Engaging our Elders: Reprograming the Architecture of Continued Care Facilities to Engage the Community

The elderly are one of the most overlooked groups in our population. The poor attention to the design of their living spaces is a sad testament to this reality. Designed like hospitals and prisons, nursing homes are sterile environments, uninviting to guests and suffocating to residents. The person-centered care of new assisted living communities is an improvement, but often the design of these institutions is governed by economic factors and architectural code requirements that continue to create isolated environments. To create truly inclusive spaces for our growing elderly population, care-centered design must go a step further and find programmatic ways to integrate the less capable into the social fabric of our community. This practice has been lost in our modern, individualistic culture. By looking at alternative methods of elderly care throughout history, this research will propose architectural solutions to combat the isolation and loneliness. The goal of this project is to explore ways to improve the quality of life for people who rely on assisted care. By redesigning care-centered spaces to prioritize human dignity and not efficiency, this thesis will frame a new perspective of aging that is exciting and dignified.