Architecture in ageing societies

An ageing society is usually discussed as a question of nursing care, staffing and technology. We see it also as a question of building culture. 

One in five Danes is now over 65, and most of us will grow old in homes and neighbourhoods that were never designed for it. The Cluster for Architecture and Ageing studies how the built environment shapes the way we grow old: how housing, districts and cities can support independence, community and care – and how they can quietly erode them. We combine architectural analysis and research by design with ethnographic and co-creative studies, and we work with gerontologists, health researchers, municipalities and not least with older persons themselves. Our hope is built environments in which all generations can thrive and both give and receive care, and a welfare society that counts its buildings and outdoor spaces among its answers. 

Research motivation

Internal partners

Knud Aarup Kappel (Teaching Associate Professor), Louise Dedenroth Høj (Postdoc), Xiaobo Shen (Postdoc), Rebecka Söderberg (Postdoc), Jeyeon Ban (Research Assistant), Anne Mette Frandsen (Research Assistant), Sebastian Søgaard Hjortlund Svendsen (Research Assistant), Maria Toft (Visiting Researcher), Omar Arafat Elsayed Abdelmobdy (Student Helper), Lærke Simone Berg Helmer (Student Helper), Dag Petersson (Associate Professor), Yngvild Wormdal Lund (Research Assistant), Deane Alan Simpson (Professor), Charlie Steenberg (PhD Fellow)

External partners

People: Ulrik Ahrendt-Jensen (Chief Executive Officer, OK-Fonden), Morten Fryd Bjørner (Editor-in-Chief, Viden om Aldring – Dansk Gerontologisk Tidsskrift), Sidse Carroll (Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Southern Denmark), Habib Chaudhury (Professor, Simon Fraser University), Gunvor Christensen (Head of Analysis, FOB), Kaare Christensen (Professor, University of Southern Denmark), Lise Ehlers (Retired Nurse Anaesthetist and Neuropsychologist), Torben Eskerod (Photographer), Sara Marie Ertner (Associate Professor, IT University of Copenhagen), Stinne Glasdam (Senior Lecturer, Lund University), Manik Gopinath (Associate Professor, The Open University), Sidse Grangaard (Senior Researcher, Aalborg University), Morten Rask Gregersen (Founding Partner, NORD Architects), Ebba Högström (Professor, Umeå University), Nicholas Jungblut (Publishing Editor, Strandberg Publishing), Birgit Jürgenhake (Assistant Professor, TU Delft), Håkan Jönson (Professor, Lund University), Kristian Kidholm (Professor, University of Southern Denmark), Aske Juul Lassen (Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen), Curt Liliegreen (Project Director, The Knowledge Centre for Housing Economics), Rikke Lund (Professor, University of Copenhagen), Jennifer Molinsky (Associate Professor, Harvard University), Mikka Nielsen (Senior Researcher, VIVE), Magnus Nilsson (Senior Lecturer, Linköping University), Kamilla Nørtoft (Senior Researcher, University of Southern Denmark), Frank Oswald (Professor, Goethe University Frankfurt), Johannes Molander Pedersen (Founding Partner, NORD Architects), Hanne Peoples (Docent, UCL University College), Carla Jiménez Puigdevall (Research Assistant), Jon Dag Rasmussen (Assistant Professor, University College Copenhagen), Ása Róin (Associate Professor Emerita, University of the Faroe Islands), Anne Romme (Associate Professor), Runa Sabroe (Director of Development, NORD Architects),  Lærke Sivkjær (Research Assistant), Jette Thuesen (Associate Professor, University of Southern Denmark), Thit Thyrring (Illustrator)

Municipalities and housing organisations: Kalundborg Municipality, Thisted Municipality, Tønder Municipality, Non-profit Housing Organisations (anonymous)

Organisations and foundations: DaneAge Association, Fonden Ensomme Gamles Værn, Helsefonden, Independent Research Fund Denmark, Ministry of Science, Higher Education and Digital Affairs, Realdania