Addressing air pollution through healing and care for the elderly population in urban China.

This project explores the lasting effects of pollution in the elderly population of the city of Linfen, China. This city has been named as one of the most polluted places in the planet, and mixed with an inflating ageing population, pollution is a growing factor in the premature deaths that occur each year. The project aims to explore new building strategies that can create a clean environment to live in and care for the elderly, and propose a way of constructing an alternative model for care homes. These building technologies could then be assumed as a possible solution to be scaled up and implemented as part of a wider masterplan, creating more clean environments across the city.

The project began by identifying air pollution as an obstacle to creating a truly ‘caring city’, and noted the loss of connection to nature in the population of Linfen. The design research developed a series of strategies by which to negotiate and mitigate air pollution in Linfen, in order to create safe environments that have closer links to nature and vegetation.