Architecture Design studio's are one of the best ways to sensitize and indulge students into Universal design thinking.
With this thought, Design brief of Commonwealth Association of Architects - Ninth International Student Competition for Designing Welcoming Inclusive Spaces for the Elderly had been taken up for the S Y B Arch design studio this semester. As per the competition brief, architecture students from around the world are invited to design forward thinking environments for our ageing population.The United Nations report that the twenty-first century will witness more rapid ageing than the previous years and this is foreseen to bring a paradigm shift in the design approach towards everything ranging from products to buildings to the urban development.
The second year studio is the apt time to trigger design sensibility and introduce students to the impact of architecture in the social context, its influence in shaping people’s lives meaningfully. The studio had to be sensitized and structured to generate designs that facilitate security, dignity, access and participation of aged people in communities.
A research based and participatory approach was adopted to evolve the design process. The predesign stage incorporated case studies, field surveys in different parts of the city, close observations, studio interactions with the elderly groups and exciting brainstorming sessions with peers.
A new typology of building was evolved, a unique Activity centre for the elderly (approx. 500 sq.m built up), that would satisfy their social, recreational, spiritual and economic needs.
The design studio progressed in an interactive nature with intermittent juries and invited elderly guests to give feedback to students. The studio ended with some very sensitive and aesthetically appealing designs for the centre, out of which two designs were selected (student names - Shehrebanu and Rajashri) and sent as the competition entries.
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