Material Immaterialized

Abstract

This article looks at elderly individuals, their possessions, and their ties to both space and time.¹ How does the material constantly reflect the immaterial? How are everyday rituals and routines anchored and solidified in the built environment? This article is a study in the tradition of ethnographic research, aiming at a better understanding of how designed artifacts form and are formed by the context of their practice. The article explores people-centric values and beliefs inherently embedded in all artifacts. This study concentrates on materiality in a more complex, culturally informed way, in contrast with current trends that provide technological solutions for ageing groups in society. Findings from this study present a multisensual design approach that moves beyond the construct of ageing as a physically based design “problem”; instead, it favors material culture approaches that trace the development and changes in aesthetic and symbolic values throughout the life course. The insight presented is multilayered and includes subtle strategies and design solutions enacted by elderly informants themselves. The article thus shows useful starting points for thinking about design solutions with less emphasis on “technology-first” and much more on “people-first.”