Associate Professor Deane Simpson wins the 2016 UK National Urban Design Book Award for his publication 'Young-Old: Urban Utopias of an Aging Society'. Simpson recently received the award at a ceremony in London, where the book was chosen from a large number of international entries by a panel of four judges.
Among other things the jury said: "We chose 'Young-Old: Urban Utopias in an Aging Society' by Deane Simpson as it stood out for its important subject matter, for its coherence and ambition and elegant and intelligent design".
The book is based on Simpson’s ‘Young-Old’ research project, which examines architectural and urban changes resulting from current demographic developments – in particular the growth, since the middle of the twentieth century, of a phase of life known as the Young-Old or Third-Age.
In several countries, the so-called ‘retirement society’ created for this section of the population is growing in size. Simpson illustrates and examines this unusual urban development: from the world’s largest retirement community in Florida and a Dutch-inspired retirement community in Japan to a retirement mecca consisting of American motorhomes.
It is not the first time that Simpson receives international acclaim for his work: In 2015 'Young-Old was rewarded with the International DAM Architectural Book Award for best architecture book.
