Therapeutic Community for People with Alzheimer

Authors’ Comment

What happens to the place we live in when memory begins to leave us? For a person living with Alzheimer’s disease, everyday space changes as the disease progresses. Orientation, autonomy, social relationships and the perception of the environment become part of the care process, and architecture can respond to these changes through a familiar, recognisable and adaptable environment.
Located in the Colentina Lakes area, in close proximity to Mogoșoaia Island and Băneasa Forest, the therapeutic community is conceived in direct relationship with the landscape. Water, vegetation and the sequence of outdoor spaces become orientation cues, creating continuity between living spaces, community activities and the surrounding natural environment.
The complex follows the progression of the disease through three nuclei dedicated to the early, moderate and advanced stages. Each area responds to a different level of autonomy and care needs through a spatial sequence that moves from more open spaces connected to the community towards more protected and specialised environments.
A main corridor runs through the community, connecting residential areas with public and communal functions. Along it, meeting spaces, courtyards, gardens and activity areas create a continuous and recognisable route. The community is complemented by everyday functions — a restaurant, shops, art gallery, library, creative workshops, salon and meeting spaces — supporting social interaction and maintaining a connection with everyday life.
For the advanced stage, the increased need for assistance is addressed through a specialised care environment, directly connected to the residential spaces and the community’s medical infrastructure. The therapeutic community is completed by a Medical Centre providing consultation and medical care, therapy and activities dedicated to its residents.
The therapeutic landscape completes this structure through a system of gardens with different roles: a sensory garden, an active garden, a vegetable and herb garden, and an orchard. Each provides specific stimuli, activities and spatial cues, creating a sequence of experiences that supports orientation, physical activity, sensory stimulation and the connection with memories associated with nature.
The project proposes a form of living in which protection, autonomy, orientation, care and a sense of belonging become architectural principles. Architecture cannot cure Alzheimer’s disease, but it can make life with the disease one lived with dignity, autonomy and a sense of belonging to a place. This becomes one of architecture’s most important social responsibilities: even when memory becomes fragmented, a place can continue to offer orientation, familiarity and belonging.