A Home for Birthing and Aging brings together architects, designers, and researchers to explore how the spaces we inhabit during life’s most vulnerable moments can better support care, dignity, and well-being. Drawing on installations from Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the conversation examines how thoughtful design can reshape domestic and medical environments for birth and aging alike.

Through research, built work, and interdisciplinary collaboration, the speakers discuss emerging approaches to creating supportive spaces—from home-based care environments to specialized housing models for seniors. The event highlights how architecture and design can expand our understanding of home as a place not only of comfort, but also of care, resilience, and community across the lifespan.

Photography by Elliot Goldstein and Ann Sunwoo © Smithsonian Institution.