Abitare interdipendente. Progetti a confronto tra autismo, disabilità e Alzheimer. Interdependent Living. Design Examples in Autism, Disability and Alzheimer.

Ongoing PhD research on living spaces for people experiencing an atypical physical or mental condition gives the opportunity to reflect on how these spaces look at “collective” ways of living that try to harmonize both autonomy and care of the person. The proposed thesis is that these types of residential facilities reflect rhetorical narratives on inclusion and that the design of such living environments could be strategic to break the rhetoric and imagine better housing options for those neurodivergent, with dementia or cognitive impairment. The contribution will illustrate and analyse some design examples of housing options for adults that are not autonomous, with the aim of bringing significant reflections on architecture and well-being to the fore. Designers and researchers have the chance to imagine new paradigms of living and caring, in an interdependent way, and rediscover the role of architecture in designing spaces for the well-being and self-determination of fragile people themselves and for the society.