Background More and more people have to deal with dementia themselves, in their direct or indirect environment. However, this problem is often not part of everyday life in our society. Our living environment is not designed for the increasing dependence of these people and the problems that they daily face remains often behind closed doors. The quality of life by this people is declining fast and there is an enormous increase in the demand for taking care of them. Based on the forecasts, the demand for care will become so enormous that we cannot meet this, based on our current health care system. Study aim The aim of this research is to find out how the living environment can respond by collectiveness to the demand for help and care of the people that suffer from dementia. So, to what extent can collectiveness support a neighbourhood in which people with dementia, with a demand for care can live?Methodology To answer the research question, literature has been studied, several people with dementia have been observed in their daily functioning and in-depth interviews took place with relevant people.Results The Literature study, observations and in-depth interviews show that the current method tries to create a suitable environment for people with dementia. but does not meet their needs properly. Conclusion Based on the results, it is recommended to develop an inclusive living environment for people with dementia. This inclusive living environment will create a more collective neighbourhood, where the help and care will be provided in a natural way by society.

The amount of elderly in the Netherlands will increase significantly in the upcoming years. According to the CBS (2018) by 2030 a quarter of the Dutch population will be aged 65 or older. Due to the growing number of elderly people, the number of elderly people with dementia is also increasing. The current built environment does not respond to the needs and desires of elderly, especially for those who suffer from dementia. Therefore, we have to look into new living concepts that will fit the needs of the elderly, now and in the future. My goal was to develop a new concept where people can live until they die, even when they suffer from dementia. A design where people take care for each other and where people with dementia are seen as a valuable part of society again.

The distance between the elderly and others is very large. This means that you have less to do with each other, know less about each other and this means that the distance is getting bigger all the time. The institutional buildings have a kind of imaginary “boundery” around their building, difficult to get in and to get in touch with the elderly. In the book “most people are good,” Rutger Bregman argues that the threshold that people would do more for each other has to do with distance between people. If you are farther away from someone you are less attempt to do something for the other. (Bregman, 2019). And with this distance comes fear of the ignorant “ignorance frightens the unknown.” Because the group of elderly people is growing the care can not handle it all. The moments of contact is getting smaller and smaller. And because of this problem and the fact that elderly are not getting in touch with others there a is a lot of loneliness. The observation of ethnographic research has led to several points of improvement: 1. The distance should be reduced between elderly but also all the users of space. We need to go ‘‘from forced to being alone to chosen to be alone’’ 2. Creating a sense of belonging If you would create space that stimulate that people are being seen and heard people feel appreciated. By creating a sense of belonging you would get more familiar with one another. 3. Get more familiar with one another By getting more familiar with one another you would do more for one another. If we take care for echater less care is needed. The goal is that by reducing the distance you create a sense of belonging and familiarity with each other. And this means that you would rather help someone, which means that the care would be partially relieved. The goal is to create an environment in Leiden where connection is stimulated. Distances are reduced. Spaces are designed to stimulated the spontaneous encounter. In my opinion we should design housing that is not only suitable for elderly but for several target groups. Making a distinction between elderly housing and others immediately creates distances between elderly and other users of space. So creating environment where several target groups life together where they can take care of one another. This eventually led to my research question: ''To what extent could reducing distances between users of space trigger a form of spatial design that create a sense of belonging and familiarity among people through the lens of elderly? ''

The studio ‘Designing for Care – towards an Inclusive Living Environment’ engages with the living environment of elderly that are in need of care. While our society has to cope with a growing amount of elderly, the existing care buildings often do not meet the needs and wishes of our current elderly who want to be more independent. Though they might need help at some point in time, they want to be self-governing and stay part of society. To be able to house the future generations, things have to change. The goal is to design a place where elderly with and without care can live together with others, which takes into account their wishes and needs and gives them something to look forward to. A place that does not exclude elderly from society, but makes them part of it again. One that stimulates them, encourages them to participate and contribute, enjoy and laugh. In which people look after each other and take care of each other. A social net. A place they can transfer their knowledge gathered throughout life, tell their stories and one in which they can in turn learn from others. A community based on reciprocity.

Loneliness is social pain. It occurs as a defence mechanism if a person does not
have enough social contact. This pain prevents people from being isolated which
in historical times would be fatal as people are stronger and safer in groups. Among elderly loneliness is more severe then in other age groups. This is due to
the loss of good friends and loved ones. Next to this elderly are less active in public places as they are housed in more closed off complexes where every facility is present so that they wont have to leave the complex. This means they are not likely to meet new people outside of their building or wing.
But loneliness is a pain that also leads to retraction and people isolating themselves from public life. It then becomes a vicious cycle where people can become increasingly lonely. It can only be contested by the individual that suffers from it. Loneliness can thus not be solved by architecture but it can be prevented by it.
But how to prevent loneliness with architecture? By addressing relations which
have the most impact on people their social life their social health can be restored. According to multiple sociologists weak ties such as colleagues and neighbours are of most important as they replace lost strong ties such as loved ones and friends. But social interactions with weak ties should happen naturally and not forced upon or organised. Organised social activities are a major threshold for people with social anxiety which excludes them from such activites.

The main question for this research is therefore as follows:
How can the build environment promote spontaneous social interaction to prevent loneliness among elderly?

The main conclusion of this research is that people need to leave their private domain and enter the public realm as this is where spontaneous interactions take place. To get elderly out of their private domain the environment should invite to do so. This means to create attractive environments with opportunities to engage in social activities as well as to live independent, to fulfil potential and to be seen by others.
Activity attracts activity so by activating public spaces elderly are more tempted to go outside. But as elderly are less active then other groups it is good to mix them with youth, students, and families, which also increases their visibility to the rest of the community they live in. But while they should live mixed between other types of demographic groups they still want to seek support among each other but in small manageable groups of approximately five elderly. Elderly should therefore be housed in small groups with a communal garden or space to meet and control.
Next to organising dwellings the public realm should also be organised so that it stimulates spontaneous social interaction. By creating third spaces, green spaces and transitional spaces this can be accomplished. This is because people transfer to or past these locations which creates opportunities to meet others on the way over and/or at the location itself. These spaces can be locations such as a restaurant, park and library and they should be visible from inside the dwellings as activity attracts activity.
But these location should also have certain qualities such as that they have to be comfortable, safe, visually stimulating and controllable. This latter describes the hierarchy and depiction of private and public spaces. As being social also means to have control over the amount of social interaction one has, and thus also being able to retreat in privacy. The difference between private and public should therefore be clearly marked so that it is recognisable for others. These interventions or design guidelines should all be implemented close to the housing as elderly do not have a broad range where they can go.

This graduation project focusses on designing a living environment that fits the needs and demands of the elderly nowadays, and the changed healthcare policy in the Netherlands. A more in depth research is done in one of the main problems elderly are currently facing; loneliness. The outcome of this research resulted in multiple designtools which should be implemented in every housing project for elderly, to decrease the feeling of loneliness. The end result of the project is a living environment, based on the designtools, in which elderly can still execute their daily activities and easily come across others to prevent elderly from feeling lonely.

The omnipresence of the aging mass-housing estates in Europe has created a new frontier for innovative approaches in architecture, particularly in the architecture of renovation. This new movement has the capacity to address two major aspects of contemporary architecture: the role of architects in catering for sustainable development (ecological, economic, and social development) and, more importantly, addressing the needs of changing society (e.g. from monologue to digital). A close look at masshousing projects in the Netherlands reveals the enduring impact of the doctrines in practice at the time of their construction. These principles, predominantly influenced by structuralism, present compelling opportunities for the transformation of selected buildings. Accordingly, a main goal of this graduation project is to study the housing demand of current, multi-cultural, Dutch (in a larger scope: European) society and therefore to explore possibilities for sustainable development, and for improving the living condition in the existing, post-war, masshousing complexes. To do this, this research examines the impact of mass-customization by means of a new, adaptable to the dweller housing structures, introduced in the existing urban fabric with the aim of supporting the development of sustainable communities. From the field survey and publications discussing social problems in the mass-housing neighbourhoods, it can be observed that the existing post-war mass housing model no longer caters to the needs of current and new users. The potential of structures to deal with this shift will be studied through the thorough analysis of relevant and successful mass housing renovation precedents. Through this, research conclusions will be drawn as to the extent and type of design intervention in 3 scales: individual dwelling unit, housing block and local urban settlement (i.e. within 3-4 adjacent blocks).