Great article

Architects walk in the elderly's slippers By Rodney Brooks, @Perfiguy, USA TODAY The idea popped into David Dillard's head about five years ago. Dillard, president of D2 Architecture in Dallas, was in Baltimore then. He wanted something more from the firm and wasn't sure his staff of young architects really "got it" when they were designing housing for seniors. His thought: Make them move into the senior housing and live with the people for whom they were designing housing. That way, they could get a firsthand feel for the needs and requirements of the residents. He went to the human resources office first to make sure he could do it. Then he tapped on the glass at a staff meeting and made the announcement. "I said, 'We have new protocol, and we will require you to put on pajamas and spend the night as if you were a senior,'" he said. "You put on pajamas, check in and write down in an organized way in a journal. What did you see? What were nuisances? What were joys and difficulties? "You spend 24 hours under the conditions of an 85-year-old or 90-year-old," he says. "They live with limited mobility, (windows) that don't work. To help them get the feel of life for these elders, they do things like tape their fingers together to get a feel of what it's like to live with arthritis. Dillard's firm doesn't design retirement citizen housing, as such. "Our world starts with 78-year-olds," he says. "These are people who want to get out of their houses. They are moving into campuses. There are several levels of care -- independent living, assisted living. You can go to skilled care, or if you are losing it mentally, you go to memory support. These are campuses we're designing on 12 to 20 acres. It's a village. Still, the key is to get the designers to fully understand what the residents need. Each employee keeps a journal, which he turns in at the end of the visit. "The biggest benefit is when I send 27-year-olds out, they come back with a heart 10 times as big," he says. They meet people and understand their plights. The company has done "25 or 30" sleepovers so far. Dillard has participated in four himself. "The taping of fingers together was the first thing that happened to me," he says. "It gives me an idea of the limitations of arthritis. You see that. Then the other thing is, sometimes we'll put dew on the glasses. Or wear someone else's glasses. To get a feel for hearing impairment, designers will wear ear plugs. To get an idea for other disabilities, Dillard has operated as if he could move only one side of his body -- and tried tying shoes with one hand. "They've given us diets that are horrible," he said. "The water is thicker and the meat is thin. Some findings that have sprung from the journal pages: Window sills are too high, and residents can't see out. "We are finding everybody wants larger windows, and they want to see the outdoors. We literally have started designing larger windows -- 10 to 20% larger. We're doing an all-glass 12-story building in Texas. More indirect light. "Direct lights hurt your eyes. Sharp, low-voltage lights come in and punch into your eyeballs in an irritating way. The answer is indirect light. They need a lot of light, but they don't need spotlights in their eyes. We do ceiling fans and light fixtures that shield the light source. No ramps or steps. "We had a lot of complaints about floor levels," he says. "We learned no ramps and no steps. You're shocked at how many places have that. He said even the slightest bump from a change in flooring from carpet to wood was a problem. "Our old friends don't lift their feet," he says. Quieter places. The firm is working on improving acoustics. "Last year, I stayed at a place where a guy across the hall had the television loud because he couldn't hear. All you have to do is don't have the doors right across the hall from each other. It doesn't cost any more to open the door where the wall is there, and just stagger them. Three more sleepovers are planned for May. The next step: A friend encouraged him to turn the journals into a book that operators of the facilities will find useful, too.