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  last modified February 29 by mattcoop

Concept

A riva is the infrastructure and methods that exist in support of a community's shared vision.   

This is an expansion of the original concept, riva as a flexible live/work space.  By blurring the borders between living and working, we allow ourselves more time for play.

NYC Riva expands this basic vision to encompass the entire New York City community.  Thus, NYC Riva will take form as a social business, charged with building infrastructure and providing services in support of cooperative organizations.  It will achieve full cost recovery and will grow when necessary, but will not seek sustained growth merely in order to earn regular profit.  Part of its mission is to render itself obsolete.  Ultimately, it seeks its own dissolution.

Part of the role of the riva company is to provide consultation to the community on its social, economic, and political platform.  The riva then helps organizations to situate themselves within the context of the shared vision, allowing them to benefit from their cooperative membership in the movement.

Projection: Coworking Space

A central hub and workshop for improving community infrastructure in New York City.  It will serve as a resource for independent workers and various community initiatives.  By bringing all of these people and groups together into a shared space, it will help to create greater confluence among them.

Here is an early vision of how a Riva might look:

riva-nyc.0.jpg


This drawing is definitely not scientific (there are too few desks to pay the bills), but it gives you an idea of the elements that might exist in a fun and thriving riva.

The first floor would run on the coworking model, offering desks and drop-in memberships at a monthly rate.  The upstairs would run something like a hostel.  A full-time caretaker could administer the space in exchange for a subsidized living situation, while the other rooms provide varied accommodations for guests.

The addition of housing space to the coworking model opens new possibilities for confluence among community action groups.  In particular, it helps NYC to tap into the global flow of changemakers by offering those individuals an attractive and affordable landing pad when they arrive in the city.

First Steps?

Perhaps a coworking space is the right start.  Opening or supporting a smaller space, like the projection at Coworking NY , might provide provide proof of concept and serve to further build out the cooperative network.  Perhaps the first step will be a more focused initiative instead.