Abstract
In recent years, Korean population aged 65 and over has grown faster(7.2% in 2000, 14.4% projected in 2018 and 20.0% in 2026) than the other age groups and average life expectancy has increased from 65.8 years in 1980 to 75.9 years in 2000. The Aging Simulation Center(ASC) was built for people to give educational chance for further understanding of the elderly and the environment for the aged. People are able to recognize the changes including hearing loss, vision changes, and changes in the ability to touch and move after experiencing the simulated daily life of older persons. In general, ASC is composed of residential setting area and exhibition area of daily commodities for the elderly and care person. Currently, there are four ASCs in Korea. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the characteristics of space design and design elements of ASCs and to suggest design implementation for better residential environment for the elderly. For the research purpose, design characteristics such as floor plans and spatial design elements of three ASCs were analyzed and compared. As a whole, space design of three ASCs was almost same without distinguished characteristics. The major finding of this study indicates that the ASC is considerably helpful environment to understand aging. However, some of design elements such as lighting should be supplemented for safety issue. It is recommended for future design of ASC to include exterior space including outdoor stairs, paths and roads and so on. In addition, reception and preparation area should be arranged with universally designed furniture.
