“Building a Better Future” – architectural concepts for the elderly

 

Finland has a strong tradition of architectural competitions, which continue to shape the country’s built environment. A large part of Finland’s landmark buildings are results of competitions, which have facilitated the emergence of innovative thinking and new architectural views. Competitions have helped shape residential areas and concepts, urban centers, parks and traffic environments.

 

Many of the recent competitions have been on facilities for the elderly, and their results point to how the elderly, a growing segment of the Finnish population, will live, spend their time and be cared for when they can no longer cope on their own.

 

The Finnish Association of Architects (SAFA) plays an important role in competitions in Finland, organizing competitions with both public and private sector partners. SAFA maintains an extensive register on completed, ongoing and future competitions in the country.

 

SAFA has put together an exhibition on proposals for recent competitions, which is on view at the Museum of Finnish Architecture. The projects displayed include a hospital complex in Espoo in the Helsinki area and a senior home in Tuira in the city of Oulu.

 

A two-phase competition on a new hospital in Espoo and alterations to an existing hospital was organized to find a solution for a high-quality environment for the elderly. The winning firm, K2S Oy (Kimmo Lintula, Niko Sirola and Mikko Summanen), has designed a campus-like complex which promotes healthy living. According to the jury, the complex resembles a hotel more than an institution and, as such, communicates friendliness, good care and return to home.

 

Parliament Member Maria Guzenina-Richardson, a member of the hospital competition jury, said in her opening address at the exhibition that there will be a growing need for professional and people-oriented design of care environments which aid rehabilitation and getting well, as society adjusts to the needs of an eldering population.  

 

The winning proposal for the Tuira senior home, by architectural students Antti Karsikas, Ville-Pekka Ikola and Kalle Vahtera, is hailed as a cozy, functional, activating and safe environment for the elderly.

 

“Building a Better Future” at the Museum of Finnish Architecture through May 30th, 2010.