Resumen de Contemporary elderly housing in china and europe: architecture refurbishing and emotional design
This thesis is written under the background of Chinese society. Architecture always develops with adaption to the desires of society. Design is a way to satisfy these social desires. Currently, China is suffering from the aging problems, both of growing aging population and living space quality. Aging problems are calling for more life supports and cares in living space, ensuring the elderly to have a better and healthier life. In addition, China is experiencing big revolutions of architecture. Architecture design is changing the focus from economic factors to humanistic-concerns. Contemporary space is not only a physical object to use, but also a place to experience. In contemporary elderly housing, apart from physical care, emotional care is expected to provide places where the elderly could live safely and happily. Based on series studies of Chinese social situations and problems, this thesis tries to put forward refurbishing and emotional design as new development directions for Chinese contemporary elderly housing adapted to Chinese society.
Comparative methodology is applied between Europe and China. European experiences of emotional design in elderly housing refurbishing are studied in both theoretical and practical fields. In the study process, phenomenology are applied as a philosophical way to analyze the relations among human’s perception, emotion and space and to find the nature and meanings of architecture spaces, providing evidence to show the importance of emotional design for the Chinese elderly as well as the society. Emotional design theories of Norman are analyzed to find how to make effective involvements from different levels between objects and human’s emotions, providing basic methodology for emotional design in elderly housing.
Apart from these basic studies, specific researches on methodology of emotional design in Chinese contemporary elderly housing refurbishing are realized. Heidegger’s thoughts are analyzed to find the core emotional requirements of living space. Living space originates from human’s desire of dwelling. It is a place that presents the own identities of a community, a place where the elderly could feel safe and free. Based on this concept, Norman’s emotional design approach is applied in architecture field as a guiding methodology to investigate all the possible ways to create effective interactions between the elderly’s emotion and architecture. Corresponding to three emotional involvement levels of visceral, behavior and reflective, architecture could make emotional affect from appearance, functions, and reflections of culture, art and personal value. Related European cases are studied from these three aspects to find the possible ways to realize emotional design in elderly housing, which could provide suggestions to Chinese contemporary elderly housing refurbishing.
For Chinese cases, inheriting Chinese cultural identities is particularly discussed. Chinese culture affects a lot Chinese life styles, their perceptions and understanding of the reality. Inheritage of culture generates great and positive emotional resonance for the Chinese elderly. Emotional design and refurbishment in Chinese contemporary elderly housing should be realized with respect to the culture identities. By analyzing the essence of Chinese culture and contemporary architecture cases of Wang Shu, this thesis is trying to find architectural ways to inherit, develop and integrate the essence of Chinese culture in our present time.
