Design for health : a Bulgarian solution for Europe’s aging problem

Preface Project’s Aims and Tasks The studies of senior housing design become more and more important as a result of demographic and lifestyle changes in the world. Today we witness how the building of the retirement facilities turns into entire industry. This requires more and more attention not only on behalf of the policy makers but also the architects and designers. The current study is based on a real investor’s project for building an Elder’s House in the village of Salasuka, Central Bulgaria that will correspond to the latest theory and practice achievements in the field of elders’ housing. The attempt is to harmonize the principles of architectural design and specific functionality while taking into account the characteristics of natural landscape and climate, historical and architectural heritage, existing infrastructure and social networks at the place. Structure Respectively, the work is divided into two parts each of them complimenting the other:  Theoretical  Practical The First Part deals with the theoretical aspects of the intensifying problem of “Aging Europe”. The issues of “graying” demography, the development of awareness to the human needs in specific age segment, the EU policy and world situation are studied and enlightened. The other important issue is related to the architectural design itself. For this the typology of retirement facilities and different approaches in architectural design has to be studied and presented. Respectively the forms of elder care provided vary greatly among countries and is changing rapidly. Even within the same country, regional differences exist with respect to the care for the elderly. The issues common to all EU health care systems and technologies applied are subject of analyses. The main themes, principles and concepts in elders housing achieved by prominent architects and researches have to be studied in search for a start-point in design solutions in the particular investor’s assignment for Salasuka Elder’s House Project. Human-centered universal design is essential in the development of all new senior housing concepts. While they provide the basis for increased accessibility, safety and health for a diverse population, the specifics related to the architectural design are also to be in the main focus of the study. On the basis of 10 case studies analyzed and compared the main architectural concepts and principles are examined. Relocation of retired people in the last decade became more and more visible. This is their response to the need to keep previous standard of living coupling with lower income from the pensions. Lately the question where to live after retirement is more and more considered by many Europeans that are at the threshold of retirement. Tracing the trend in the EU geography aims to specify the potential of relatively new member like Bulgaria. Special attention is put on its natural advantages and historical and cultural heritage that might attract European elders to the country. In the last 10 years Bulgaria became a preferred country to live after retirement mainly by British people and there are lots of places where one can find more or less compact “English settlements” – on the Black Sea cost, near it and in mountainous areas in Central Bulgarian Region. This makes it necessary to estimate the cultural results of such influx and its potential to strengthen the cultural dialog in culturally diverged societies in the West and the East of European continent. The aim is to outline what model of intercultural dialog can be built out of this global trend.The Second Part of the thesis is to develop an architectural project of the Elder’s House in Salasuka Village according to the specific investor’s assignment. This part is a practical implementation of theoretical studies made in the First Part. The project aims to become exemplary for future developments in the country as buildings with that specific functionality are still rarity while having the great perspectives for the future. The architectural aim here is to harmonize as much as possible the investor’s requirements with the best world practices and thus achieving the goal of fully meeting the new, higher standards and principles, described in the previous Chapters of the current work, while tailoring the building to the specific climatic and area conditions, architectural traditions and modern visions in architectural design. All of the above shows the significance of the project, not only from an architectural point of view, but also as a center of important social and cultural activities, contributing for the economic development of the region and stimulating the activity of local people, helping them to change their mostly traditional thinking and timid business activity. Thus, the Home for Elderly People in Salasuka, will be an important cultural and social center trilling the local activity and getting the fresh air to the life of the region. The main aim of in this project is to meet theory and practice in a harmony of principles of architectural design and functionality creating a whole, which provides an alternative answer to the problem of elders housing.