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Intergenerational Co-operative Living

Part 1 Project 2014
Panagiotis Demiris
Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture | UK
Keeping up with the times is something architecture may have failed to do so. Still, keeping up with age is an altogether absent matter. Our notion of space insist, or accidentally remain, in the modernist notions of design and architecture currently favours displacement and is rarely about inclusiveness and diversity.

"Intergenerational Co-operative Living" is a transitional architectural scheme, collateral to our current needs while allowing for future adjustments. Britain's demographic is rapidly aging, however, the corresponding market is far from mature. Coincidentally, the generation gap keeps widening and age discrimination is the most widely experienced form of discrimination across Europe.

The proposal aims to promote tolerance and bridge the gap by dealing with another issue: that of nutrition. Our nutritional values are being diminished with Tescos sprouting up all over Britain and our diet consists of Meal-Deals. With the variety of green public spaces Edinburgh has to offer, an urban farming axis is being established and common cooking facilities will be provided.

Above them, the two age ends will coexist in an architecture that is malleable and tailored according to their needs. Students and the elderly will assemble their living spaces choosing from a collection of components which will be placed, but not stacked, in a structural shell that will be able to accommodate other uses in the future.

The main structural shell that will accommodate the units will be made out of wrought iron; cast and weld. Through a wheel system two levels will receive the residential units which can be placed and form a flat according to the occupant’s personal preferences. The first deck, which is also connected with the adjacent elevated garden, will be dedicated to the elderly and the upper level to the youth. Their corresponding units, however, will not be directly stacked upon each other in order to diminish noise transmission from one level to another. Lastly, the residential units come in a fixed structural frame which will allow for modifications in panelling, exterior or interior. Their proportions are relatively small and they can carry a conventional kitchen, bathroom or living and sleeping areas.

Panagiotis Demiris

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2014
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