Research Of The Soft Decoration Design For The Residential Space Of Senior Citizens In Urban Areas Of Chongqing

Early in the last century, China has become a country witnessing an aging population, and has become one of the countries whose elderly population enjoys the fastest growing speed and whose elderly population takes up the largest part of the whole population. Chongqing, as one of the most populous municipality in China, has the largest group of elderly people among countries in China. The aging of population has highly attracted the attention of government and all sectors of society. And it has become an urgent task to actively respond to the aging population and to formulate policies and countermeasures. As an important part of the interior design, soft decoration directly influences the health and comfort of the living environment of the elderly. With the increase of empty nesters and under the background that children rarely live with their parents, the comfort, localization, and warmth become main considerations when designing the soft decoration of the elderly house.At present, a great number of Chinese scholars have conducted research on barrier-free design and residential environment design for the elderly house. Nevertheless, few studies are devoted to soft decoration of their living house. The color, texture, pattern of soft decoration will directly affect the comfort of the house. In addition, soft decoration could heighten atmosphere, create an artistic conception, and enhance the style of the indoor environment. And soft decoration is accessible to human bodies in comparison with the structure of the building itself. What is more, soft decoration serves as the finishing touch for interior design and plays a good practical function for the elderly. Since the physiology of the elderly is degrading, they tend to feel more lonely with the increase of age. In this sense, soft decoration plays an important role in mental and physical health of the elderly whose main living area is living house. In the paper, the writer firstly introduces the elements of soft decoration as well as presents the characteristics and needs of the elderly. Through comparative analyses, the paper goes on to propose ways of using soft decoration when designing the houses of elderly group. In the meantime, based on the unique geographical characteristics of Chongqing city, as well as on certain disciplines including demography, physiology, psychology and interior design, the paper makes an attempt to combine the features of elderly and soft decoration, and study the theoretical and practical significance of soft decoration to elderly people living in the urban area of Chongqing. As a result, the writer puts forward five elements, i.e. fabric design, barrier-free design, lighting design, ornament design, and color design, included in the design of Chongqing elderly people’s living house. Furthermore, the writer draws a conclusion that all of the five elements should be taken into good account and should be used to complement each other, so as to create a suitable living environment for the elderly.