How can a park guide people with dementia toward autonomy and inclusion?

The research phase combined desk research, field observation, interviews and co-design activities to understand how Giardino Ex Caserme Duca d’Aosta could become more accessible for people with cognitive decline, while remaining an open and inclusive public park.

We analysed guidelines and case studies on dementia-friendly environments, sensory gardens and wayfinding systems, identifying key principles such as legibility, familiarity, safety and comfort. Through site visits, community events and interviews with experts, caregivers and people living with cognitive decline, we explored how the park is used, perceived and remembered in everyday life.

The co-design workshop became a key moment to share and test the first design directions with the community, refining the multisensory totems and spatial reorganisation through collective feedback.

The park model was developed as a tool to visualise and communicate the spatial proposal in a clear and tangible way. Through the physical representation of Giardino Ex Caserme Duca d’Aosta, we explored the relationship between entrances, pathways, resting areas, the quiet zone, the dog area and possible new facilities.

More than a final presentation object, the model worked as a design tool: it helped us translate research insights into concrete spatial scenarios and test whether the proposed reorganisation could make the park more readable, accessible and comfortable for different users. Drawings and collages were used alongside the model to suggest the atmosphere of the future spaces and the activities they could host.

The sensory totem was developed as a full-scale prototype to translate the workshop outcomes into a tangible wayfinding element. Starting from the theme of nature as a therapeutic force, the prototype combines a planter with sensory plants and a coloured wooden tree, designed to act as a recognisable landmark within the park.

Beyond orientation, the totem invites interaction through tactile and sound elements, such as gardening tools hanging from its branches, while also suggesting practices of shared care and co-maintenance. It is not intended as a final solution, but as an example of how ideas co-designed with the community can become physical artefacts that make the park more readable, sensory and welcoming.