The Social and Built Environment in an Older Society (1988) / Chapter Skim
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DESIGN PROBLEMS IN ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY AND INDEPENDENCE IN HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY
DESIGN PROBLEMS IN ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY AND INDEPENDENCE IN HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY
Pages 218-249
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BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN For the last 16 years, organizations like the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) have attempted to develop a dialogue between architectural designers and social science Victor Regnier is associate professor of architecture and gerontology, University of Southern California.
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From page 219... ...
An Application Gap Between Designers and Researchers There is a lack of overlap between the interests and work of environmental designers and that of social science researchers. The gap has widened as a result of the tendency of environmental design researchers and social scientists to define the goals of their research or design activities in such a way as to preclude the interest and influence of one another's work.
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From page 220... ...
The book carefully inspected the iterative process used by designers to develop acceptable design solutions and suggested where and how behavioral issues and social science input could be linked to the holistic process of design decision making that is sensitive to behavioral concerns. Research ShouIc3 Inform Design Zeisel conceived of the design process (Figure 1)
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From page 221... ...
DESIGN PROBLEMS IN HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY Decision ~J,/ -- to build Conceptual - - shifts image ~~~\ Consecutive Domain of ;;'; A acceptable __ ..., responses \ ~.~ // FIGURE 1 The design development spiral.
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Postoccupancy evaluation is the term for the design evaluation process commonly used to test design intentions and behavioral assumptions articulated in architectural program. New knowledge, which results from the evaluation of an occupied building, is used to aid design decision making and to correct behavioral assumptions in future programming documents.
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research will become more common as academic institutions and independent research organizations pursue design evaluation. Yet it is unlikely that the amount, pace, and precision of future POE research in the near future will be great enough to satisfy the overwhelming needs of design decision makers.
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The l980s have seen radical changes in the acceptance of design philosophies as "post-modernism" and a wave of expressive and highly decorative building forms replace the more staid and disciplined philosophies of the "international school." Architectural journals that had little of philosophical interest to report in the 1970s now find themselves leading the effort to communicate the stylistic interpretations of this new wave of design ideas. The behavioral design movement has suffered as attention has shifted to art expression in design while ignoring the effects of design on users.
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DESIGN ISSUES AND CONCEPTS The following six design-related issues and concepts are important themes that frequently appear in the environmental design research literature: · physiological issues, sensory aspects of design, social interaction and social exchange, way-finding, neighborhood concerns, and management and design. The following discusses how each theme has been defined in research efforts and the implications for design application.
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From page 226... ...
Barrier-free Design and Adaptable Housing Steinfeld conducted extensive analyses that involved research in human factors as well as empirical tests of various design solutions for the physically disabled. The findings from his research were used to revise the new American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
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Sensory Aspects of Design Changes associated with normal aging frequently affect the acuity, accuracy, and general functioning of sensory organs. Taste, touch, sight, and hearing can all experience normal incremental losses as an organism ages.
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Design solutions should strive to use indirect light sources because they minimize glare. Food preparation counters in the kitchen, the toilet and bathtub, and corridor spaces in which older person can trip and fall are a few of the critical settings in which careful attention to lighting can increase safety.
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Problems such as glare, color differences, and contrast problems are vividly perceived. Additionally, design solutions that take into consideration normal aging sensory losses can be tested with this device.
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Tn-depth case studies of shared spaces using postoccupancy evaluation techniques are documented in her book, Designing for Aging: Patterns of Use (19801. Howell's study is limited to high-rise public housing facilities located in New England and occupied by older persons who moved into the buildings in the 1970s.
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From page 231... ...
The implication for this research is that designers may inadvertently create "friendly" or "isolated" buildings, depending on how they arrange spaces for groups to share and how they treat the visual connections between popular circulation routes and shared spaces. The design variables that were thought to have the greatest impact on social behavior in the study included length of the primary path (front door to elevator)
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Relocation Trauma Is Related to Way-finding Research The importance of design cues in aiding navigation within a novel environment makes this line of research intriguing to those interested in relocation. For example, some theorists contend that having a difficult time orienting oneself to a new environment may contribute significantly to the relocation trauma many nursing home patients experience when they are transferred from one setting to another (Weisman, 19811.
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Housing and Neighborhood Problems Are Often Interrelated Struyk (1977a, 1977b) in initial analyses from the annual housing survey has reported the higher rate of difficult older people seem to have with neighborhood conditions as opposed to housing conditions.
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Importance of Access to Neighborhood Resources The 1974-1977 Annual Housing Survey census tapes analyzed by Lawton (1980) revealed a relatively high percentage of older people who classified public transportation, shopping, and medical resources as inadequate.
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The ubiquitous Tocation of these four destinations provides some modicum of choice. The frequency of use and proportion of older people using
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· Communication Does the intervention contribute to developing a more substantive dialogue between older people and other community residents? · Coordination-Does the intervention bring together into an active coalition various community groups and institutions to promote meaningful positive change?
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From page 238... ...
Environmental programmers frequently quip about the detailed owner's manuals provided for relatively simple appliances that describe in detail how to "trouble shoot" and problem solve when the equipment dysfunctions. Yet rarely are managers of complex environments provided with any guidance whatsoever about how activities can be accommodated on the grounds or within rooms that have been set aside for social purposes.
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From page 239... ...
Residents own their own units and pay a monthly charge for maintenance and for health care service. The condominium-style arrangement allows residents an equity investment in the project, while at the same time they receive the benefits associated with a traditional continuing care retirement community.
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. The Villa Marin is one of many new continuing care-type communities being developed for higher income older residents who wish to have the social, health, and recreational supports of congregate housing and a less institutional service network with larger residential units.
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. The Beverly Hills congregate residence is a rather exclusive congregate housing facility oriented toward high-income residents.
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Captain Eldridge Congregate House, Hyannis, Massachusetts Small congregate housing developments designed for between 15 and 25 residents are also being constructed in various parts of the United States. These settings are similar in nature to the sheltered housing arrangements that have been popular for many years in England and northern Europe.
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Before environmental design research can be considered truly useful, it must find its way to the drawing board. Some of the following approaches represent avenues for effectively communicating research findings to design professionals, while at the same time emphasizing behaviorally based design decision making.
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Often, a project that pursues a behaviorally based design idea in a careful and thoughtful way can provide evidence of both a design methodology as well as an illustration of an excellent design idea. Development and Recognition of Exemplary Projects An architect who designs housing may find visiting examples of excellent projects both useful and constructive.
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Experimentation One of the most troublesome difficulties in design-based evaluation is the communication of information to design decision makers. Training architectural students to understand and use behaviorally based research in the design process is one way to deal with information transfer problems.
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Many firms designing housing for the elderly find themselves confused by the literature and frequently make mistakes attempting to respond to what they perceive are the needs of senior citizens. A more careful segmentation of the particular social and physical characteristics of the older person is a necessary prerequisite in understanding perceived needs and desires.
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· Research must be structured and designed in such a way as to address the specific needs of design decision makers. Environmental design research that explores problems and ideas but does not deal with the application of those ideas to the physical environment may go unused.
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1985. Environmental Design Research Directions.
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DESIGN PROBLEMS IN HOUSING FOR THE ELDERLY 249 Struyk, R
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