Book Launch: Young-Old: Urban Utopias of an Aging Society

The Institute of Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape at KADK invites you to the launch of the research monograph Young-Old, published by Lars Müller Publishers.

The publication examines contemporary architectural and urban mutations that have emerged as a consequence of one of the key demographic transformations of our time: aging populations. Distinguishing between different phases of old age, this book identifies the group known as the ‘Young-Old’ as a remarkable petri dish for experiments in subjectivity, collectivity, and environment. In investigating this field of latent urban and architectural novelty, Young-Old asserts both the escapist and emancipatory dimensions of these practices.

Richly illustrated with drawings, maps, and photographs, this volume documents phenomena ranging from the continuous, golf-cart-accessible urban landscapes of the world’s largest retirement community in Florida and the mono-national urbanizaciones of “the retirement home of Europe” on the Costa del Sol, to the Dutch-themed residential community at Huis Ten Bosch in southern Japan, and the senior RV community in the US.

Introduction

• Katrine Lotz (head of Institute of Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape at KADK) 
• Ane Hendriksen (director of Velux Foundation)

On Young-Old

• Deane Simpson (author, architect, urbanist, associate professor at KADK)
• Joost Grootens (book and map designer, Amsterdam)

Responses to Young-Old

• Anne Leonora Blaakilde (anthropologist, associate professor at University of Copenhagen)
• Niels Albertsen (urban theorist, professor at Aarhus Architecture School)

Followed by drinks and hors d'oeurves

Thank you

The publication is realised with the support of the Velux Foundation, Dreyers Fond, Danish Arts Foundation, Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Husbanken, ETH Zürich, SEC Future Cities Laboratory, Holcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction, WHO, KADK.

About the book
Young-Old: Urban Utopias of an Aging Society
Author: Deane Simpson
Publisher: Lars Müller Publishers
Book Design: Studio Joost Grootens
17 x 24 cm, 576 pages, 270 illustrations, hardcover, English
Read more on the publisher's website.