Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
Kingston University
Living with Dementia: Can Design Make a Difference?
18th March 2010 – 2nd April 2010
Commissioning Body - Audi Design Foundation
47 Exhibits
The Living with Dementia: Can Design Make a Difference [?] exhibition was a curatorial output based upon a 12 month research study commissioned and funded by the Audi Design Foundation. Dalke’s research imperative was to demonstrate how and where design could influence the building and interior design provision for dementia care. Systematic data gathering, undertaken to create a [design] taxonomy, involved extensive audits of 19 care homes in UK, and also USA and Europe (funded by Hill Rom); a thorough examination of the quality of design provision; collating evidence of best and worst practice; identifying gaps in service; and proposing strategies for improvements.
The evaluated research data/findings were then visually rendered through the concept of a photographic documentary exhibition. This featured 46 x A2 boards, each containing up to 6 photographs, which enacted a staged journey across 19 care home related environments: Exteriors, Interiors and Gardens. Exhibition visitors were then invited to engage with new propositions regarding the development of a socially integrated and holistic environmental design model for those living with dementia. The journey through the exhibited record of audits concluded with Dalke’s blueprint for a care home unit which in terms of its construction could be extended to form a village community. The blueprint also summed up Dalke’s overall curatorial aim which was to propose a taxonomy that could inform design principles and guidance in this area. An additional emphasis on cost effective solutions involving colour design and visual strategies for improving spatial articulation was also a central feature of the exhibition.
A report documenting the research was published in 2011 (ISBN 0 9554744-7-7). Subsequently, informed by the above research, a book by Dalke and Corso was commissioned by Jessica Kingsley for 2014, aimed at a new audience - the domestic residential market.
