Wenyue (Remi) Qiu
Cycle of Care
In China, the aging society accelerated the elderly care industry to grow into three major systems: home-based care, community-based care, and institutional care facility. My thesis project investigates the structures of these current systems, by focusing on the demographics in Beijing. Although in recent years the research shows an upward trend in seniors’ acceptance of living in institutional care facilities, the elderlies are still more willing to be surrounded by activities and people that they are familiar with. In order to guarantee and provide healthy living conditions both physically and mentally for them, the project proposes an enhanced home-care environment for the elderly and aims to develop a neighborhood-oriented service network that supplements the method.
Interview
Video
2022
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Family Planning Policy
Timeline
2021
China is a fast growing country yet has been suffering from population aging problem. The major influence caused this degrowth is the family planning policy started in 1970, which result in most family can only raise one child. After the government recognized a fertility rate rapid fall in the 1990s, the “one child policy” was loosen up, yet it still created a generation gap among the 20 to 40 age groups. Currently, the government had almost abandoned the family planning policy and even encouraging each family to have more kids, but the social study shows more and more young people are not willing to have more than one child, and many of them don’t want to have child at all
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Cycle of Care
Diagram
2022
The young generation is experiencing more stress and pressure on family. The split into individual families also isolates each generations to only focus on their personal lifes. Therefore, it is urgent for us to regenerate the cycle of care for a healthier future social environment.
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Project Site Overview
Map
2022
There are 5 major roads in Beijing in the form of a ring, and residents use these rings to indicate rough locations. The 5th ring works as a indicator, inside is the central urban area, outside is usually considered as beijing suburbs. The site I’ve chosen to implement this policy is located on the outer edge of the north 3rd ring in Haidian District, which span across 4 rings.
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Site Context
Map
2022
The residential community is divided into two part, the west portion is adjacent to a Main Street connecting north south, and the east portion of the community sits close to a secondary street running east west direction.
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One-day Activity
Diagram
2022
Base on one day’s activity, we see each groups occupies the site differently, and they have various schedules. Because of the program diversity around the residential community, user groups are very much distributed and hard to fully encounter someone else’s activity.
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Site Visit
Abstract Mapping
2022
This abstract site mapping recorded my friend’s path of entering and leaving the site. Which I translated her experience into a collage with important structures and some frequent activities that the senior residents could utilize as they travel through or occupy the space.
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Living Condition
Collage
2022
This perspective view shows the layout of the community in more details. There are two major types of building inside the community, outlined in yellow lines are tower type buildings and they are usually high rises with more than 18 floor. Outlined in red color are slab type buildings. In this community specifically, they are around six floors without elevators. On the west part of the community, some slab type buildings has a later attached elevators, but most buildings in the east part do not have one. Inside the community also have many public space. Yet due to the lack of parking structure, most of the open streets are crowded by residents’ vehicle.
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Building Public Space
Diagram
2022
Modular types have minimum public areas inside the building and it is used for stair. Slab types building under 6 floor unusually don’t have an elevator, and for some senior living in higher floors, it can be inconvenient. The corridor type will have more public space including the corridor, this also means is residents were paying for the apartment, they will pay more for shared public area.
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Housing Swap
Visionary Drawing
2022
The intervention includes the housing swap policy. The main action is to swap higher level senior living units with lower level units,so the first two levels are dedicated to seniors. On the third floor will be a buffer level so the occupancy can be negotiated. The swap will not be permanent and should work in a rental format, the “payment” should present as exchange of resources.
- Architecture
- Ceramics
- Design Engineering
- Digital + Media
- Furniture Design
- Global Arts and Cultures
- Glass
- Graphic Design
- Industrial Design
- Interior Architecture
- Jewelry + Metalsmithing
- Landscape Architecture
- Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies
- Painting
- Photography
- Printmaking
- Sculpture
- TLAD
- Textiles
