Abstract:
Aging of population in Sri Lanka is found to be increasing in an alarming
rate. As per the estimations of the department of census and statistics, 1/5
of the total population (20%) will be above60 years by 2030. This may lead
in to a definite paradigm shift in the physical and spatial attributes of future
buildings and cities conducive and sensitive for psychophysiological
requirements of an aging population. In comprehending the spatial needs of
Sri Lankan elderly, the current investigation zooms in to colour, an
imperative psychophysiological element of design which is neglected and
less investigated often. A person’s preference and response to colours are
subjected to transformation withage. Accordingly, it was attempted to
identify most appropriate colours for Sri Lankan elderly based on their
preference, to be integrated into their living environments with special
reference to elders’ homes. An elder’s socio-economic state was
hypothesized as a significant parameter leading to his/ her
colourpreference.
Three elders’ homes located in Colombo and representing three most
significant economic levels (low, middle and upper) of the society as a cross
section were selected to be studied. The responses from 120 elders were
obtained using a questionnaire survey and interviews. The research subjects
were guided with anA2 size colour palette having72 colour coads as options
to select the most conducive colours to be incorporated in generating the
corresponding spatial attributes of selected functional spaces; living, dining,
bed room, kitchen, religious space, and bathroom of their elders’ homes
based on preference.
A persons past socioeconomic level characterized by corresponding level of
education, social status, political opinions, religious opinions, gender and
marital status were identified by this research as significant parameters
affecting colour preference of his/her elderly stage. These parameters need
to be carefully considered when specifying colours in creating better,
conducive environments for elders in future.
Citation:
Jayawardhana, J.W.N.S, .Hettiarachchi, A.A & Amarasekara, D., (2016). Designing for sri lankan elderly a study on conducive colours for elders homes. In J. Wijesundara, & R. Dayaratne,(Eds.). Proceedings of the International Conference on Cities, People and Places ICCPP 2016. (pp. 93-107). Department of Architecture, University of Moratuwa.
