Foe Ooi Leeuw

The members of the active Chinese club for elderly people ‘ Tung Lok’ from Amsterdam gather every Wednesday to eat, talk and exercise together and play a game of Mahjong. Many of these seniors barely speak Dutch and this is a reason for concern. Because how can you prevent Chinese elders from getting isolated when they move to their own senior home? For a long time ‘ Tung Lok’ has the ambition to build a common housing facilty with distinct Chinese characteristics. Now it’s finally being realized, in the South-Eastern area of Amsterdam. A lobby called Foe Ooi Leeuw (which means ‘ house to live in together in harmony’) was established by Tung Lok especially for the future residents.

The question that faces the project now is how this appartment building can be equiped to become a new home for Chinese seniors? What are their criteria for housing? To find out the answers to these questions YD+I and Kunstenaars & Co have founded this project so they, together with the designers and residents can gain insight in the living criteria of this group of Chinese elderly people. Partly because of the language barrier we have chosen an approach focussed on encounter and exchange where communication will take place through images (for instance photos and film). During the creative process personal stories, the past and the wishes and dreams of each individual resident will be connected to the broader Dutch societal context of this project. The results will be used by the designers to elaborate on their proposals.