The Eugene Hotel

EUGENE HOTEL

Luke Larsen | Alex Brooks

The Human Context of Design

Mark Gillem | Jenny Young

Arch 540 | Christina Bollo

The University of OregonW i n t e r 2 0 1 3

“Each table has its own character.”These tables are all two-seaters and not very lively.

“Everybody can see everybody else--you can see relationships happening...”This is an appeal to having your back against a wall.

“With two entrances, it’s easy to mix in the lobby.”Many passing greetings occur in this fairly popular zone.

“I feel like an outcast sitting over here!”Indeed, Siberia is disconnected from the rest of the hall by the kitchen zone

SiberiaVIP

Kitchen Bustle

Entry Zone

Wall Zone

The Den

Island

Dining

Lobby

Major Dividers

Half ‘n Half

After-Dinner Exits

Intermittent mail- checks alone or in pairs.

Congestion occurs here as many exit in groups out of this narrow corridor. Often the residents will check the evening’s posted event on their way.

Occasional front desk chat with the friendly sta�.

Occurring Along the Way

Nooks and “Grannies”

Dining Dialogue

Happenstance meetings can give way to friendship. The unexpected interactions that occur when paths cross help develop richer social connections within the community.

Connect spaces in such a way that circulation routes will converge. Additionally, provide auxiliary spaces where people can eddy out of the general �ow of tra�c so as to comfortably have inter-changes with those that they have met along the way.

Tightly formed social groups prefer to sit in defensible alcoves where their territorial claim is well established. In contrast, groups in more casual gatherings tend to place less emphasis on claiming territory.

Make dining spaces in which the tables have varying degrees of enclosure. Thus allowing groups to lay territorial claims in accordance with their own needs.

Eating dinner is a signi�cant social routine for the elderly. Gathering together over a meal allows for a range of social interactions from casual to intimate.

Make the dining rooms in senior living apartments a central and prominent feature. Arrange the tables so as to encourage casual conversation between them while people circulate. Create conver-sation alcoves by dropping the ceiling height over tables to focus attention and encourage hearing.

The Eugene hotel is a non-medical, independent living community for seniors located in downtown Eugene, OR. In it’s heyday, the historic 1925 building was an elegant stopover for guests traveling Paci�c Highway 99. By 1983 the Eugene Hotel had been converted into apartments for independent active adults 58 years and older. The residents today, in addition to enjoying a busy schedule of activities provided by the Hotel, retain a great deal of indepen-dence and enjoy living in the center of town.

Retirement Community

N

5’ 10’

30’

Intensity of Resident Use NoneExtreme

After dinner, residents leave through the lobby in several ways.

A sparsely populated area,

this zone is subject to the

hustle and bustle of adjacent

kitchen.

Dominated by the biggest,

most boisterous group, this

zone sports two walls, one

half-wall and a low ceiling.

Private Party Room

Manager’s O�ce

Welcome Desk

Kitchen

Salad Bar

Dessert Table

Elevators

“Island”

Half-wall

Event Listings

Mailboxes

Administration

Dining Zones

Physical attributes and social natures of groups divide the dining hall

into seven zones of seating.

This room is for

large groups of

guests and is not

used regularly

Dining Room and Lobby: The Place and the Path

The EUGENE HOTELIndependent Senior Living Community

A l e x a n d e r B r o o k s a n d L u k e L a r s e nArch 540 - Gillam, Young, Bollo • University of Oregon, WInter 2013

2

Release

3

Contents

Place Description ...............................................................4

..............................................6Summary Annotated Plans

.................................................................................8Traces

......................................................................9Observations

..........................................................................10Interviews

..............................................................12Pattern Critiques

.......................................14Patterns For the Eugene Hotel

....................................................................17Place Rating

.........................................................................23Appendix

.................................................20Annotated Bibliography

.............................................................18Reflective Essays

4

Place Description

The Eugene hotel is a non-medical, independent living community for seniors located in downtown Eu-

gene, OR. In it’s heyday, the historic 1925 building was an elegant stopover for guests traveling Pacific

Highway 99. By 1983 the Eugene Hotel had been converted into apartments for independent active

adults 58 years and older. The residents today, in addition to enjoying a busy schedule of activities provid-

ed by the Hotel, retain a great deal of independence and enjoy living in the center of town.

“The Eugene Hotel offers an elegant yet affordable lifestyle for active men and women, 58 years of age and older, who enjoy the convenience of our downtown Eugene loca-tion.”

-eugenehotel.com

Eugene Hotel 222 East BroadwayEugene, Oregon 97401(541)[email protected]

10’5’ 30’

5

Eugene Hotel, 2012

Dining Hall Dining experience Lobby looking out onto E Broadway

Eugene Hotel, cicra 1950

6

Major Dividers

Dining

Lobby

Half ‘n Half After-Dinner Exits

Intermittent mail- checks alone or in pairs.

Congestion occurs here as many exit in groups out of this narrow corridor. Often the residents will check the evening’s posted event on their way. Occasional front desk chat

with the friendly sta�.

Summary Annotated Plans

Half ‘n Half

Major Dividers

After-DInner Exits

After dinner, residents leave through the lobby in several ways.

7

N

5’ 10’

30’

Intensity of Resident Use NoneExtreme

Private Party Room

Manager’s O�ce

Welcome Desk

Kitchen

Salad Bar

Dessert Table

Elevators

“Island”

Half-wall

Event Listings

Mailboxes

Administration

Intesity of Resident Use

8

Traces

This American flag is visible from the front door and is quite large for the setting. We assume it is placed so publicly in defference to the imlitary service many of the residents are likely to have performed over the course of their lives, and the partic-ular patriotic sentimentality associated with World War II in particular.What percentage of resi-dents are veterans? How many events each year are military-related?

The dining tables all share a similar setting, including napkins in the water glass, upside-down coffee cup, flowers, a table number and à la carte menus un-der glass. The settings are reminiscent of restaurants. Paired with the structure of columns and vaulted ceil-ing, this traces indicates that a the Hotel seeks to give the residents a grand, elegant dining experience. In a re-tirement community, is the mundane something that is feared or actively avoided?

Light, moveable chairs with arm rests in the dining room indicate that they are often moved around, and that they need to be able to be moved by people with limited phys-ical capabilities. How much shuffling of seating arrange-ment happens once dinner begins? How many times a meal do residents get up from their seats, on average?

There was a line of eight walkers outside the dining area. They are necessary props for the mobility of res-idents but are parked in the lobby while the residents dine, perhaps because there is not enough room in the dining area for them. Some walkers had ribbons to iden-tify whose was whose.Are the walkers a fire haz-ard? What effect does the presence of this device have on various individuals in a formal space like the dining room?

Props, Leftovers, and Personalization Group Membership Props Props

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Observations

“Each table has its own character.”These tables are all two-seaters and not very lively.

“Everybody can see everybody else--you can see relationships happening...”This is an appeal to having your back against a wall.

“With two entrances, it’s easy to mix in the lobby.”Many passing greetings occur in this fairly popular zone.

“I feel like an outcast sitting over here!”Indeed, Siberia is disconnected from the rest of the hall by the kitchen zone

SiberiaVIP

Kitchen Bustle

Entry Zone

Wall Zone

The Den

Island

A sparsely populated area,

this zone is subject to the

hustle and bustle of adjacent

kitchen.

Dominated by the biggest,

most boisterous group, this

zone sports two walls, one

half-wall and a low ceiling.

Siberia

Kitchen Bustle

Entry Zone

Island

The Den

VIP Wall Zone

Dining ZonesThis room is for

large groups of

guests and is not

used regularly

Physical attributes and social natures of groups divide the dining hall into seven zones of seating.

After-DInner Exits

10

Interviews

Interview Notes:

Marilyn has been living at the hotel for 6 years. Prior to coming to the hotel she lived in Brownsville Oregon, 35 Miles to the North of Eugene. Originally she hails from down south her daughters moved up to Oregon and she thought a change in the weather would do her some good as well. Originally she sat at a table by the entry but those folks came to be a bore. Now she sits at a cor-ner table. The people were the primary motivation for the move. When coming into the space she passes briefly through the lobby, to her it is not a place to linger. She likes to talk but is not a gossip-er. If she could change one thing about the dining room it would be to paint the walls, they don’t match the ceiling.

Interview Notes:

Tina has worked at the hotel for six months. She was an Art Grad-uate student at the University of Oregon. She came to the Hotel because she got a job as an event planner. She notes that the res-idents at the hotel have a very consistent routine. Her work helps to break up the monotony while introducing spontaneous fits of life. She explained that there are different zones in the building for people who are looking for different levels of interaction. She is always so busy when she is at the hotel that it is hard for her to sit.

Observations:

Marilyn is both friendly and quick to laugh. She holds strong opin-ions in general. This leads to several about the place. She likes that she gets to come down to the dining room, eat and then not do the dishes. Her body language shifted when asked about why she had to move here. Her behavior laments some sort of loss of independence. Her demeanor changed when I asked her about the details of her background and the need for her to move down here. How can this building make her feel more respectable? How can it help to maintain her sense of dignity?

Observations:

Tina is friendly, helpful and kind to the residents. She is projects enthusiastically regarding her job and life in general.

She gets along great with the residents and enjoys spending time with them but she seems to be slightly overwhelmed by the ho-mogeneity of a senior living facility.

MarilynResident, 60-70 years old

TinaGroup Events Facilitator, 30-40 years old

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Interview Notes:

Rosa Lee has lived an exciting and full life. She grew up in San Diego playing violin under her father’s influence. After attending Bethany College in Kansas she returned to California as a profes-sional musician taking jobs as they came her way. After the war she married Phillip her high school sweet heart. Philip was sta-tioned in the Panama Canal zone down in the Caribbean. Rosa Lee became a disk jockey for the local navy radio station and intro-duced American records to the community. After they returned stateside they returned to Southern California where they raised three children. For a retirement prospect they bought undevel-oped land in the outskirts of Klamath falls where Rosa Lee planned and designed her dream home. The two eventually retired to the home. Rosa Lee stayed on the property for years after her hus-band’s passing. She has been wintering at the Eugene hotel for year sand just recently decided to make the hotel her permanent home.

Interview Notes:

This boisterous group of three sit together often and are quick to share their opinions. They explained quite expressly that each ta-ble has “a character of its own”. Connie has been at the hotel for 2 and a half years; Milt and Judy arrived in June of last year. They all have University connections either directly or through their fami-lies. They like the dining room finding it elegant however it is too noisy, especially considering that some many of the residents are hard of hearing. This makes for a fair bit of loud and confusing talking. They thought that the space should be acoustically engi-neered, they conceded that such a request was probably beyond the scope of our (Luke and Alex’s) abilities. The dining room is a place where “everybody can see everybody else so you can see re-lationships happening”. Connie likes to sit against the wall where she can see what is going on, also no one is able to sneak up on her. The three agreed that there is a big difference between each of the tables. They further explained that what formed the quality of the table was not the position or the shape but rather the actual people sitting there.

Observations:

Rosa Lee is a powerful and sweet woman. She has lived a full life with little regret. She has eased herself into living at the hotel here in her twilight years. She has taken quite well to the opportunities to socialize with her peers. She is quick with a story and quite willing to talk your ear off. She is a pleasure to have dinner with.

Observations:

They love the lobby, they find that the glass chandeliers make the place elegant. They also like to pass by the elevators where it is easy for people to mix. They also explained that the front desk is a hub of social activity and daily gossip and updates. Milt thought that it would be great if they put a pool on the roof to allow peo-ple to exercise in a lower impact fashion. Milt also indicated that there is a sense of competition between tables regarding who sits where and with whom. Folks all seem to get along but there are undercurrents of social cliques leading to exclusive behavior. As a point of pride they wanted to clearly note that the building is included on the national register of historic buildings.

Rosa LeeResident, 70-80 years old

Milton, Judy, ConnieResidents, 70-90 years old

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Pattern Critiques

147: Communal Eating: Alexander acknowledges the power of food to bring people together. As we are exam-ining to dining hall at the Eugene Hotel, this is a logical pattern to examine. To some extent, the Hotel performs well. Tables are provided and servers bring the dishes out to residents, so that the meal does not feel rushed. Several residents seem to enjoy lin-gering at their tables long after eating to continue conversing. Despite this, to many residents, the seating arrangements dou-ble as sort of social pole positions. When residents refer to their “tables” they mean not the physical thing, but the people they sit with. The arrangements are fairly fixed, and for someone to move tables is a large social commitment that may require days of deliberation and planning. As such, some residents are very happy with their table arrangements. They enjoy company they keep at mealtime and they view their seating placement as a thing to be valued and perhaps defended. Other residents remain in seats they were placed at when they moved in, and have not yet found a better, available seat. The overall effect is one in which certain tables enjoy a strong sense of Communal Eating, where conver-sations last a long time and cover a breadth and intensity of topics, and other tables remain quiet or hold fairly superficial con-versations. People do not remain at these tables as long as they remain at

the “communal” ones. The Hotel staff at-tempts to make opportunities for residents to break bread with people outside of their tables with occasional “merry mix-ups” in which each resident is assigned a new seat for the night. In our conversations, these are met with mixed feelings. As with any in-dividuals, some residents relish the excuse to meet different people, and some dread leaving those with whom they are comfort-able, finding the resulting conversations to be awkward and stilting. One resident sug-gested that the mix-ups would be more successful if they served wine.

182: Eating Atmosphere:As mentioned above, the dining hall at the Eugene Hotel is treated somewhat like a restaurant. To our eye, however, there exist the trappings of such, but from an outsid-er’s perspective, it feels somewhat false. There are servers, tables, and flowers on the tables, but the atmosphere itself works against the pattern of intimacy and focus on the shared act of eating. The lighting in the hall is fairly dim but unfocused. Ninety percent of the tables are under the large, vaulted ceilings, and about half the tables are immediately adjacent to the kitchen area. For a population prone to hearing loss, this atmosphere can make intimate conversation more difficult. 193: Half Open Walls:The dining hall is a fairly large space, and there are several features that physical-

ly, if not audibly, differentiate subspaces. A low ceiling at the main entrance covers six different tables, though only the larg-er tables among them seem popular. The largest, most boisterous group sits at one of these tables that is separated from the entry space by a low half wall on one side, a full wall to the back, and a window wall to a third side. This gives that group both a very intimate space and one which feels defensible, and territorially theirs. There is another pony wall stretched between two columns in the major space with couples’ seating on either side of it. More populat-ed tables, however, are those along the perimeter wall that the half-wall shields from the more open space adjacent to the entry. The columns are large and expressed as octagons. Tables are either spatially an-chored to them, or adjacent to them, cre-ating a slight nook for the people sitting there. The largest unpopular area is the long narrow space with tables along one wall and the kitchen area along the other. At the end of this corridor space is a pod of tables. These are mostly unpopulated. They are separated from the back entrance by a tall free-standing pony wall and from the kitchen by partial walls. You cannot see the rest of the dining area from the major-ity of seats in this space. Off of this space is a separate “private party room” with three walls, a low ceiling, and a clear threshold. We have observed whole families coming to visit and eat with their relatives here.

13

40. Old People Everywhere: The Eugene hotel is an enclave. The resi-dents who live there share a common geri-atric identity. I see problems in an isola-tionist model because older citizens when separated from younger demographics at large begin to lose touch. The Eugene Hotel, being originally a down town hub and community social space, places its res-idents in a position to continue to interact with local community. Residents partici-pate in both planned and spontaneous so-cial outings where they come into contact with people of all demographic types.

Beyond the downtown location of the hotel, the social space that Alex and I are studying performs reasonably well in terms of connecting the residents to people out-side of their controlled domain. The lobby and dining room are open social spaces that invite and encourage outside visitors into them. Granted that beyond family members , volunteers, and intrepid social scientists the residents receive little outside interaction. Design at the scale of planning could be of great aid to increasing cross age group interaction.

101. Building Thoroughfare: The lobby connects the dining room. It connects both to the exterior of the build-ing as well as to the more intimate internal programs of the building. The formal or-ganization of the lobby and dining space creates an interior corridor through which

traffic flows quite regularly and in a circu-lar fashion. People loop throughout the spaces. The looping is controlled. There are both major and minor loops. Significant so-cial and formal functions occur along these controlled circulation corridors.

102. Family of Entrances: The Lobby is entered from the exterior through a vestibule. The transparent in-terior walls of this space offer views into the lobby at large. An enterer can see the front desk; a casual and comfortable social space; and importantly to this pattern, both of the entrances to the dining space. Walk-ing through the lobby entrance a user is quickly oriented in the space and should be able to find their way reasonably well. This pattern is of particular importance to the elderly residents because they can be more susceptible to confusion and often struggle with mobility so it is in there interests to not wander around in circles. Granted some residents still wander around in circles, but this is usually not due to way finding and orienting challenges but rather typically re-volves around a sort of general aimless.

150. Places to wait: This pattern has two significant meanings to my understanding of the Eugene hotel. One literal and direct and the other more passive, brooding, and meta-spatial. The lobby has been well appointed for wait-ing. There are several comfortable chairs interspersed throughout the space, in fact

t they are spread throughout the entire ho-tel. The chairs let people take breaks from walking and just watch the world go by. The focus of the lobby is a socio fugal ar-rangement of couches and a piano where people can wait in a positive manner. The single most dynamic and interesting be-havior that I observed at the hotel was on out first visit when a gentleman tickled the piano’s ivory to the delight of his crooning audience of little old ladies.The second, albeit darker, interpretation of this pattern relates to the overall purpose of a retirement community. Old people who have begun to withdraw from society come to places like the Eugene hotel. After years of this soft and controlled existence one has to wonder what it is that they are waiting for: their passing? How do we make that wait a reverie that is both posi-tive and honorable?

14

Patterns For the Eugene Hotel

Occurring Along the Way***

... people can’t control every moment of their day. Sometimes unintended interactions can be quite rich. ACTIVITY NODES (30), PATHS AND GOALS ( 120), PATH SHAPE (121), A PLACE TO WAIT (150), and BUILDING THOROUGHFARE (101) all contribute to these happenstance opportunities.

Happenstance meetings can give way to friendship. The unexpected interactions that occur when paths cross help develop richer social connections within the community.

At the Eugene hotel residents circulate with regularity from their more private upper quar-ters down into the more public dining and lobby. The residents’ schedules are not directly controlled and as such every day they cross paths with different people. These interactions are un planned and range from an excited hello to deeper discussions and gossiping ses-sions. One resident explained that “you just never know who you will bump into on the way to dinner”. These happenstance interactions are encouraged by two distinct phenomena in the Hotel:1. The circulation constrictions by the dining room entrance and elevator doors cause people to cue up and physically block one another. Often times what starts as a physical blockade turns into a conversation which long out lasts the circulation congestion.2. The lobby space is filled with places to wait. When residents are not in a particular hurry to get into the dining room they will sit in the lobby to wait or rather rest. This activity is just an elongated portion of their journey. They still have yet to ultimately arrive. While in the lobby residents set themselves up to see and interact with a whole host of passer byes.

Connect spaces in such a way that circulation routes will converge. Additionally, pro-vide auxiliary spaces where people can eddy out of the general flow of traffic so as to comfortably have interchanges with those that they have met along the way.

15

Nooks and “Grannies”:**

...people are comfortable when then can control their territory. ACTIVITY POCKET (124) informs the edge condition of effective territorial claims. The INTIMACY GRADIENT (127) helps to arrange the degree of privateness for social groups. COLUMN PLACE (226), and HALF OPEN WALL (193) suggest built elements which will allow for successful differentia-tion.

Tightly formed social groups prefer to sit in defensible alcoves where their territorial claim is well established. In contrast, groups in more casual gatherings tend to place less emphasis on claiming territory.

At the Eugene hotel there are a few tightly formed cliques which demonstrate a strong claim over the territory where they consistently sit. These places are well disposed to lay-ing such a claim due to their location along edges and within nooks defined by half open walls and columns. These groups tend to be boisterous, strongly formed and consistent. At other more exposed tables residents still demonstrate boisterous conversations however these groups lack a consistency of seating behavior and often included outside visitors. The intimacy with in the groups are no doubt high but because they do not sit together with regularity they do not lay a territorial claim.

Make dining spaces in which the tables have varying degrees of enclosure. Thus allowing groups to lay territorial claims in accordance with their own needs allowing groups to lay territorial claims in accordance with their own needs.

16

Patterns for the Eugene Hotel

Dining Dialogue ***

When it happens that we do not have OLD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE (40) and that instead of families’ building OLD AGE COTTAGE (155) we gather the elderly into separated commu-nities; it is important to encourage healthy interpersonal relationships. In these environ-ments COMMUNAL EATING (147), EATING ATMOSPHERE (182), and SITTING CIRCLE (185), all help to form healthy social groups. CEILING HEIGHT VARIETY (190) specifically addresses an important formal consideration for these spaces.

Eating dinner is a significant social routine for the elderly. Gathering together over a meal allows for a range of social interactions from casual to intimate.

At the Eugene hotel all of the residents come down from their private rooms into the public dining hall daily to eat dinner. This gathering together is an important part of the hotel’s social life. Individual groups demonstrate distinct levels of boisterousness and intensity of conversation. On the one side of the spectrum some groups demonstrate quite lively and robust interactions where as on the other side some gentlemen are content to sit quietly by themselves. Dinner is an opportunity for interaction and it is important to encourage residents to engage in dialogue both when seated at their table and also when circulating between neighboring groups.

The dining room at the Eugene Hotel performs reasonably well however the vaulted ceiling height in the space, though it give some residents a sense of grandeur, ultimately muddles acoustics and makes conversation over the echoing din of the room challenging, especially for those who are hard of hearing. By varying the ceiling height the space would offer inti-mate conversation alcoves as well as improved local acoustic performance.

Make the dining rooms in senior living apartments a central and prominent feature. Arrange the tables so as to encourage casual conversation between them while peo-ple circulate. Create conversation alcoves by dropping the ceiling height over tables to focus attention and encourage hearing.

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Place Rating

On the whole, the dining room of the Eugene Hotel performs well for the social functions that it serves. The elegant atmospere of the place evokes a sense of dignity for the residents which is enhanced by the attentiveness of the staff.

The spatial configuration provides opportunity for a variety of social dynamics, allowing the individual table groups to form and settle as best fits their indi-vidual needs. Initially, we considered the primary entrance to the dining room’s congestion to be problematic. However, after further observation, we have concluded that the frequent interarations which result appear to ultimately enrich the users’ experience.

Considering that some of the residents struggle to hear one another during dinner, an intervention that improves the accoustic performance of the space would serve the Hotel well.

Above Average - 4 out of 5

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Reflective Essays

After our initial visits to the Eugene Hotel, we mused, “it’s like a middle school lunchroom in there!” Residents spoke often of the importance of seating arrangements and jockeying for a place to sit with the people they like.

That comparison, however, is a trivialization.

In middle school, one’s friends, even their lunchtime acquaintances help to define who they are to one another, and more importantly, to themselves. This is not the case with the residents of the Eugene Hotel. These are adults with rich lives behind them that have already formed their person. It is for this very reason that with whom one chooses to share a meal is an important decision—indeed, table placement here is a commitment.

During one evening’s observations, I had been sitting next to a table being entertained by a visitor and whose con-versation appeared to consist of pleasantries and observations about the world around them. Engagement was light. At the next table over, however, a conversation was unfolding that I couldn’t hear, but that I could tell by the faces of the participants was deeply engaging. The listeners would nod and lean in, the speaker gestured with her hands and her face expressed sorrow and hardship at times, and lightness and joy at others. I wanted to be sitting with them.

Alexander states, “Without communal eating, no human group can hold together.” (A Pattern Language, 697)

Many of the residents of the Eugene Hotel, be they 60 or 90, are still actively forming and bolstering relationships with the people in their day to day lives. The dining room is a unique space that brings all individuals into one room, and in a way, demonstrates table by table, each individual’s greater level of engagement in their community.

Not Your Granddaughter’s Middle School Lunchroom…Alex Brooks

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When we first began this study I struggled with our topic. I have never felt comfortable in nursing homes. However, Alex’s en-thusiasm paired with my own inclination to overcome this admittedly ill-conceived bias led us to move forward and work with the senior living community at the Eugene Hotel.

Looking back now I think that my discomfort grew from my own insecurities regarding the way that we as a society treat our el-ders. As a person’s needs slowly supersede their abilities through the natural progression of aging it seems that we, the younger emerging populations, come to compartmentalized our relationships. We segregate our loved ones as we encourage them to seek community amongst their own kind. We lesson our own responsibilities as they slip into a softer, more comfortable, and more controlled world.

My personal bias aside, the community that I observed at the Eugene hotel was quite vibrant and stimulating. Turns out there is real value in creating the opportunity for folks in similar life conditions to share space and resources their interactions are spontaneous fits of life. The dining hall and the lobby of the hotel were places for reminiscence as well as the creation of new bonds and friendships. Quite intricate social groups are continually forming, evolving and reforming there. These groups re-spond to their available architectural environments. However ultimately the built environment was not critical in creating the social dynamics and groupings that I observed. In any variety of architectural spaces similar results would have likely emerged. Our patterns, however, hold true regardless.

I look now to my own family as I muse on Alexander’s pattern for the creation of old age cottages (155). I agree with Alexander’s proposition that we should keep the elderly integrated with their families as they age and their relationships evolve. Our elders are a rich portal into our pasts. Their stories and experiences are powerful resources. I will wrestle with the decision of whether I, personally, will encourage my own mother to join a community for the aging fringe when she is less capable of caring for herself. My hope is that I will be in a stable enough position to build her a small cottage and with the help of my family provide care for her. I hope to return the labor of love once offered so willingly to me. However, the unfortunate reality is that in having expressed my independence and in having made my own way in this world, I have slowly drawn farther and farther from that home that she once created. When will this prodigal son be able to return? Would it be fair to bring her here? Or is a community like the Eugene Hotel ultimately a good place for her? A place where she could share time and pleasure with those of similar life conditions who all easily and readily relate.

I am glad for my time spent at the Eugene Hotel, I have come to see it as a happy place where people, in my honest opinion, are comfortable and content.

Aging with CareLuke Larsen

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Annotated Bibliography

Anderzhon, Jefferey [et al.] Design for Aging. Hoboken, NJ. Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2012.

International case studies of building and programs. The author focuses on specific countries- Australia, Japan, Swe-den, Denmark, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, The United States as they explore case studies cWovering a range of topics. Each study explores systematically the influences of geography, care, neighborhood integration, staff and volunteers, environmental sustainability, and outdoor living. A good survey of the international scene sharing explicit examples complete with criticism.

Gerlach-Spriggs, Nancy, Richard E Kaufman, Sam B Warner, Jr. Restorative Gardens. New Haven, CT. Yale University Press, 1998.

Huber, Andreas, ed. New Approaches to Housing for the Second Half of Life. Germany: Birkhauser Verlag AG, 2008.

A collection of essays (from numerous authors) about aging from a sociological standpoint, followed by a generous assortment of Swiss assisted living case studies. Case studies include self-organized projects for communal housing, multigenerational housing, and several “model assisted-living facilities.” Each study includes pictures, floor plans, and graphic representations of post occupancy evaluations (POE), a potentially valuable resource for our research. The book concludes with an essays entitled Designing Buildings for Suitable Life, and Space, Light, and Sight: Aesthetic Aspects of Housing Suitable for the Elderly.

Kliment, Stephen A. Building Type Basics for Senior Living. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2004.

An analysis of the housing type of slated to serve the over-65 age group which happens to be the fastest growing segment of the American population. This volume in Wiley’s “building types basics” series provides planning and design guide-lines, as well as admonitions and lessons to be learned from completed buildings of a variety of types. It is geared to the in-formal needs of architects, planners, urban designers, and professional consultants, as well as sponsors and administrators. The volume responds to a set of twenty most commonly asked questions about a building type in the early phases of its design. The twenty questions include predesign (programming) guidelines; details of the project delivery process; design concerns unique to the building type; site planning; codes and ADA matters; energy and environmental challenges; engi-neering systems; lighting and acoustic pointers; signs and way finding; renovation issues; and cost and feasibility factors.

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Krout, John A. and Elaine Wethington. Residential Choices and Experiences of Older Adults.New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company, 2003.

A scientific study conducted over six years by faculty at Cornell and Ithaca College, Choices compares and analyzes the ex-periences of older adults in America. The study samples adults who have remained living independently in their own home, as well as adults who have moved into continuing care communities, independent and assisted living facilities, section 8 and low-middle income apartments, and rural housing communities. Perhaps the part of the study most pertinent to our research is Chapter 3, p49, Housing Satisfaction: Design Lessons from the Community, in which the researchers have included a matrix of design decisions and the correlating physical manifestations of those decisions. An examination of the table provided may help to orient us in our initial observations of the facility of our choosing.

Rosenfeld, Jeffrey P. Home Design in an Aging World. New York: Fairchild Books, Inc, 2008.

Schwarz, Benyamin and Ruth Brent, ed. Aging,Autonomy, and Architecture. Baltimore, MD. The John Hopkins University Press, 1999.

The American Institute of Architects. Design for Aging Review. Mulgrave, Victoria. The Images Publishing Group Pty Ltd, 2011.

Tyson, Martha M. The Healing Landscape. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill,1998.

Zimmerman, Sheryl, Philip Sloane, J. Kevin Eckert, eds. Assisted Living. Baltimore, Maryland: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.