Population ageing is a nearly global phenomenon, which in Finland as elsewhere has a major impact on housing. The need for accessible apartments soars, in addition to which the growing number of the oldest old increases the need for assisted living. Reducing institutional care has seen an especially large in the numbers of clients in intensive sheltered care.
In Finland, similarly to many other countries, population and apartment stock ageing largely occur in the same buildings. Especially post war mass housing plays a key role in this. People have often lived in the same apartment for even half a century, during which their personal needs may have changed drastically. There has also been ample time to form a strong emotional bond and daily routines related to one’s dwelling and its surroundings.
An unavoidable move to accessible housing in a newly constructed building can mean a difficult departure from one’s accustomed daily life. Furthermore, ongoing urbanization makes responding to changing needs via new construction increasingly infeasible. Declining areas already have an abundance of apartments, many even empty, but the quality of the supply fails to meet current demand.
“Even without financial obstacles, demolition and new construction as the only solution to changing needs would be ecologically questionable,” Tapio Kaasalainen notes.
Kaasalainen’s doctoral dissertation examines the potential for ageing at home in typical Finnish apartment blocks. The research focuses on the spatial aspects of renovation. Specific emphasis is put on accessibility improvements in apartments and on repurposing entire building floors into assisted living group homes. Defining the recurring spatial properties of the building stock enables forming widely generalizable observations and renovation solutions.
“The monotonousness of the building stock is often viewed negatively. However, it also has certain advantages in not having to reinvent the wheel for each apartment or building that needs renovation. Quite detailed type plans can be drafted as a basis for responding to individual needs and wishes. The existing building stock holds vast potential for both independent and assisted living for older people,” Kaasalainen says.
Tapio Kaasalainen is originally from Huittinen and graduated as an architect at Tampere University of Technology. Currently he lives in Nokia and is employed at Tampere University School of Architecture as a researcher and a teacher of housing design.
The doctoral dissertation of M. Arch. Tapio Kaasalainen in the field of architecture titled Potential for Ageing at Home in the Finnish Apartment Building Stock: A Spatial Perspective on Renovation will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Built Environment of Tampere University at 12 o'clock on Friday 12 February 2021, in the auditorium RG202 at Hervanta campus, Korkeakoulunkatu 5, Tampere. The opponent will be DSc (Arch) Ira Verma from Aalto University. The custos will be Assistant Professor (tenure track) Sofie Pelsmakers from the Faculty of Built Environment of Tampere University. Because on the coronavirus situation, only 10 persons can be present at the event.
The event can be followed online.
The dissertation is available online at http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-03-1834-5.
Photo: Tapio Kaasalainen