Living Unassisted: Ageless Homes for the Later Life

Living Unassisted: Ageless Homes for the Later Life

By: Colleen O'Malley

As my thesis approaches, I began brainstorming of a problem or situation that is driving architecture today. Situations that will impact the way society is living and improve it for the better. Problems that can be addressed through architecture with a new way of thinking.

After having a conversation with my dad about the difficulties I was having about choosing a topic for my thesis, he suggested looking at retirement. At first, I rolled my eyes thinking there is no way I want to spend more than a year focused on researching retirement and old people. But after further discussion and research, I ran into one of those situations where you know your parents are right but you will never admit it.

According to a survey by The Associated Press, “most baby boomers (Americans born between 1946 and 1964) expect to retire around age 63. However, 66 percent of the respondents expect to work for pay after retiring”. This jaw-dropping number is not high because Americans are postponing retirement because they are being forced to, but rather because they want to. This fundamental shift is reinventing and redefining the definition of retirement to fit today’s society.

Architecture will have to adapt to the increasing needs of the baby boomers by the lifestyle they choose to live. Architecture will not only have an impact on the new retirees individually, but as a whole. Multiple infrastructures that already exist today will begin to transform. With changing infrastructures, societies will be impacted molding the future with new possibilities. The new definition of retirement will have to be studied, looking at what the new type of aging individual needs now compared to the past. How will the baby boomers impact architecture and how will architecture have to adapt to their new lifestyles?