Research on the Targeted Design Strategies for Dementia of Italy Community Elderly Center - The Design Case of Milano Figino Community Elderly Center

The developed countries in Europe, especially Italy, have entered the elderly society stage. Italy, as a country with a large population of elderly and demented, has a lot of experience with dementia and elderly problems, and is especially expertised in various architectural strategies for the elderly with dementia. Among them, the Community Elderly Centers for Dementia are the most common elderly facilities in Italy. Merging with the community, Community Elderly Centers support the in-house pension service by providing curing service. Architectural design strategies can also be developed and collected from these centers.In this study, the researcher focused on the Community Elderly Centers for Dementia. With field researches in Italy, a design was developed for the reformation of the Milan Figino Community Elderly Center. Design theories and strategies were also discussed.Chapters 1 and 2 systematically introduced the development and current situation of Italian elderly caring service and Community Elderly Centers for Dementia. Based on local circumstances, the researcher analyzed the cognitive theory of dementia and induced the “Prototype Recalling” model. The researcher also concluded that, the specific design theory for Italian Community Elderly Center for Dementia could be summarized as “humanized”, “memory evoking” and “daily life”.Chapter 3 briefly introduced the design scheme of Milano Figino Community Elderly Center, together with the analysis of representative caring institutions for elderly with dementia.Chapters 4, 5 and 6 described and analyzed the design strategy for Community Elderly Centers for Dementia in three different aspects: the functional and organizational configuration strategies based on the “humanized” concept; the space arrangement strategies based on the “memory evoking” concept; and the detailed design strategies based on the “daily life” concept. Italy treats elderly with dementia with romantic and peaceful feelings. Exploration on the design strategies of Italian Community Elderly Centers for Dementia will promote the development of elderly caring service in China, and provide the Chinese elderly with and without dementia to with a comfortable living circumstance.