ABSTRACT
This introductory book chapter presents the academic context and the institutional backdrop to the initiating project, constituted by the Swedish AIDAH collaborative research environment from 2013 to 2019, set to explore the validity of health promoting architectural designs in residential situations. The main characteristics, in theoretical and methodological terms, of this inter and transdisciplinary endeavor, are presented. Focus is set on cross-academic exchange between researchers in architecture, social and caring sciences with experimental psychology. Research teams have confronted contemporary challenges regarding spatial inventions and solutions for dwelling and healthcare in an ageing society. Members have taken part in three significant transdisciplinary co-creative situations. These entail the co-production of new knowledge amidst collaborations in practice with societal and business stakeholders like the Brf Viva for social sustainable residential innovations; the alternative structure of the Neonatal hospital ward at KI; and the design of Östra hospital’s new psychiatric treatment wards. These projects have been conceived towards a wide framework of Nordic, EU and international exchanges orienting the teams’ research on similar explorative paths. Conclusions and main findings are put forth underlining the growing primacy of the home in future healthcare policies, strategies and implementations. Furthermore, in an editors’ afterword, key points are identified while outlining potential future implications for the professional profile of the architect acting within the interrelated fields of dwelling, ageing and caring.
