From Ideation to Prototype: Lifelong Labs Began as a Drawing
Lifelong Labs began as a drawing in the basement of the Harvard Art Museum. As part of an assignment, I was asked to visualize my idea: a creative studio for the young and old, where the exchange of ideas and collaboration across generations are made possible; a project-based boutique school equipped and designed for young creative geniuses and leaders in their 50s, 60s and 70s who are ready to transition from their professional careers to a new phase of giving back through intergenerational social entrepreneurship. It is the idea and possibility that a biology teacher, a corporate lawyer, someone’s grandmother and a computer science major might come together and design an app that revolutionises healthcare.
I have become interested in intergenerational and lifelong learning because the home of my grandparents have always been an important classroom.
In their kitchen, I learned how to make traditional Chinese turnip cake. On the Mahjong table, my grandmother speaks of the heydays of Hong Kong’s textile industry, sparking my interest in making clothing and she follows up by showing me how to sew sleeves on a dress. On their couch, I heed relationship advice from my grandfather. I want to build a space that honors the people that build the city I call home, where they can continue to thrive, not just adding days to life, but life to days.
The concept and layout of the studio was inspired by Matsuoka’s Midnight Diner (2014), a Japanese film about a chef who runs a restaurant (izakaya) open from midnight till morning, he brings people from all walks of life together and mends their broken soul through food and conversations. Instead of cooking, I hope Lifelong Labs can become an oasis for creatives to experiment and prototype, make the world a better place, one project at a time.
Examples of intergenerational learning communities are being pioneered across Denmark, Netherlands and Japan. For example, Aoi Care in Fujitsawa, is an innovative intergenerational community that combines a day-care center with a residential care facility for older adults coping with dementia. At Aoi, residents are free to decide and discuss with the children as to what they want to do together. Some have worked on a joint enterprise where they make tea products and sell them to the community.
Upon returning to Hong Kong with the dream of combining a nursery with a nursing home, I faced immense challenges trying the obtaining liscences and financial support to back this wildly ambitous idea. After multiple iterations, Lifelong Labs today is a space where retirees can gain digital literacy and three-year-olds can bring their ideas to life, everything from a velvet princess dress to a DIY traffic light floor lamp and sometimes grandparents and their grandchildren collaborate on cooking projects. I have not given up on the intial idea, so if you are interested in learning more and getting involved, please drop me an email at m@lifelonglabs.org I would love to hear from you!
