The aging population in the Netherlands is growing rapidly, with the number of people aged 80 and above expected to double from 800.000 in 2020 to 1.5 million by 2050. This development, known as ‘’double aging’’, will significantly increase the number of people living with dementia, rising from 300.000 in 2020 to 620.000 by 2050. This demographic shift poses significant challenges for care and housing.

This research aims to explore how to design a care facility for people with dementia that enhances quality of life and autonomy. Additionally, the facility should align with the multicultural context of Tarwewijk. The main research question is:

‘’How can a care facility for people with dementia be designed to foster a humane and inclusive environment, with a focus on promoting autonomy and quality of life, for example in a neighborhood like Tarwewijk?’’.

The findings of this research show the importance of addressing three scales in the design: the environment, the building and the personal room.

At the environmental scale, the facility should integrate with the neighborhood to avoid isolating residents and encourage social interaction, enhancing their sense of autonomy. At the building scale, clear and simple layouts with recognizable landmarks help residents navigate independently. Small scale care settings, accommodating groups of 8 – 10 residents, provide a higher quality of life compared to larger groups. On the room scale, personalization and familiarity through personal items are crucial for creating a sense of comfort and belonging.

Given the multicultural context of Tarwewijk, the design must consider cultural preferences. Some cultures, such as Turkish and Moroccan, often prefer not to place their parents in care facilities, believing this reduces their quality of life. To address this, the design should include intergenerational homes alongside small-scale scale care facilities. In these homes, older adults can live with their children in one house, with separate entrances for privacy. This arrangement allows children to care for their parents while maintaining their own independence, this enhances the quality of life and autonomy of the older adults who can still live partially independently.

This research provides valuable insights into designing care facilities that promote autonomy and quality of life for individuals with dementia. It highlights the challenge of balancing safety, autonomy, and quality of life. It is important to note that this study focuses on general strategies to improves these challenges, individual needs and preferences can vary significantly. A set of design guidelines has been developed from this research, which will assist with the further design of care facilities in Tarwewijk for elderly people with dementia.

Throughout 20th century, the role of women in Dutch society and in architecture changed under the influence of the first, second, third and fourth feminist waves. At the beginning of the 20th century, some women broke the gender barriers in architecture, a field traditionally dominated by men (Smeets-Klokgieters, 2022).
The purpose of this thesis is to examine, through social and historical factors related to the role of women in both architecture and society, how the position of women in these fields has changed over the past century. This is explored through the lives and works of the two pioneering Dutch female architects Margaret Staal-Kropholler and Liesbeth van der Pol. Hence, the research question is formulated as follows:
‘How do the lives and works of the two Dutch pioneer architects Margaret Staal-Kropholler and Liesbeth van der Pol reflect the influence of the changing role of women in architecture in the 20th / 21st century in the Netherlands?’
In order to answer the research question, a literature review and an interview were conducted. The literature review includes books and articles from different centuries, providing a comprehensive understanding of how views on the role of women in society and architecture have evolved over the past hundred years. It also includes an interview with Liesbeth van der Pol, which provides further insight into her thoughts about women in architecture during the late 20th /early 21st century.
The lives of Margaret Staal-Kropholler and Liesbeth van der Pol offer interesting insights into the changing role of women in society and architecture in the Netherlands. Margaret Staal-Kropholler is regarded as the first female Dutch architect, she lived in a time when women rarely entered the architectural profession (Kuperus & van Kessel, 1990). She showed that women were not inferior to the, until then, male-dominated profession. Throughout Liesbeth van der Pol’s career, the presence and influence of women in modern architecture grew. Despite the fact that approximately half of all architecture students are female, only 23% of working architects are women (Alkemade, 2021). As the first female State Architect of the Netherland, she can be seen as a pioneer and a role model for many female architects and architecture students. Van der Pol encourages women in this field to be confident and make their voices heard within the profession.
Together, these two architects represent a shift in perception and participation of women within Dutch architecture. The lives and works of Margaret Staal-Kropholler and Liesbeth van der Pol are part of the ongoing evolution of gender equality within this field.