Inclusion & Access: Revisiting Universal Design
Landscape architects and urban designers are tasked with the critical responsibility to design inclusive and accessible environments for all users - those with physical, intellectual, developmental, or cognitive disabilities.
OLIN Labs seeks to design for disabled people and their unique needs by revisiting Universal Design and asking designers to assess existing design models and projects in order to more intentionally include disabled folks as stakeholders and disabled designers as experts in the design process.
Abled designers cannot know all of the difficulties that disabled people experience in the built environment, but they can advocate to include disabled stakeholders in the design process and can work to change public policy in order to implement Universal Design throughout the public realm. By approaching design through the lens of the social model of disability, designers can work to identify and design out barriers to full social inclusion.
During her time at OLIN, former People Lab member Alexa Vaughn worked on Design with Disabled People Now: A Toolkit for Landscape Architects and Planners to Create Accessible & Inclusive Landscapes as part of her Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Fellowship for Innovation and Leadership project. This project built upon the work that she and fellow People Lab member Danielle Toronyi contributed as advisors to the ASLA’s Universal Design Resource Guide, which features OLIN’s Dilworth Park - a universally-accessible public plaza at Philadelphia's City Hall.
Related Projects
Vaughn, Alexa. (2020-2021). Design with Disabled People Now: A Toolkit for Landscape Architects and Planners to Create Accessible & Inclusive Landscapes, Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Fellowship for Innovation and Leadership
Publications
American Society of Landscape Architects. (2019). Universal Design Resource Guide. https://www.asla.org/universaldesign.aspx
Toronyi, Danielle (2019) "Neurodiversity in the Sensorial City" KERB: Journal of Landscape Architecture. No. 27 Selective Perceptions: Who Are We Really Designing For? RMIT University
Toronyi, Danielle (2019) “Hidden Geographies: Design for Neurodivergent Ways of Hearing and Sensing” Cities & Health. DOI: 10.1080/23748834.2019.1627059
Related Press
Baldwin, E. (2019, August, 21). ASLA Publishes New Guide to Universal Design [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.archdaily.com/923345/asla-publishes-new-guide-to-universal-design
Budds, D. (2019, August, 28). Why inclusive cities start with safe streets: New design guidelines from the American Society of Landscape Architects show us how to build them [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.curbed.com/2019/8/28/20835301/universal-streets-accessible-street-design
Pacheco, A. (2019, August, 21). American Society of Landscape Architects publishes guide to universal design [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://archinect.com/news/article/150153874/american-society-of-landscape-architects-publishes-guide-to-universal-design
Stinson, L. (2019, August, 23). New ‘universal design’ guide wants to make public spaces pleasant for all: The American Society of Landscape Architects’s guide lays out best practices for designing inclusive streets, parks, playgrounds, and more [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.curbed.com/2019/8/23/20829286/american-society-of-landscape-architects-universal-design-guide
Swenson, Samantha. (2019, October, 20). This streetscape was designed by Deaf person for Deaf people [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.elledecor.com/design-decorate/trends/a29476722/alexa-vaughn-deafscape-universal-streets
Wilson, M. (2019, August, 20). 7 simple landscape designs that make cities better for everyone [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/90391912/7-simple-landscape-designs-that-make-cities-better-for-everyone
World Architecture (2019, August, 22). American Society Of Landscape Architects Releases Guide To Universal Design In Landscape Architecture [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://worldarchitecture.org/architecture-news/ecvne/american-society-of-landscape-architects-releases-guide-to-universal-design-in-landscape-architecture.html
World Landscape Architect (2019, August, 21). ASLA publishes Guide to Universal Design [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://worldlandscapearchitect.com/asla-publishes-guide-to-universal-design