SubscribeSign In
Collection by Kelly Vencill Sanchez

Improving Lives Through Accessible Design

Industry leaders gather in Boston to brainstorm human-centric solutions.

Designing environments that improve people’s lives was at the forefront of the Socially Sustainable Design track at this year’s Architecture Boston Expo, one of the largest building industry events in the country. Sponsored by the Institute for Human Centered Design (IHCD), the workshops featured such speakers as architect John McAslan, with Metropolis editor and publisher Susan Szenasy; Susan Ruptash of Quadrangle Architects and Susanne Stadler of Stadler Architecture as well as Zuzana Cersesnova, co-founder of the Centre of Design for All at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovakia. Topics also included mandated vs. voluntary accessibility codes and standards and inclusive design in higher education.

View 4 Photos
In a workshop on how changing demographics are providing incentives to more inclusive design in multi-unit housing, Quadrangle Architects' managing principal Susan Ruptash compared the universal design in the built environment to environmental sustainability: “What’s it going to take to get this mainstream? When [clients] start wanting it, it will happen.” Quadrangle’s own studio in Toronto is a former corporate data center that has been transformed into an accessible, collaborative work space.
In a workshop on how changing demographics are providing incentives to more inclusive design in multi-unit housing, Quadrangle Architects' managing principal Susan Ruptash compared the universal design in the built environment to environmental sustainability: “What’s it going to take to get this mainstream? When [clients] start wanting it, it will happen.” Quadrangle’s own studio in Toronto is a former corporate data center that has been transformed into an accessible, collaborative work space.
Misa Lund of wHY Architecture talked about the importance of enabling design in cultural settings and showed slides of the firm’s planned pedestrian bridge for the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts. Targeted for completion in Spring of 2015, it will offer visitors alternate access to the museum’s main entrance, while preserving the integrity of the building’s Neoclassical-style façade.
Misa Lund of wHY Architecture talked about the importance of enabling design in cultural settings and showed slides of the firm’s planned pedestrian bridge for the Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts. Targeted for completion in Spring of 2015, it will offer visitors alternate access to the museum’s main entrance, while preserving the integrity of the building’s Neoclassical-style façade.
Following the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince in 2010, McAslan + Partners was brought in to help reconstruct the partially collapsed historic Iron Market, an effort that created hundreds of new jobs and became a symbol of rebirth for the Haitian capital.
Following the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince in 2010, McAslan + Partners was brought in to help reconstruct the partially collapsed historic Iron Market, an effort that created hundreds of new jobs and became a symbol of rebirth for the Haitian capital.
Comments
Private
Add a reply below.