The NANA Project - a new architecture for the new aged that advocates a better built environment for older people

For over ten years I have been working, writing and lecturing on design for the aged and as an architect I have often been appalled at the environments that people age in. Not only are the traditional ‘nursing home’ and ‘retirement village’ a little outdated, they often create separation and foster ‘otherness’, isolating people from their surrounds and loved ones. They don’t tend to be places we want to be in. Architects are the key professionals who influence the way our environments are designed and they have a responsibility for the effects these environments have on people. The aim of this project is to try and readdress how we as a profession approach designing for older people to improve the outcomes for us all