At AIA26, DFA’s Open Forum had representation from an array of disciplines connected to designing for aging…including a senior living resident! The contribution of this multidisciplinary group created an incredibly well-informed and rich open forum with critical perspectives. Buildings are the most obvious, enduring, and expensive reflections of our goals and priorities. Without a diverse group of stakeholders such as this, we could inadvertently exclude or underrepresent stakeholder groups within environments that are supposed to benefit everyone.
Our lively and inspiring discussion yielded four key takeaways:
- Age-friendly design is for everyone: We must expand beyond senior-specific settings to all built environments—housing, workplaces, public spaces, health care, and more.
- Proven impact: Senior living and dementia care environments demonstrate the real power of thoughtful design on quality of life.
- Collaboration drives progress: Strong networks of architects, designers, gerontologists, and advocates are essential.
- Call to action: It’s important to move from vision to standard practice through leadership, knowledge sharing, and inclusive design.
Overall, we emphasized why making our preferred future should be part of our present approach to design. Thank you to everyone who joined and contributed! Let’s keep the momentum going—connect, contribute, and design better environments for aging!
DFA Open Forum Image: Emma Tucker
Sincerely,
Suzanne Barnes, AIA
Addie Abushousheh, Assoc. AIA
Design for Aging Knowledge Community Leaders