Hopefully we will no longer build enclosed institutions, fragmented and detached from city life. Instead we create environments that stimulate human interaction, a place where generations meet. Formal medical care will be given by professionals, while citizens will volunteer, helping with practical tasks and giving personal attention. Through civic duty we can activate human capital.
Residents will not be labelled with the stigma of patient. The focus will lie on what they can still do, more than on their limitations. The process of physical deterioration is natural and requires an environment that is not primarily aimed at extending life itself, but in improving the quality of it. Spaces that sooth and relieve suffering, beyond the poignant sense of alienation. Let us refrain from creating artificial substitutes, no copy of reality without gradient. But to create space where we can have authentic experiences that speak to all our senses. The geriatric institution of the Vreugdehof in Amsterdam is a good example of that idea.