The Center for Public Interest Design at Portland State University's School of Architecture is hosting a design competition to explore new models in intergenerational housing. This competition aims to address ways of reintegrating an often-isolated aging population into active settings where they can once again thrive and lend their voices and expertise to the greater community. We see the university setting as an ideal vehicle to support such a model and respond to the increasing desire for lifelong learning and continued active engagement among our aging citizens. Therefore, we are seeking proposals for innovative intergenerational housing models that are sited on or near a university campus and provide desirable lifestyles for people of all ages.

This is an ideas competition intended to facilitate a dialogue on the subject of intergenerational housing and inform ongoing efforts in this field, so the scale of each proposal can vary drastically. Whether the design is a single home, a large urban building(s), or a series of public spaces/landscapes on or near a campus, our esteemed jury members are open to all approaches to this issue and we look forward to sharing your ideas at an exhibit and forum to be held in downtown Portland, Oregon in the summer of 2014.
 

In response to the harmful consequences of industrialization, U.S. cities and towns began to segregate where people lived, worked, and produced via zoning. Today we recognize the destructive costs of zoning our cities by use, but we have not yet fully recognized the adverse secondary outcome: the segregation of generations. Such segregation has had major physical, fiscal and environmental consequences, and for these reasons we need to reintegrate our generations and reestablish this social capital.

Mounting challenges face the United States that must be addressed as life expectancy increases and the elderly make up a growing percentage of the population, putting a strain on social components such as health care, housing, Social Security, and employment. This issue is not one confined to the United States. Countries including Japan, Germany and Italy currently have an even greater percentage of their population over the age of 65, at nearly 25 percent.

As we confront these challenges, how can we make efforts to not only accommodate the needs of this population and respond to their desire for a reasonable quality of life but also leverage the immense intellectual, economic, and social capital among these citizens benefitting society as a whole? The recent work of innovators like Tim Carpenter (see Tim's TED talk HERE), a member of the competition jury, in the field of engaged aging make convincing arguments that models of housing that provide lifelong learning opportunities and creative engagement for this population greatly improve the quality of life for both the seniors directly benefiting from these initiatives and their greater community.

This model often resembles the structure of a university, which we see as an ideal vehicle to serve this population on a greater scale and reintegrate our generations. Although receiving a formal degree may not be the goal of most members of this population who have already retired from full careers, the lectures, forums, physical infrastructure, continuing education classes, museums, and opportunities to get involved in civic leadership possible at a university all speak to the compatibility of the university setting with a growing segment of this group's desires for active aging. We also believe that younger students could benefit from the wisdom, emotional support, and experience of their older neighbors, who may have valuable knowledge from decades of practice in many areas, potentially in the field(s) in which the students will be starting their careers.

The university is well situated to become the new intergenerational academic village of the twenty-first century, where young and old live and learn (and the experience of each is enriched by experience) in reciprocity. Thomas Jefferson radicalized the notion of the university with the establishment of UVA in 1819. The university was meant to be a place that supported a democratic and just society, with the library (standing for the knowledge that was now the right of everyone) as its figurehead and faculty and students living amongst one another on the Lawn in an intergenerational community. The design of UVA was meant to be a didactic model of Jefferson's ideal society. How do we radicalize the notion of the university to meet the needs of a twenty-first century society?

We are seeking bold visions that directly or indirectly leverage the existing amenities of the university and/or propose new relationships between the university and its surroundings to create an intergenerational place, open and engaged in the activities of its urban environment.

In crafting a proposal, the designer(s) should thoughtfully respond to the specific circumstances of their chosen site and surrounding population, while addressing issues universally relevant to the complex requirements of intergenerational living and housing. We are seeking submissions that propose new models of housing/dwelling at all scales that can reintegrate the generations to the benefit of both the aging population and traditional college-aged students, while acknowledging each group's unique lifestyle challenges and desires. However, we realize that some designers may prefer to address the issues of intergenerational living by investigating scenarios outside of the housing arena, such as the design of objects, public spaces, landscapes, or urban planning strategies; we welcome these submissions as a way to expand the dialogue on this topic.

In June 2014, the Center for Public Interest Design at Portland State University will be hosting a forum on the topic of intergenerational housing at Mercy Corps in downtown Portland, which will coincide with an exhibit of the winning proposals, as well as many other submissions that we feel contribute something unique to the conversation. We are excited to offer the reGENERATION competition at this time, as Portland was recently named one of the top two age-friendly cities in the United States and there is an opportunity for the results of this competition to help inform real-world initiatives being pursued in Portland and beyond.

Radicalize how we think about the relationships between generations in making places.

Rethink not only physical structures but also socio-cultural, economic, and/or ecological ones.

Reconsider the town-gown relationship in order to leverage the urban, university and human resources available.

TIMELINE

Competition Announced: Best Building Practices Forum, Barcelona, November 2013
Early Registration: January 15 - March 15, 2014
Standard Registration Deadline: May 15, 2014
Submissions Close: May 15, 2014
Winners Announced: May 30, 2014
Exhibit Reception: June 5, 2014

Our jurors will select the first, second and third most inspiring proposals and award them $1,000, $750 and $500 respectively. A selection of entries will receive honorable mention and inclusion in a public exhibit in the gallery at Mercy Corps in downtown Portland throughout the summer of 2014, as well as inclusion in an online gallery.

For Jury Members and Submission Guidelines,Please visit the website

> via cpidcompetitions.org