[2023 Seoul Design International Forum] A Visit to Hwamok Senior Welfare Center: A Space That Warms the Heart
[2023 Seoul Design International Forum]
A Visit to Hwamok Senior Welfare Center: A Space That Warms the Heart
Hello! I am Geum Ye-hyun, who was selected as a Seoul Design International Forum supporter.
Have you heard of “Seoul Design”?
Today, our community is facing various challenges due to various global issues. Seoul Design refers to Seoul's design vision to respond to these challenges, enhance the city's competitiveness, and allow everyone to enjoy a happy life.
The main activities to implement the vision are to first develop creative and sustainable design content to solve various problems encountered in everyday life, creating a safe, convenient, and sustainable urban environment. It also increases the number of distinctive design contents in everyday life, providing memorable experiences to citizens to lead them to a charming city, and ultimately leading the city to the global world network.
If so, let's find out what kind of discussions the Seoul Design International Forum will be having to drive the charm of the city.
Seoul Metropolitan Government has been discussing the present and future of Seoul design that citizens want through the Seoul Design International Forum (SDIF), which is held every year. In the 2023 Seoul Design International Forum, under the vision of "Humanising Cities," which is too obvious to be recognized but not prioritized, we discussed how our city of Seoul is being illuminated today with world-renowned designers, architects, and experts.
What do you think when you hear the word "human-centered city"? Before I started my supporters' activities, when I heard this, I would just say, "Oh, human-centeredness is an important value." When I described a human-centered city earlier, I added this modifier, "It's taken for granted but it's not taken as a priority," which was a fitting addition to my case of not wondering how human-centeredness is truly being realized, knowing that human-centeredness is an important value. However, during this activity, I was reminded that there are many cases in which public design has been applied to realize the value of a human-centered city throughout the streets that we inadvertently pass by. I hope that the readers of this article will also find and take some time to think, "This is how design for people has been applied to our living spaces."
The information I explained about Seoul Design and Seoul Design International Forum earlier is organized in the card news below, so I would appreciate it if you could refer to it :)
If you want to learn more about Seoul Design, you can check the link attached below.
https://www.sdif.org/html/ko/seoul_design.php
Now, let me introduce Hwamok Senior Welfare Center, one of the places where public design in Seoul is applied.
Hwamok Senior Welfare Center
127-17 Jeonnong-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul
While I was on my way to the Hwamok Senior Citizens' Center, I saw a utility pole installed in a residential alleyway and took a picture of it. The orange color is immediately noticeable, and the phrase "Dongdaemun District, a Safe Place for Everyone" is written on it. This makes me think that it wouldn't be scary to walk this path even at night.
And as you continue to go deeper into the alleyway, the Hwamok Senior Welfare Center appears like this!!
The Hwamok Senior Citizens' Center was originally a small 2-story detached house. Dongdaemun District Office bought this detached house and renovated it into a senior citizens' center. Before the renovation, Hwamok Senior Citizens' Center was over 38 years old and was in poor condition. The entrance was not divided into a sidewalk and a road, which posed a risk to access and movement to the senior citizens' center. There were also no basic safety and convenience facilities, which increased the risk of accidents. In response to these risks, the district office began construction on the senior citizens' center on February 20, 2020, and it was transformed into its current appearance on October 13, 2020.
Let's take a look around the senior citizens' center to see how it has changed to improve the quality of life for the elderly.
The logo of Hwamok Senior Citizens' Center, with its warm and heartwarming font and a house-shaped shape, makes you feel warm and fuzzy for some reason.
The entrance to the senior citizens' center is divided into two paths: a sloping path and a staircase. In particular, the sloping path on the left has no threshold, so wheelchairs can easily climb up, and there is a separate space for storing walking aids next to the staircase on the right. In addition, bright-colored handles were installed on both paths to make it easy to enter the senior citizens' center.
The ends of the handles are also delicately finished with a bend to prevent the elderly from tripping. It's a really small point, but do you feel the delicate consideration for the people who use this place?
After pushing the automatic door and entering, you will see a space where the elderly can sit and put on and take off their shoes, as seen in the first photo. A support is installed to minimize the bending of the elderly's backs when putting on shoes while standing and to prevent falls. A vertical safety bar for sitting or standing also catches your eye.
On the opposite side, there is a large shoe rack and a cane rack that can store the shoes of several people.
After crossing the space where you take off your shoes and looking to the right, you will see the kitchen. I thought the kitchen was a normal appearance that you could see in a typical household, but when I got closer to the sink, I realized that my thinking was wrong. Do you feel that the sink and the shelves above it are lowered overall? You can feel the attention to detail in the placement of the lowered shelves and counters to minimize inconvenience for the elderly.
In the kitchen, someone had left cute sweet potatoes and potatoes.
Next, let's take a look at the spacious living room where the elderly can gather to talk about various things and watch TV.
The doors of Hwamok Senior Citizens' Center are basically all sliding doors, which prevent hand-pinching accidents and allow you to open and close the doors easily.
Isn't it huge?
When I visited the senior citizens' center at around 12 noon, there was no one there. I really wanted to ask the elderly about their experience using the center, but unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone.
After my disappointment, I took a closer look at the living room. On the left side when you look through the sliding door, there is a tatami mat where you can sit on the floor. On the right side, there is a sofa arranged in a U-shape facing the TV, as you can see in the photo. Next to the sofa, you can find a C-shaped bar with a loop to help you get up or sit down. On either side of the TV, which is installed on the central wall of the living room, there are sliding storage units that open and close smoothly even without applying force.
Also, next to the tatami mat, there is a "Hwamuk Senior Citizens' Center Multi-purpose Bulletin Board" installed. If you take a quick look, you can see a large digital clock, calendar, and other miscellaneous papers, and there is also a magnifying glass storage case under the digital clock. It seems that this is to make it easier for elderly people with poor vision to see the bulletin board!
The second small but thoughtful point!
The lighting above the tatami mat in the living room. Even from the photo, can you feel the warm feeling? The lighting is installed at a suitable brightness that is neither too dark nor too bright, so the elderly can stay in the space comfortably.
When you go out of the living room and look around the bathroom and washbasin area, you can really feel that "there are many devices that are made for the people who use this place." You can see signs with large letters indicating the hot and cold water directions on the washbasin side, and a simple towel rack with the friendly message "Please put the towel on." You can also see that there are safety handles installed in the bathroom, although they are not shown in the photo.
And in fact, these safety bars are firmly installed in every corner of the community center.
In this article, I tried my best to capture the specialness and advantages of Hwamok Senior Center. However, I feel like I still couldn't include everything. On the other hand, I think it's impossible to fully express Hwamok Senior Center just with my personal visit report. After all, there are many things that can be more effectively conveyed by visiting the place in person, seeing, hearing, and feeling it for yourself. So, if you're curious about the place after reading my visit report, I think it would be a good idea to visit the place in person, as long as you don't cause any inconvenience to the people who use it.
I think I was able to feel more connected to the concept of Seoul design that I explained earlier while visiting the Hwamok Senior Center in person and exploring every corner of the interior.
'Public design to realize a human-centered city.'
In addition to the Hwamok Senior Center, spaces where these public designs are applied will be distributed in various ways throughout our lives.
I hope that you will also feel the warmth of the Hwamok Senior Welfare Center in your daily lives. I will end this post with a warm and reassuring message from a signboard installed at the entrance of the Hwamok Senior Welfare center.
This has been Geum Ye-hyun, a 2023 Seoul Design International Forum supporter. Thank you!
