Buildings for the Housing of Self-Sufficient Seniors in the Countryside - Privacy and Intimacy

Abstract

In this age of singles and nuclear families, privacy is becoming an increasingly desirable commodity. The desire for privacy is transforming not only our habits and lifestyles, but also the built environment. This is particularly evident in rural environments where development is moving away from the public space boundary of the street and private land to its center, and gardens are enclosed behind a barrier of opaque fences. Can we offer the same level of privacy to self-sufficient seniors living in senior community homes and similar facilities? In the following paper, I attempt to answer the question using the findings from visits to a few selected buildings for housing self-sufficient seniors in the Czech countryside. The most significant deficiency in the facilities visited was the lack of a defined private space for residents in the exterior, the lack of space for storing personal belongings, and the boundary between private and public space generally being too hard.