AIA Florida: Design for the Sameness in Difference: Lessons for Everyone from Working with People Living with Mental Illness and Dementia

Session E: Design for the Sameness in Difference: Lessons for Everyone from Working with People Living with Mental Illness and Dementia­

More than ever, architects and designers are better equipped with research, experience and a common fund of clinical and environmental best practices as a basis for designing more supportive environments for people who are living with the challenges of mental illness or dementia. A mature reflection on that growing body of evidence and experience suggests, however, that a primary focus on the particular needs of people living with these challenges can create its own environmental difficulties for the very people we are trying to care for; that an emphasis on the common basic human needs shared by all people form a more stable platform for designing successful care environments. The presenters, a physician-architect with clinical design experience supporting people living with dementia and a seasoned architect with broad experience designing for special populations, will share what they have learned from practice and research about repositioning the primary drivers for design for special populations – and by extension what we all might learn to create environments supportive for human beings of any level of ability.

Speakers: Francis (Frank) Pitts, FAIA, principal, Architecture+; Dr. Diana Anderson, Dochitect