CAREHOME - on the frictions in architectures between home and institution

This dissertation examines the current tendencies in the care home typology related to frictions between home and institution, in architectures that are both a home for the residents, and at the same time a space for care. The care home architecture has to meet diverse and often opposing needs: on the one hand, requirements related to care, welfare technology, hygiene and the work environment; and on the other hand, the need to create a sense of the home to the residents. At the same time, an increasing number of the residents in care homes today suffer from dementia, only further complicating the dilemmas and challenges of these architectures.

This research takes an explorative approach, applying different methods in the study of care home architecture. Here focus is on the care home as a typology, and on the relations between architecture and use.

The dissertation is comprised of three main parts, where the first part explores the framework of the care home architecture. This provides a historical context of the development of architectures for the elderly and people needing care, as well as a survey of the different aspects and dynamics dominating the design of care home architectures today. The second part – the core of the project – encompasses an empirical case study of eleven current care homes. Collectively these cases produce a sort of catalogue of current care home architectures, focusing on both similarities as well as differences between them, outlining where the care home typology is today and where it is headed. Further, it offers an initial analysis of how these architectures perform in relation to the different needs and challenges of the users. The third part discusses the current frictions in the care home typology. In addition, it discusses current tendencies identified across the cases – community, circulation and memory – towards a theorization of these architectures.

The dissertation offers an alternative way of perceiving care home architectures, focusing on the performativity. This implies a different approach to the development of care homes with an instrumentalization of the architecture, towards an affective architecture. Where the architecture to a greater extend is assessed by its ability to for example create communities, orchestrate experience-rich movements, and support the evocation of memories in a more sensuous architecture.