The Radford
Community Wellness Village
"Old people cannot be integrated socially as in traditional culture unless they are first integrated physically" (Alexander).
Relocate due to aging is not nessisary when communities have the ability to integrate the aged within itself as an essential part of the whole. Both young and old need each other to promote community oneness. The elderly represent knowledge, history and experience, while the young represent newness, rebirth and discovery.
We live in a world that segregates the old from the young, which creates a deep wound in each person's life. This project is an example of how, through the practice of landscape architecture, a community can experience togetherness in a meaningful way and discover for the first time, or rediscover once again, life's processes. To achieve social harmony, all citizens must understand the importance of a strong social unity within the community context. All people need meaning and purpose, for without it, they become individually isolated from society. The quest for this must constantly be rejuvenated by reminders of life's evolution. Community life and being alive should follow each person throughout the natural process of aging. As one begins to age, their search for purpose becomes more apparent and it is at this time when many have the opportunity to discover and offer their own spirituality.
Radford is a caring and giving community. By putting the new with the old and providing opportunities for interaction the community becomes whole, uniting the parents of the new with the sons and daughters of the old. The site has the potential to continue evolving with the surrounding community by providing each new generation an opportunity to gradually rediscover itself. The desired effect is that the site program itself will extend into the surrounding community making strong roots generation after generation.
Awards:
2000 Wayne Grace Memorial Design Competition, Council of Landscape Architecture Registration Board (CLARB)
1999 Stanley Abbot
Design Competition, Virginia Tech
" a very thoughtful and considerate design process focused on accommodating older individuals and demonstrating that their quality of life is as important as everyone else's"
Council of Landscape Architecture Registration Board (CLARB)
LAND STUDIO pc
Land Planning + Landscape Architecture + Civil Engineering
