SWAIP

Intensive Programme Alicante
Art and Culture as Therapy: Architecture and Dementia

The Programme Architecture and Dementia addressed key questions about space and architectural elements, dementia and social inclusion in an elderly population: how does the built environment influence the memory? How can we work with the five senses and architecture with the goal to slow down the progression of Alzheimer’s disease, encourage security, communication and social interaction? Answers were looked for by questioning the  elements of a house as presented in Rem Koolhaas’s book Elements of Architecture (2014). The students worked with the following elements: balcony, door, floor, ceiling, ramp and chimney. The final aim of the workshop was to add a new page of the chosen element in relation to dementia and well-being. Thus, to increase the book’s relevance to a society where diversity and social inclusion must be taken into account. 

Architecture and the built environment are part of the human experience  and well-being. In general terms, space, light, views and atmospheres are important concepts to work with for every individual, but for those who suffer dementia it is even more so on a personal level. The environment is stimulating for the individual with dementia, whether it is a toilet or a fireplace. Architecture has a place in this field, a window is “here” for a reason. Saying this, not much research has been done on how architecture affects dementia. Working with architectural elements gave us a great opportunity to work with the memory, the architectural experience of each of us. 

Before and during the design process, the students received introductions about dementia, art and architecture from experts in the field: 

• Neurologist Carmen Antúnez, Head of Dementia Unit, Hospital Virgen de la Arrixaca, Murcia: Alzheimer and its characteristics. 

• Rineke Smilde: Music & dementia. 

• Halldóra Arnardóttir: Literature / museum project.

• Javier Sánchez Merina: AlzheiMUR.

Learning Outcomes
The following learning outcomes were used to prepare and evaluate the workshop:

1. Transposing his/her professional, artistic knowledge to the context of architectural elements in a context of dementia. The students learnt about the disease and had to find ways to connect their knowledge into practice during the workshop. This was an open process, where the students were encouraged to propose and create new readings of the elements. The organizers divided them into interdisciplinary groups to obtain different viewpoints based on their own knowledge and experience. In general, this was achieved and each discipline: fine art, music, architecture, industrial design, drama, art therapy – could be traced. This demanded thorough dialogue and active listening.

2. Identification of specific emotions in dementia that architectural element evokes. Various techniques were used to achieve this. For instance, to close the eyes in order to use all the senses in feeling how it was to walk up and down a ramp.

3. Create bridges between the past and the present by means of emotional memory. This was addressed in the initial dialogues between the group members. That is, how they had experienced the different elements according to their cultures and country of origin, later to be reflected through the present and interdisciplinary approaches.

4. Reflect on and evaluate their own performance from a professional and learning perspective. During the workshop, the teachers shared views and contrasted opinions with the students, taking care in giving them freedom to explore on their own. At the end of the workshop, the students exhibited their built proposals in the streets of Alicante, giving thorough arguments about their process and results based on their senses, memory and cooperation.

5. Document general results of the group work as well as the execution and results of projects. A folder in Google drive was created where all the participants were invited to upload their graphic material (drawings, photos and videos) for everyone to share and learn from the other.

6. Transmit his/her skills, ideas and knowledge in the field of the arts and dementia to the interdisciplinary groups and in different contexts. The classroom where the students worked during the workshop, allowed a great transparency and closeness between the groups. Sharing and exchanging skills, ideas and knowledge was thus encouraged from the very setting. The courtyard outside the room was also used for the same purpose.

Evaluation of Objectives and Impact
It was a demanding five-day workshop in terms of the  interdisciplinary groups of students sharing skills, working together, learning to listen and demonstrate empathy, because each discipline was coloured by cultural differences and influences. Yet, the students made a sincere effort, which was reflected in an elastic relationship, discussions, letting go and finding equilibrium in the interdisciplinary discovery process. Sometimes there were misunderstandings, but this led to real innovation and creativity, as for instance in the case of how architecture, drama and music students worked together.

The workshop was a real test of ideas and demonstrated how learning groups can work towards cultural understanding and interdisciplinary practice, to open up the field to the creative possibilities for social inclusion while working in dementia. The teaching style used in this workshop facilitated learning through experiential methods rather than purely departing information to the participants.

The final exhibition of built elements in the street of Alicante city creatively demonstrated the entire process. The students started from an unknown position of the theme, language and culture, went to working in a classroom/patio at the university, then presenting the results to the city. It was thus an oscillation between the private and the public space where social inclusion was at the centre of the learning experience.

SWAIP staff, who also served as teachers at the workshop, experienced a wide range of teaching styles and approaches across the student groups, which informed future discussion at the staff training and working groups about curriculum development.

Documentation of student workshops

Material recollected for SWAIP and extended into a BA essay by the architecture student Raúl Díaz Valera at University of Alicante: