Design For Aging-Memory

Junya Ishigamis stalled project for dementia patients prompts writer Laura Raskin to reflect on memory and its role in design for aging.

- Laura Raskin

It’s a shame that Tokyo-based architect Junya Ishigami’s housing for seniors with dementia was never built.

A client requested a group assisted-living residence in northwest Japan, with the brief that each person’s space should be visually distinct from the others. The residence shouldn’t feel clinical like a hospital—as so much housing for people with dementia does—but rather like a real domestic space, with a distinct entrance for each patient and a central “street.” Ishigami, who is known for his poetic, inventive, and sometimes fantastical designs, took this request beyond its literal conclusion. He sourced existing wood-frame houses from across Japan that were set to be demolished and placed them on the same, condensed site.