The Digital Home
Symbol, language and this site went live. There is now an address to point to when someone asks what AllOne is.
We Are One
A world where no one feels alone.
Every person belongs. And caring for someone isn't a service or a favour — it's what you do for your own.
- Just starting
- We are one person
- Location not yet
- Updated
Imagine
- A place where life slows down, making room for what truly matters.
- Where nature is part of the family, and the family is part of nature.
- Where no one has to ask to be cared for.
- Where a person's worth is never defined by age or productivity.
- Where growing older never means growing alone.
- Where those who know teach, and those who learn also teach.
- Where everyone feels they belong.
- Where those who receive, one day also give back.
The name
AllOne
- aloneOn your own
- all oneWe are one
The distance between those two realities is exactly the challenge this project sets out to transform.
The picture I started from
Three villages, in the middle of nature.
In the picture I started from, there were three villages in Portugal: one in the north, one in the centre and another in the south. Places in the middle of nature, with modular homes of different sizes, added as each community grows.
Around them, the spaces, infrastructure and services needed for a person to live every stage of their life there — including the stages where the body starts asking for more care.
It is a picture, not a plan. There is no land yet, no architectural project, no budget. But this picture is what set AllOne in motion, and it still points to a direction — even if what comes to exist turns out to be smaller, different, or somewhere else.
Why AllOne exists
A way of belonging, long before it is a place.
We spend our lives trying to fix the shortage of money, time and space — and forget the deeper one: the lack of someone to belong to. That is where AllOne begins, today, long before any land exists.
What sustains that practice is three simple things, and the rest of this page speaks to them. The villages, if they ever come to exist, will be the consequence of that practice — never the condition for it to begin.
Belonging
Relationships and spaces where each person feels seen, heard and needed — not merely tolerated.
Care
Arranging life so that caring for others stops being the exception and becomes the culture.
Reciprocity
Everyone can receive, offer, teach, learn and take part according to what they are able to give.
The four commitments
Human, intergenerational and renewing.
These are the points that are not up for negotiation. Everything else — the legal form, the place, the pace — will be designed as more people join.
- Intergenerational life Children, adults and older people growing and caring in the same place, every day.
- Nature present Land, water, food, silence and biodiversity woven into daily life — not as scenery, but as relationship.
- Autonomy with community A home of your own and personal space without isolation; shared life without losing freedom or privacy.
- An economy serving life Resources directed towards the mission and the common good — no hidden expenses, and a straight answer for anyone who asks where the money goes.
Who is behind this
One person, one name, one contact.
Hello! I'm Celestino João Barata. I was born in 1971 in the municipality of Oeiras, which belongs to the Lisbon district, and I currently live in the Setúbal district.
I spent my entire working life in the field of information technology. I say this first because it makes the contradiction that follows clearer: for decades, I helped build communication infrastructure meant to connect people, systems and applications. At the same time, I kept seeing more and more people around me living alone — without a sense of belonging and, often, without a place where they could live with dignity and simply be who they are.
It took me a long time to see that what we lack most is not technology or knowledge. It is the awareness that we belong to one another.
AllOne comes from there. I am willing to give it my time, my energy and a serious part of the life I have left, without knowing exactly where this path leads. I do it because I believe that caring for one particular person already changes something, even when it does not change everything.
There is no team, no investors, no organisation behind this site — just one person starting in public, inviting others to arrive early.
In development
Drawing the villages.
I am currently drawing the first version of the architecture: what the houses might look like, what stretches of nature surround them, how the whole is arranged, and what supporting infrastructure is needed to live a whole life there.
The underlying idea is modular. Homes of different sizes, added as people arrive, rather than a closed plan built all at once.
At the centre, a large multipurpose hall, with rooms that can be classrooms in the morning and workshop, dining hall or assembly in the afternoon.
It is the first version of many, and it exists to think with, not to build from. When it is ready, it appears here.
The villages will be the consequence.AllOne · founding principle
The choice comes first.
People before places.
One step at a time
There is no roadmap.
You won't find a timeline here, or a list of next steps with dates. That isn't modesty or strategy: I simply don't have them.
AllOne moves by steps that only become visible once they've been taken. I do what I can do alone, record what happened, and only then decide the next thing. When someone joins, the path changes — and it is meant to.
So I promise no gatherings, no dates and no stages. What exists is on the path below, and everything there has already happened.
Evolution Record
What has already begun.
Only what is already under way appears here. From the first stage to the most recent — you won't find future stages, because I don't know what they will be or in what order they will come.
Vision and purpose
The guiding principles were written and made public.
Identity and Digital Home
A symbol, a language and a public place where anyone can follow the process.
Base architectural design for the villages
A first version of what the spaces, homes and infrastructure might be. It is being drawn now, and will be published here once it exists.
Finding the first people interested in taking part
This is the only stage I cannot do alone. I am looking for people willing to talk, to disagree and to build — not for followers.
The path so far
A work built in plain sight.
Most recent first. Every entry is something that happened, never something promised — including the ones that go wrong. If this ever stops being updated, you'll know it stopped.
allone.pt is born
The domain was registered the very next day. It was the first irreversible decision and the first expense.
The beginning
Three years after the question, a personal experience brought one simple sentence that wouldn't leave: we are one. From then on it stopped being an idea I kept postponing and became a matter of where to start.
The question
Where do people go when working life ends and they don't want to end up alone, or in a home? I couldn't find an answer that satisfied me. I began to imagine one — and quickly realised that a village only for older people would repeat the same isolation with a better view.
Transparency
What we still don't know.
I'd rather say this now than let someone find out later. They will be answered with whoever is here.
WhereNo land, no chosen regions, and no promised timeline.
How muchThere is no financial model. No one should be counting today on numbers that don't yet exist.
How decisions are madeThe decision-making rules are still unwritten. They'll be written with whoever is here.
How many we areI'm at the very beginning. That is exactly why your presence weighs so much right now.
What legal formAssociation, cooperative or another figure — still undecided, and will depend on who joins along the way.
Whether it worksIt may not. Intentional communities fail often, and I don't pretend to be immune.
Frequently asked questions
Does AllOne already have land, houses or a village?
No. Today AllOne is only a vision, this Digital Home and the first steps under way.
Do I need to invest money to take part?
No. At this stage there is no request for money, fees, donations or investment. If a financial model ever exists, it will be put in writing and discussed with whoever is here before anyone commits to anything.
Where will the villages be?
Not decided, and nothing is under way. When the time comes, the choice will be made with whoever is here, weighing water, soil, access, the relationship with the existing local communities and the legal framework. Portugal is the starting point.
Is AllOne a registered association?
Not yet. The legal form is undecided and will follow from the real needs of the project, whoever joins along the way, and the sustainability model. Association, cooperative and other structures are all still on the table.
How will money be used?
There is no money to manage today: the only costs are the domain and the hosting, paid by whoever started the project. When money is involved, the intention is that it goes entirely into the mission — no hidden expenses, and a straight answer for anyone who asks where the money goes.
What commitment is asked of someone joining now?
No formal commitment. At this stage all we ask is a willingness to exchange messages and say honestly what you think — including when you disagree.
Do I have to move there?
No. Many people will want to contribute without living in the community, and that is both legitimate and necessary. Shared living will be an option, never a condition of taking part.
Who makes the decisions?
Right now, whoever started the project — because there is no one else yet. As other people join, decision-making rules will be written down and shared.
Is it a religious or spiritual community?
No. AllOne began with a personal experience of unity, and it is written down on this page. But there is no doctrine, no spiritual leader, no required practice and no expectation of belief. Religious, agnostic and atheist people are equally welcome, provided everyone treats other people's convictions with respect.
First contact
Tell us what brought you here.
You don't need answers, and you don't need to know what you could offer. Just say who you are and what moved you.
Prefer to write directly?
info@allone.pt