On 4 March, the seminar titled “Building new homes for the elderly in the post-COVID era” took place online, organised jointly by UIC Barcelona School of Architecture and the Health and Social Consortium of Catalonia (CSC). The session was designed as a cross-disciplinary meeting between professionals from the fields of elderly care and architecture and urban planning, with a view to discussing the current model of care and support for the elderly, following the devastating effects the outbreak of COVID-19 has had in nursing homes. 

The seminar was introduced by Jordi Villà, Vice-Rector for Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer at UIC Barcelona, Josep Lluis i Ginovart, director of UIC Barcelona School of Architecture and José Augusto García Navarro, managing director of the CSC and president of the Spanish Society of Geriatrics and Gerontology. 

Throughout the morning, a dozen experts from both institutions explored the shortcomings of the current elderly care system and agreed on the need to design a new model that puts individuals at the centre of the equation, which is committed to customising services and adapting architectural and care-giving criteria. 

The seminar served as the first step in building synergies between the two institutions, which plan to launch collaborative projects to promote research into this area.