| Title |
The Sign System of Private Spaces in Nursing Homes |
| Authors |
Chung Mi-Ryum ; Kim Dae-Nyun |
| Keywords |
Sign System ; Nursing Home ; Private Spaces ; Bedroom, Bathroom |
| Abstract |
The Sign system of nursing home plays an important role when an elderly adapts to new environment and gets on with daily life autonomously. Private space is a place to relieve oneself from fatigue and other people, to comfortably perform sanitary activities. If one can find this space easily, an elderly feels comfortable. Adequate signage should be installed to aid them in finding their ways. Sign system is a comprehensive system consisted of various factors. In this research, it has been categorized as signage and cueing. Signage includes text and graphic signs, and cueing consists of floor plan configuration and sensual mechanism of visual, auditory, and olfactory senses. Using this framework, field investigation and analysis were held in private space(bedroom, bathroom) of 10 Korean, 10 Japanese, and 8 Northern European nursing home facilities. The result revealed that even if the sign system worked as a combined unit, all factors were designed without relations to each other and did not perform mutually complementary role. Korean facilities had diverse and abundant sign and cueing elements, and floorplans were easy for wayfinding compared to other countries. Japanese facilities preferred simple signs attached at proper height. Those of Northern Europe used colors on the door, and considered privacy to be more valuable than amanity. |