Ethics of the Open Types

This chapter describes and empirically explores the Rudolf in Helsinki as an open type example. The Rudolf is a senior home with a population of 18 young adults with mental impairments; 50 older adults with later stages of dementia; 52 older adults with early stages or no mental or physical impairments and four young adults/university students. Ethics takes into consideration the modalities and the possibilities in addressing our lives according to virtuous and good principles. A simplistic zoning and single-use development approach still prevail amongst our urban and architectural landscape, originating in the 20th-century Fordism model and underpinned by the necessity of economic performance and efficiency. The Rudolf as an open type that emphasizes the value of the collectivity. It rejects passive architectural settings, whereas it embraces active ones. The Rudolf may propose a new form of communal and individual life not yet consistently present in Western countries.