Aging with Equity
This research investigates inequities within aging society in the context of China, examining architecture’s capacity to mitigate such disparities. While universal retirement policies ostensibly provide equitable guidelines for all, intersecting factors—such as social status, income inequality, and geographic disparities—result in markedly divergent quality of life among elderly populations. Recognizing that absolute equality is unattainable, this project explores that equity—redistributive justice tailored to differential needs—may be achieved through spatially mediated interventions.
Through Studio 1's analysis of aging society disparities—where vulnerable groups are more likely to be trapped in cumulative disadvantages due to influence factors such as social status—and Studio 2's prototyping of spatial interventions, the outcome is an iterative community centre cluster on a specific aging community in Wuhan. This novel participatory community model partially delegates spatial design agency to residents: Residents co-design each rooftop space through participatory discussions, informing architects who then develop customized spatial configurations within fixed structural frameworks. Post-occupancy, residents retain rights to modify spaces according to evolving needs (with varying degrees of spatial agency across different functional zones). This new community model empowers elderly residents to access tailored resources and regain control over their post-retirement lives, thereby alleviating systemic gerontological inequities.
From the heart, I believe every individual who has strived through decades of life's journey deserves a rich, fulfilling, and dignified existence in their later years. While this ideal remains challenging within current societal frameworks, this project embodies my conviction that architecture can - and should - become an instrument for realizing this vision. Through deliberate spatial interventions, we may gradually reshape environments to honour the accumulated experiences of our elders, transforming abstract ideals of equity into tangible realities where wisdom and longevity are celebrated rather than marginalized.
