Forever Young: An Exploration of Senior Living in the US

Forever Young is a three-month research journey across the United States exploring the diverse living environments of American seniors. Aurélia Martin and Mathilde Van Steenkiste visited 23 projects from Florida to Arizona, passing through Illinois and New York to explore how seniors organize themselves to improve their living conditions and how architecture and design can support this change.

From communal living to villages that exclude the young, from LGBT senior centers to aging populations in utopian architecture of the 1960s, this journey explored varied initiatives and ways of living while aging. This exploration was made possible thanks to the 2024 Delano/Aldrich & Emerson Fellowship supported by the American Institute of Architects (AIA).

Speakers:
Aurélia Martin, Designer, Villa Albertine
Mathilde Van Steenkiste, Architect, Villa Albertine

About the Speakers:
Aurélia Martin is a multidisciplinary designer based in Paris.
She practices an engaged, playful, and colorful form of design. Martin specializes in textile design, set design, and service design within the fields of culture and care. Since 2019, she has taught in master’s programs in design and innovation, driven by her belief that culture and education are inseparable. Her projects are carried out with local partners in the cultural and healthcare sectors, as well as with international projects in the DRC, Kosovo, Sweden, China, and beyond.

Mathilde Van Steenkiste is an architect based in Paris who specializes in the connection between the environment and autism as applied to architecture. She designed Notre Café, Marais in Paris, an innovative project that takes care of young people with autism. She primarily works with the nonprofit and medical-social sectors.