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Universal Design Patterns for enabling physical environments
No full textThis piece approaches the general theme of physical spaces for “integral & inclusive
education for all” from an architecture-theoretical point of view. The piece outlines a
conceptual framework that is nurtured and coloured by the symbiosis of personal experience
of permanent physical dis-ability (sic), plus in-depth academic Teaching & Research relative to A Methodological Approach to the New Design Paradigm of Universal Design (Froyen, 2012). Emphasis is placed on human-made physical environments and objects, and more specifically on the question of how these can be systematically made more enabling and sustaining for the wide variety of abilities and disabilities of users.
Over recent decades, there has been a gradual paradigm shift surrounding the
understanding of human functioning and factors leading to functional difficulties. On the
threshold of the 21st century, in 2001, the World Health Organization published the groundbreaking “International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health” (WHO, 2001). For the first time, in addition to human functioning and functional problems, external
environmental and personal factors were also considered. This broadens the focus
from a human-related disability to possible disabling misfits in the Human - Environment
interface.
Decision makers and designers now adopt the Social model / Cultural model with a special
role they have to play in the creation of enabling objects and enabling physical
environments. Integral and inclusive design processes go beyond the needs of the
stigmatised group of people with permanent health-related impairments, they adopt an
integral and inclusive “Design for All” approach
Patterns to support the implementation of Universal Design in architectural practice
No full textWith demographic ageing as one of the major drivers, social awareness of existing barriers between peoples' needs and the built environment has grown considerably over the last decades. The same shift of focus can be observed in design, where design practice is moving away from designing for the non-existing average man or woman, towards designing for the real diversity of people. A new design paradigm has gradually emerged, replacing the 'design for special needs' approach to human diversity. This new 'Universal Design' paradign aims to stimulate new, creative solutions that will contribute to a better quality of life for all users, including people with permanent or temporary disabilities. The implementation of this new design paradigm into design practice requires detailed knowledge of the needs of the largest possible diversity of people. However, gathering this information and making it available to designers in a way that supports the design process calls for a new concept of design support tool. For Christopher Alexander, the entire community of users - both past and present - works by means of innumerable large and small, formal and informal 'structure preserving transformations' of a built environment to provide accomodation in a meaningful and versatile way for human needs and aspirations (Alexander 2003). He developed a pattern language (Alexander, Ishikawa and Silverstein 1977) as a generic system to nurture and to guide human building processes. Both Alexander's pattern language and the more recent specific initiative of a group of software architects to develop collective design patterns(Gamma et al. 1995) provide inspiration for the development of Patterns as a tool for the implementation of Universal Design in architecture. Successful collective web-based projects in open content further inspired the development of models of UD patterns and the search for strategies for implementation
Patterns to support the implementation of Universal Design in architectural practice
No full textWith demographic ageing as one of the major drivers, social awareness of existing barriers between peoples' needs and the built environment has grown considerably over the last decades. The same shift of focus can be observed in design, where design practice is moving away from designing for the non-existing average man or woman, towards designing for the real diversity of people. A new design paradigm has gradually emerged, replacing the 'design for special needs' approach to human diversity. This new 'Universal Design' paradign aims to stimulate new, creative solutions that will contribute to a better quality of life for all users, including people with permanent or temporary disabilities. The implementation of this new design paradigm into design practice requires detailed knowledge of the needs of the largest possible diversity of people. However, gathering this information and making it available to designers in a way that supports the design process calls for a new concept of design support tool. For Christopher Alexander, the entire community of users - both past and present - works by means of innumerable large and small, formal and informal 'structure preserving transformations' of a built environment to provide accomodation in a meaningful and versatile way for human needs and aspirations (Alexander 2003). He developed a pattern language (Alexander, Ishikawa and Silverstein 1977) as a generic system to nurture and to guide human building processes. Both Alexander's pattern language and the more recent specific initiative of a group of software architects to develop collective design patterns(Gamma et al. 1995) provide inspiration for the development of Patterns as a tool for the implementation of Universal Design in architecture. Successful collective web-based projects in open content further inspired the development of models of UD patterns and the search for strategies for implementation
Documenting handicap situations and eliminations through Universal Design Patterns
Full text linkAccording to contemporary academic and social insights, human functional limitations and handicaps are not exclusively the result of the physical and / or mental characteristics of the individual (medical model), but they can just as well be a consequence of a maladjustment of the social and physical environment (conflict / social model). This radical reversal of focus from person to environment, or in other words, from the assessment that the person is impeded to the insight that the physical and social environment is an impediment, has far-reaching consequences for the designing of human-made environments. The recent Universal Design paradigm extends beyond accommodating ‘modal’ users and aims to include the real diversity of user populations, including those with physical and / or mental impairments and functional limitations. To achieve this, a large amount of design information in connection with human dis-abilities (limitations and possibilities) is required. Together with prescriptive laws and regulations, designers need descriptive information about; on the one hand, CONFLICTS between users and built environments, and on the other hand, empirically evident design RESOLUTIONS. In response to this need, the paper advances the development of specific Universal Design Patterns (UD Patterns) in order to collect and organise this information for decision makers and for designers.status: Publishe
Universal Design Patterns for stoma care away-from-home
Full text linkAccommodating the real diversity of user populations, including those with physical and / or mental impairments and functional limitations, requires a large amount of design information in connection with human dis-abilities (limitations and possibilities). In order to collect and organise this information for designers and decision makers, Universal Design Patterns (UD Patterns) offer descriptive information about, on the one hand, CONFLICTS between users and built environments, and on the other hand, empirically evident design RESOLUTIONS.
Direct collaboration with users / experts was tested in the development of a specific UD Pattern of a (Semi-)ambulant accessible toilet for personal care, with specific emphasis on stoma-care in public facilities.
The paper illustrates how people with ostomies and care-givers communicate with researchers, and how relevant design information is extracted and structured.
On a more general level, results show how environment-related dimensions of human functioning differ from medical aspects, and how direct involvement of end-users enriches the content of design information.status: Publishe
‘Light up for all’ – Building Knowledge on Universal Design Through Direct User Contact in Design Workshops
No full textFor the creation of inclusive design solutions, designers require relevant knowledge about a diversity of users throughout the design process. Besides understanding users' needs and expectations, the ways in which users perceive and experience the environment contain valuable knowledge for designers. Since users' perceptions and experiences are mainly tacit by nature, they are much more difficult to communicate and therefore more difficult to externalize. Hence, more insight is needed into the ways designers can build knowledge on Universal Design through direct user contact. In a project called 'Light up for all' architecture students are asked to design a light switch and socket, elegant, usable and understandable to the greatest extent possible by everyone. Two workshops with user/experts are organized in the first stages of the design process in which students could gain insight into users' experiences and perceptions through direct contact. Three data collection techniques are used to analyze the teams' design processes: (1) a design diary, (2) observations of the workshops and (3) a focus group. By means of analyzing collected qualitative data, we have identified three different design aspects that affect designers' UD knowledge building process. First, findings give indications on values and limitations of working with selected design artefacts when externalizing users' experiences. Second, the value of stories clearly affected designers' deeper understanding about users' experiences. Finally, results show that in some situations, designers encountered contradictory information between observations and verbal conversations. These insights may help researchers to better understand designers' process of building knowledge on UD from users' experiences and perceptions, which may result in better incorporating users' experiences when designing for everyone
“Design for All” Manual: From Users’ Needs to Inclusive Design Strategies
No full textDesign for All (DfA) has been considered as a fundamental and innovative strategy to design inclusive spaces for a diversity of people's needs and wishes. However, there is still a gap between theory and practice in this discipline. Therefore, tools that support designers to implement DfA through a descriptive approach in architectural practice are necessary. The paper discusses the research development of a manual to inspire architects in the application of DfA strategy. The manual's development is based on four main criteria for knowledge transfer, defined by a precedent literature review: communicate, organize, understand and use.
The outcome of the research is the definition and design for a DfA Manual on Public Spaces in terms of haptic experiences. The manual strives to transfer knowledge through a descriptive and performance based approach. For this reason, over design indications, the manual aims also to include an extensive description of users' needs, references to case studies and laws on accessibility, which inspire architects and support them to find the proper design solution within their own project. In the manual sample developed, design indications focus on haptic design, which studies the perception of the built environment through the body, referring to the sense of touch.
Thus, the manual's purpose is to create a DfA awareness for many architects, designers and decision makers in their activities. Therefore, starting from the basic application of prescriptive laws, the manual should be used as a support tool during the design process to design inclusive spaces for all users
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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