Summary of the theme
In China, the population is aging very fast. In the past, the elderly could count on many children and even
grandchildren for their needs, today due to the improvement in living conditions the average age has
increased and due to the one-child policy, repealed only in 2016, the proportion between young Chinese
and seniors is changing very fast. Faced with this scenario, the adoption of new welfare policies has now
become a priority for Beijing authorities. Statistics show that older people in most cases prefer to stay at
home or in a family home environment rather than moving to nursing homes. My intention would be to
develop an architectural project closely linked to elder care, not conceived as an aseptic healthcare facility,
but as a residential building where people can age peacefully at home. The idea is to pursue the concept of
"aging in place" already used in some countries, but not yet well known and widespread, that is to age in
one's home without having to suffer the emotional and physical shock to move to an unknown place. This
project should be designed to meet the needs, but also the physical limitations, that people face while they
are aging; at the same time, it should be able to accommodate not only people who are already effectively
elderly, but also young people who want the security of being able to age in a familiar and suitable place for
their future needs. By guaranteeing the heterogeneity in the age groups of the residents, it will also be
easier to try to create models of assistance and mutual help.
Main Points to develop
- To decide a project area to develop the project:
In order to be able to start an urban and neighbourhood analysis and to identify the services that
are present on the site, such as: means of transport, public and health services, grocery stores and
more.
For the development of the project, I was thinking to the city of Xi'an as it is configured as a large
expanding metropolis, with all the necessary services, especially for an aging population. The
presence of subway lines, large public and equipped green areas, healthcare facilities and high-level
medical operators, able to offer widespread and constant assistance, are indispensable factors in
my opinion for the success of the project. Furthermore, choosing the city of Xi'an will also allow you
to make comparisons with other major cities in the world.
If the choice of the city is confirmed by Professor Li, a specific project area will have to be chosen
within the urban structure. I started looking for urban voids within the city, which could be suitable
for the type of project I would like to develop and for the users (which will include mostly elderly
people). I believe that this project area should have 3 main characteristics:
1. The proximity to a subway station, which allows easy movement, especially for older residents, to
other parts of the city;
2. The presence in the vicinity of a public green area, a park where it is possible to get in touch with
nature and relax. (Green spaces should also be designed within the urban project lot);
3. The presence in the vicinity of the main daily services, such as food markets, food shops,
pharmacies and medical centres at least for first aid.
Since my knowledge of the city of Xi'an is very limited, because as you know we have not yet had
the pleasure to travel to China, some help in choosing the project area would be very welcome.
Maybe professor Li will be able to help me to identify the areas of the city more suitable for this
type of intervention, with a residential function and with a great number of services.
- Another aspect of the project could be:
working on an empty space, then building from scratch, or reusing / transforming an existing area
keeping some parts of it. I say this because my course of study is also based on the requalification
and regeneration of existing built spaces. It could be for example an old industrial or commercial
area to be transformed. Obviously, this point is only a hypothesis because it would also require
having the plans and surveys of existing buildings and would also require more study of the project
area.
在中国，人口老龄化非常快。过去，老年人可以依靠许多孩子甚至孙子来满足他们的需求。
今天，由于生活条件的改善，平均年龄有所增加，并且由于独生子女政策（在 2016 年废
除），中国年轻人中的比例有所提高。老年人变化很快。面对这种情况，采取新的福利政策
已成为北京当局的当务之急。统计数据表明，在大多数情况下，老年人更喜欢呆在家里或家
庭环境中，而不是搬到养老院。我的想法是研究与老年人护理紧密相关的建筑项目，而不是
被认为是无菌医疗设施，而是作为人们可以在家中安老的住宅建筑。这个想法是要追求一些
国家已经使用但尚未广为人知的“就地老化”的概念，即在一个人的家中老龄化而不必遭受
情感和身体上的冲击，而需要搬到一个陌生的地方。该项目的设计应满足人们衰老时所面临
的需求以及其身体上的限制；同时，它不仅应该能够容纳已经有效地成为老年人的人们，而
且还能够容纳那些希望能够在熟悉且合适的地方适应未来需求的年龄的年轻人。通过保证居
民年龄组的异质性，尝试建立互助和互助模式也将更加容易。
决定项目的研究地：
为了能够进行城市和社区分析，并进行调研基地的任务，例如：运输工具，公共和卫生服务，
商店等。我考虑在将项目的开发地放在西安，它是一个正在发展中的大型都市，也可以提供
所有必要的基本服务，而这个城市针对人口老龄化的问题也慢慢需要关注。在我看来，能够
提供足够的地铁线路，大型的设施齐全的公共绿地，医疗保健设施和高级医疗运营商，对于
项目的成功至关重要。此外，除了选择西安市还将与世界其他主要城市进行比较。
1. 靠近地铁站，可以方便到达城市的其他地方，尤其是对于年纪大的居民；
2. 在公共绿地附近，公园内可以与大自然接触并放松身心。 （也应在城市项目区内设计绿
地）；
3. 至少在附近有主要日常服务设施，例如食品市场，食品商店，药房和医疗中心。
由于我对西安市的了解非常有限，因为正如您所知，我还没有去过中国，因此在选择项目区
域方面可能需要一些帮助。李教授也许可以帮助我确定城市中哪类区域更适合此类项目，具
有居住功能和大量服务功能的区域。
另一个方向：
在空地上从头开始构建，或者重用/转换现有区域以保留其中的某些部分。我之所以这样说，
是因为我的学习课程还基于对现有建筑空间的重新鉴定和再生。例如，可能是要改造的旧工
业区或商业区。显然，这仅是一个假设，因为它还需要对现有建筑物进行计划和勘测，并且
还需要对项目区域进行更多研究。
