As the aged get older, their physical abilities are weakened and diseases deteriorate their health. For this reason, loss of social roles brings up social problems such as helplessness and worries related with health. To solve these problems it is nec...
As the aged get older, their physical abilities are weakened and diseases deteriorate their health. For this reason, loss of social roles brings up social problems such as helplessness and worries related with health. To solve these problems it is necessary to build up an environment for the aged in consideration of their physical, mental, and social characteristics.
To provide high quality facilities for the old, the environment paradigm which has spread around the world since the end of the 20 century gets more attention and it has affected the architecture field as well. The Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Construction and Transportation in Korea also established and have implemented a certificate system for environment-friendly buildings, but there are relatively few certificate systems or studies for old people's welfare facilities which are badly in need of a physically and mentally healthy architectural environment.
In this respect, the thesis is designed to promote a healthier and higher quality care centers for the old, where a physically and mentally healthy architectural environment should be more importantly considered than in any other facilities. The study is intended to research and analyze the existing facilities with the introduction of environment-friendly planning concepts and factors. The results are as follows:
First, as for environment-friendly planning factors related to the aged people's physical characteristics, basic functions for such facilities including sunshine, insulation, cooling/heating system, ventilation, hygiene, and safety are satisfactory. However, high quality environmental functions for physical health such as noises, air purification, sun-bathing, non-toxic materials are significantly insufficient. Also, there is much to be desired in consideration of accessibility to a society, links between in/outdoors, and possibilities of individually controllable interior systems.
Second, as for environment-friendly planning factors related to the aged people's psychological conditions, the consideration of their emotional health was limited only to some of the outdoor gardens and walks. The use of natural materials (friendly materials) for psychological comfort was limited. In addition, there are few planning factors for psychological accessibility with open spaces and lounges where residents and visitors feel cozy.
Third, as for environment-friendly planning factors related to the aged people's social characteristics, facilities ensuring interior solidarity, for example, spaces for communities or public laundry systems are well planned, while there is no consideration in culture, education(information), nor building a healthy social environment through relationships with other people and their supports.
Fourth, in general the planning has been limited to putting the old people's physical safety first only because it is required as a facility standard. Many facilities are missing things to provide a physically and mentally healthy architectural environment. Therefore, at the early stage of planning environment-friendly factors must be seriously considered upon conditions of the aged.
As the groundwork to introduce environment-friendly planning factors meeting the needs of facilities for the old, the thesis puts importance on drawing out, inspecting related planning factor, understanding problems by analyzing the status of the real facilities, and guiding a desirable direction for the betterment.