Age segregated elder housing options are not preferred by elders, and also expensive. This building type actually creates (sometimes exacerbates) social stigma toward elders.

I have been advocating “multi-generational housing development where people can age in place within their familiar community.” There are many articles and discussions generated lately that “we need to design mix use housing where people of all ages reside.”

I have seen some housing developments and elder care facilities that are connected to childcare or schools. The intention is to enhance the multi-generational interactions. However, most of those places are still segregated, and I rarely see constant interactions between different generations. I have been asked so many times, that “we want to have them interact daily bases but no one seems to be interested, unless we organize activities for them. What are doing wrong? Or Is it just simply impossible for us to make it happen?”

We can design the best possible building and environment for multi-generations to occupy spaces within close proximity. However, If we do not take “people’s behavior and lifestyle” into account during the design process, we just simply have rows of houses or rooms where no one interact to one another.

We choose to use a name “Ibasho” for our organization because we are trying to design relationships rather than mix use environment/housings. Ibasho is “a place where you feel belong to and being fully accepted as who you are” in Japanese. To create Ibasho, every user has to be an active participant to create one’s own space as they prefer. Their own space can be ranged from community/house to simply a place for one’s favorite chair in a small area within a building.

We have a tendency to design living environment based on the best assumptions of “experts” because we do care for the people who live there. However, we also forget about including end users’ opinions during design process. To create a community where people of all ages interact each other, we should start thinking about “Writing a scenario first before designing physical environment. And the scenario should be written with users, not only by experts.” We cannot drive new way of approach only by changing environment. We also need users to change their mindset and willing to accept the new way of lifestyle and relationships.

We should learn from the concept of “place making,” and challenge ourselves to “design relationships” rather than simply focus on “designing mix use housing/environment.”