CASA CHIARAVALLE: AN AUTO-CONSTRUCTION DESIGN WORKSHOP FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIVING ENVIRONMENTS FOR PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA

This work presents a selection of projects developed during a 1-week Interior Design Workshop of auto construction, set up inside Casa Chiaravalle, a property confiscated from organized crime in Lombardy and entrusted to a consortium of social enterprises active in the care of elderly with dementia. The workshop was led by researchers from the Design Department of Politecnico di Milano. It involved a group of 20 Interior Design undergraduates from the School of Design of Politecnico di Milano. This project consists of designing and constructing living micro-spaces solutions for elderly with dementia that present a point of balance between three major needs: autonomy, comfort, and sustainability. Within this research, the following issues were addressed: supporting residual cognitive functions of elderly with dementia, providing comfortable and legible living environments, supporting orientation and recognition of functions and spatial elements, allowing personalization of the spaces. The self- construction workshop experience allowed the undergraduates to confront social issues, cross disciplinary boundaries, and experiment problem-solving skills by collaborating with an interdisciplinary team of researchers, designers, and medical experts, developing collaborative practices. The methodology applied in this research encompasses concept development, initial test with therapists, concept reframe, final test with therapists, followed by design development and physical construction of the living environment solutions. The implied method enables learning by doing experiences in the “design for healthcare” and social innovation domain. Moreover, it allows students to direct experiment their theoretical solutions, testing the fulfilment of social needs (of people with dementia) and practical constructive solutions.