Through the Eyes of the Elderly

This article recalls the story of Patricia Moore, who dressed up as an 80-year-old woman to better understand how the elderly interact with products and the built environment.

1 minute read

February 3, 2010, 6:00 AM PST

By Nate Berg


Lindsey Westbrook gives the background: "In the mid-1970s Moore was the only female industrial designer at Raymond Loewy's internationally renowned design office in New York. She was continually shushed by her peers for bringing up issues of safety and accessibility. As long as they were redesigning a refrigerator door or a can opener, she argued, why not rethink it with arthritis sufferers in mind?

Frustrated that she was not being heard, Moore undertook a massive project, one that earned her a place not just in the history of design, but in the history of American cultural studies. In 1979, at age 26, she enlisted the help of a Saturday Night Live makeup artist, dressed in her grandmother's old wardrobe, and made herself over as nine different women in their 80s. She spent more than three years touring 100 cities in the United States and Canada, taking the bus, shopping, walking the streets, living life as an elder."

Friday, January 29, 2010 in California College of the Arts

Chicago Intercity Rail

Amtrak Ramping Up Infrastructure Projects

Thanks to federal funding from the 2021 infrastructure act, the agency plans to triple its investment in infrastructure improvements and new routes in the next two years.

September 25, 2023 - Smart Cities Dive

Google maps street view of San Francisco alleyway.

Ending Downtown San Francisco’s ‘Doom Loop’

A new public space project offers an ambitious vision—so why is the city implementing it at such a small scale?

September 26, 2023 - Fast Company

Google street view of yellow "End Freeway 1/4 mile" sign on 90 freeway in Los Angeles, California.

Proposal Would Transform L.A.’s ‘Freeway to Nowhere’ Into Park, Housing

A never-completed freeway segment could see new life as a mixed-use development with housing, commercial space, and one of the county’s largest parks.

September 26, 2023 - Los Angeles Times

Historic brick sugar refinery building redeveloped with glass office tower inside and yellow Domino Sugar sign

Former Brooklyn Sugar Refinery Reopens as All-Electric Office Tower

A historic building was reimagined as a 15-story office tower powered by renewable energy.

40 minutes ago - Untapped Cities

Car crash scene with overturned car, emergency vehicles, and firefighter standing at left.

NHTSA: Traffic Fatalities Decline for Fifth Straight Quarter

Traffic deaths were 3.3 percent lower in the first half of 2023 than the same period last year, but not all states saw the same results.

1 hour ago - ABC News

Yellow electric excavator digging at construction site in Los Angeles, California.

LA Rail Project Testing Electric Excavator

The battery-powered excavator could replace diesel-powered machinery to reduce construction emissions and noise.

October 1 - Skanska

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.