Laura – an armchair for confidende and care
Rodrigo Luis Medina
Student
Rodrigo Luis Medina Academic staff
Riccardo Berrone Klaus Hackl Hans Hoeger Course
CARE. A New Foundation for Design? Program
BA Major Design Semester
2022 Winter Laura is an armchair designed to take care of the elderly who, due to their age, may feel less confident in sitting and standing up. As we get older we begin to lose strength, balance and stability; unfortunately not only our bodies are affected by age, but also our minds. Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive condition that affects our intellectual abilities and accounts for 50-80% of all dementia cases. Especially in the early stages of the disease, it is necessary to keep the mind trained to slow down the deterioration. For this reason, Laura presents measures that take into account the needs an elderly person may have.
A project made in the course
CARE. A New Foundation for Design?
This winter semester we launched a project cooperation with the South Tyrolean furniture company rossin to explore the role of design in the field of care and welfare. Care is not only a fundamental condition of our human existence, but also an important motivation for a sustainable and socially responsible design. Caritas, the active care for others in need, a basic principle of social cohesion, has returned to the centre of our attention during the Corona pandemic. In particular, caring for the elderly and the sick, the vulnerable and the handicapped as well as hosting pilgrims, travellers and migrants has become inscribed into the DNA of South Tyrol’s cultural heritage over the centuries.
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