Dr. Ing. Birgit Dietz, Architect, Uni. Cert. Gerontology
Since getting her doctoral degree at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 1994, Birgit has focused on issues related to healthcare. She leads courses on the development of hospitals and healthcare facilities at the TUM School of Medicine and the School of Engineering. She is actively involved in interdisciplinary research projects focusing on the impact of demographic change on architecture, with an emphasis on the growing number of people with cognitive impairments.
To provide this sensitive group with the best support possible, she founded the Bavarian Institute of Architecture for the Elderly and Cognitively Impaired (BIfadA) in 2012. She also works on product development, offers seminars and is working towards establishing appropriate official building regulations. In 2020 she was a recipient of the Medal of Merit, an order of merit awarded by the Federal Republic of Germany.
The second revised and expanded edition of her book «Demenzsensible Architektur» is published by Fraunhofer IRB Verlag in 2023 and can be ordered here.