City Design (MA)
Xiaofei Wu
Xiaofei is an MA City Design graduate from the Royal College of Art. Last year, after her undergraduate degree (Environmental Design) at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in China, Xiaofei came to London and began her 15-month study at RCA.
Whilst at the RCA, in term 1 and term 2, her work successively included researching three different housing typologies and exploring how communal spaces operate in different housing, and the mode of collective living brought about by them; Through group cooperation, she analysed the aging process in the UK and the defects of the NHS system, in addition, she followed the studio to participate in the field trip in Barcelona and Case Study of Seminar in London, and learned the spatial forms of collective social housing and urban public spaces respectively; Then in the Media Studies course, she designed an art installation to reshape the public space of the city square.
In term 3, she continued to use the elderly as a research group and opposed the status quo that ‘hospital beds and spaces are not enough to support the rehabilitation and care of the elderly’. So she studied the interim care by its intervention and operation, to improve the targeted infrastructures for the elderly with different diseases.
In the final term 4, in her thesis, she argued the restriction and influence between institutionalised spaces and the behaviours of the elderly. In her independent project, the content continued to focus on the improvement of the care space in Wood Green, and connect the impact of COVID-19, to change the situation of elderly people living alone without care at home. Through Reorganising the living environment, to avoid the social isolation of the elderly, additionally, oppose the institutionalisation of the elderly in hospitals and care homes. The proposal is to give the elderly a new way of life - group living like a family, create an age-friendly community for the elderly, with convenient living conditions and nursing support, so as to address the social exclusion and neglect of them and maintain their autonomy and ensure the dignity of space use.
Significant ageing processes are changing the social and spatial profile of cities. The outcomes of the project stress the need to redesign and reorganise the living environment in Wood Green as a goal to oppose the social isolation of the elderly.
This project analyzes the present situation and influence of the social isolation of the elderly. In view of the medical reality in the aging process of the elderly, the focus will be on creating a new nursing space, transforming the single traditional nursing space into a comprehensive space with residence and care integrated, providing a new way of Co-Living for the elderly, and emphasizing the potential and possibilities of the age-friendly community. Co-Living, to some extent, helps solve the social isolation, which can benefit the elderly, and promote their body and mind to the direction of health.
Design elements should be considered in terms of a variety of spatial forms that allow residents to improve physically, mentally and emotionally. This project adopts the method of design research. In specific cases, the ideal forms of retirement residence are compared and experimented in the project, and the way to reduce social isolation is determined. More specifically, modes of sharing will be integrated into residence to enrich the daily lives of the elderly, and the impact of nature on health will also be explored by using the growing research results related to environmental psychology for reference. The results will be presented by drawings.
Situation
Ground Floor Plan — For the ground floor, it is completely open, this is achieved through the flexible entrances and the walls opening in all directions, connecting the external walkways and gardens. The public facilities of rehabilitation are around the central courtyard, people of different ages meet, talk, and do some intergenerational activities. In addition, a nursing station, (eleven in the plan), caregivers be there to keep constant observation on old peoples’ behaviours, in order to provide some immediate assistance.
Public Facilities
Rendering 1 (Sensory Garden)
Circulation System — For the communal circulation, the gray parts are elevators, as the fastest way for all age groups to use.; Staircases are the yellow parts, they mainly serve the elderly with good walking ability. The mobile platforms are the dark purple parts, located in each family unit for private use. When the elderly are disabled, or become weak, or don't want to move, the mobile platforms come into play. In addition, most of the platforms face the outside world, let people enjoy the view from the window while moving; The pink parts are ramp circulations, the elderly can exercise by slow-walking on them, and the old elderly without walking ability can slip by wheelchairs with the help of caregivers or other family members.
Section (Ramp Circulation)
Upper Floors Plan — For first and second floors, each floor has four two-bedroom family units, five one-bedroom units a nursing space, a conversation area and two communal dining halls. These spaces can be quickly reached through corridors or central bridges. The third floor provides two one-bedroom units, four care units for the weak elderly, a roof garden and a music room. The elderly can go directly to the roof floor through the ramps in front of the care units and the staircase in the central landscape.
Rendering 2 (Roof Garden)
Unit Forms — For the Unit design, curved walls consider the safety of use. Two-bedroom family unit is a combination of two old people or two families, they are separated to live on the second floor of the unit, but share the living room and kitchen on the first floor. At the same time, the two families are equipped with the mobile platform moving up and down and enter quickly; One-bedroom unit has two different forms, to adapt to the appearance and orientation of the building, but the spatial distribution is almost same as two-bedroom unit; The care unit is a shared unit for one nursing staff and two elderly living together. This unit serves the elderly who cannot live by themselves; The emergency segregation unit which is included in the nursing station mainly used for treatment of sudden infections. In addition, the nursing station includes offices and bedrooms for nursing staffs, storage rooms for medical supplies, and a goods lift. There is also a platform for emergency transportation of patients, so that patients can quickly reach the outdoors and be taken to the hospital.
Rendering 3 (Green Balconies)
Therefore, the design strategy is based on the principle of paying more attention to the use of spaces for the elderly, mainly in the following three aspects: First, construct a variety of communal circulations in the building, including ramps, mobile platforms, stairs, elevators, etc. These modes of transportation can not only provide a more convenient connection space, but also serve as a shared space for the elderly to communicate and gather; Secondly, create visual stimulation, including two methods, landscape view and horticulture therapy. Some old elderly can also contact the outside world without leaving home through a variety of sight settings and green spaces (roof garden/terrace, green balcony, central courtyard, and some planting devices). At the same time, they can use the interaction with plants to achieve the effect of psychological healing; Thirdly, add more public facilities (communal restaurant, conversation area, reading area, performance area, art area, etc.) which are suitable for the elderly and advocate more social participation.
Medium:
mapping, images (software)![[untitled]](https://res.cloudinary.com/rca2020/image/upload/w_1920,f_auto,q_auto/v1607614259/gatsby-cloudinary/5fd21253620777544e2e2a90-418747-resize-1920-2560)
portfolio 05
portfolio 03
portfolio 04
T
The installation made by 3D printer (1:50)
The installation in the daytime (1:15) — It can reflect the external environment and urban climate.
The installation with light at night (1:15) — It can reflect the internal details, the pigeon yearns for freedom.
Details
Media Studies Xiaofei Wu 04
On the fourth base, there is a polyhedral device. Each side of this device is a mirror, reflecting the sky. Each mirror also looks like a window with flowing clouds, so this work is called "A Window in The City ". The device was placed here in part to record a quiet moment in contrast to the noisy surroundings of the square. It also allows passers-by to experience peaceful moments and visual experiences while viewing the device. On the other hand, by observing the change of the sky in the mirror, people are reminded to discuss and pay attention to the change of urban climate and environment, and also increase the contemporary social attention to the urban environment. It is worth demonstrating that the item placed on the plinth can be a statue, or there are other options, such as people's consciousness (consciousness of environmental concern), which is more valuable than statues. When people pass this pillar, they can not only watch the appearance and find changes of the day's environment from different perspectives, but also record and communicate their feelings with the public, to a certain extent, achieve social interaction. At the same time, because the mirror material is special, this device will show two different states during the day and night. During the day, the device reflects the external environment. At night, the internal light of the device lights up, and the state of the internal space will be revealed. At this time, people can see a cage inside the device, and several pigeons flying towards the white clouds outside the cage, symbolising the desire for freedom, additionally, this scene is also associated with the pigeons flying freely every day in the square. Adding lights to the device can also make better use of the device's availability at different times in a day.
Medium:
3D printer, acrylic board, mirror paper, resin, glue, light settingSize:
Model 1 (1:15), Model 2 (1:50)
Land Use of Broadgate and Canary Wharf
London's Pseudo Public Space Epidemic
Enhancement of Pseudo public Spaces in Broadgate
Comparison Between Broadgate, Canary Wharf and Barangaroo
Medium:
literature research, field trip, case studies, mapping, images (software)
Malaysian Longhouse
Typical Plan
Typology
La borda
Typical Plan
Typology
Medium:
images (software)
Data & Proposal
City
Block
Room
My story takes changes in the living space and lifestyle of the elderly as the main element. With ‘sharing’ as the main proposal, to design a new shelter space for the elderly, and to enable them to recover and rebuild their confidence to adapt to family life. The design object is the retired elderly over 65 years old in London. First, I analysed the distribution data of the elderly over 65 years old in different areas of London. Secondly, I have found the number of deaths in nursing homes in these different areas. I chose one area in North London with the worst situation, then selected a nursing home, and renovated the existing block where it is located.
The new form is circular. This circular space also embodies the concept of tolerance and sharing. Different sizes of these circular buildings provide different functions and are distributed in some open spaces and green spaces, connecting nearby streets and residential areas. In the centre of the building, a nursing space is placed to provide care support, which makes it easier for medical staff to observe the sudden situation of the elderly. In addition, I hope that, by changing the combination, number and location of these circular buildings, the results of these combinations can also be applied to other parts of London.
Medium:
video, images (software)Size:
video (5'58'')Data & Proposal
City
Block
Room
My story takes changes in the living space and lifestyle of the elderly as the main element. With ‘sharing’ as the main proposal, to design a new shelter space for the elderly, and to enable them to recover and rebuild their confidence to adapt to family life. The design object is the retired elderly over 65 years old in London. First, I analysed the distribution data of the elderly over 65 years old in different areas of London. Secondly, I have found the number of deaths in nursing homes in these different areas. I chose one area in North London with the worst situation, then selected a nursing home, and renovated the existing block where it is located.
The new form is circular. This circular space also embodies the concept of tolerance and sharing. Different sizes of these circular buildings provide different functions and are distributed in some open spaces and green spaces, connecting nearby streets and residential areas. In the centre of the building, a nursing space is placed to provide care support, which makes it easier for medical staff to observe the sudden situation of the elderly. In addition, I hope that, by changing the combination, number and location of these circular buildings, the results of these combinations can also be applied to other parts of London.