games and family celebrations simply makes life more enjoyable. The opportunities for having relaxed conversation with family, old friends or new acquaintances, a place to sit in the shade – all this enriches our lives.

A timber frame pergola kit creates a play area where parents can share experiences and interactions with children for closer relationships, providing a place for quiet amid the noise of the outside hurry of life.

Natural sunlight makes us feel good and we respond more positive to natural light. Adding some chairs or benches provide the element of comfort to come and sit.

The solid structure of a timber frame pergola gives the feeling that this space is intended to be used by real people. Communities should begin at home. A timber frame pergola is a great way to invite everyone to be together.