Facing age with creativity
Students of two German design schools created objects that their grandparents would find appealing. They found that designing useful items for the elderly isn't just a creative task, but also a smart business decision.
Help in the garden
Germany is getting older - and that calls for creative design solutions. A group of design students have crossed the generation gap with their creations. Carolin Schultze's grandparents, who considered selling their garden because of their poor health, were the inspiration for her wooden gardening trolley. It can be used for planting without having to lean forward and hurt your back.
Unpleasant, but inevitable
As part of the so-called Over60 design project, students Markus Rossnagel and Robert Jähnen bravely tackled a touchy subject: death. They came up with a low-cost gravestone to alleviate the financial burden of funerals. Tools and decorations can be safely locked inside their steel gravestone to prevent them from being stolen.
Stop and chat
Rossnagel and Jähnen complemented their gravestone with a trolley designed for people with limited mobility. It is made for carrying water, tools and soil to maintain a grave. When the work gets too strenuous, the trolley transforms into a seat, and "if two people with their trolleys meet, they can have a seat and talk," explained Rossnagel. They designed it with their grandmothers in mind.
Preparing for the worst
Philipp Stingl transformed a regular trash bin into a futuristic flat for elderly people without homes. If social systems collapse, he said, older people must find a way to survive. Theoretically, there might come a time when they will have to live on the street and collect and resell trash to make a living.
Home, sweet home
Stingl paid attention to reproducing the comfort of a normal house within the trash bin. He not only installed basic living appliances like hot plates, but also added elements that would make it cosier and safer, such as a peephole and a hot water bottle.
Misunderstood between art and design
Philipp Stingl meant his trash bin house to be a design exercise and a piece of art that denounces what he sees as a consumerist society. His work was confronted with criticism. "I learned that is it a huge matter how you communicate things, especially objects that are in between art and design," he said.
Forever young
Paul Jacob wanted to produce a walking stick that people wouldn't associate with aging. His curved stick doubles as a monochord bass that can be played by ear using a bin or a door as a sounding board. He also designed version of the stick that can be used as a self-defense device. Jacob believes his creativity will keep him young: "In your brain you can always be a young man."
Spanning generations
The Over60 project was coordinated by Leipzig architect Lilly Bozzo-Costa Wolf and involved design students from the Burg Giebichenstein University in Halle and the Schneeberg Academy of applied arts. "I wanted to approach aging with humor and this is something that young people can teach you best," said Bozzo-Costa Wolf (standing).