Access for All: Approaches to the Built Environment

183 Pages·2009·34.537 MB·English

by  Wolfgang Christ (auth.), Wolfgang Christ (eds.)

Access for All
Access for All
Approaches to the Built Environment
Wolfgang Christ (Ed.)
With aForeword byThomas Sieverts sirkrauser
Basel · soston Berlin
ThisbookhasbeenkindlysupportedbySchindlerthe
ElevatorCompanyandaauhaus-untversltatWeimar.
Graphicdesign
MiriamBussmann,Berlin
TranslationintoEnglish
alltextsexceptforcontributionsbyJonasHughes,JohnThompson/
AndreasvonZadowandAnnaRose/TimStonor:
JulianReisenberger,Weimar
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5
Table of Contents
Foreword
Thomas Sieverts 8
Introduction
Wolfgang Christ 10
Elevation -
A cultural history of the elevator
Jeannot Simmen 16
Megamobility -
Technology for the individual in the urbanised world
Jonas Hughes 30
Cooperation -
Urban planning is a community project
John Thompson / Andreas von Zadow 44
Variety -
The Siidstadt in Tiibingen as a model for the city
Cord Soehlke 62
Syntax-
Planning urban accessibility
Anna Rose / Tim Stonor.. 78
•
Image -
The imaginary as an instrument of urban and regional planning
Wolfgang Christ 94
Practice -
Reducing barriers
Susanne Edinger 112
Everyday life -
Normalisation breeds discrimination
Tobias Reinhard 120
Public utility -
Car sharing as a complementary means of urban mobility
WilliLoose 134
Reflection -
Philosophy for everyone?
Gernot Bbhme 144
Internet -
Digital inclusion for everyone regardless oftheir abilities
Jutta Croll 158
Competition -
The Schindler Award and the culture of education
Thomas Sieverts 170
Appendix
The Authors 181
Illustration credits 184
Foreword
Thomas Sieverts
Access forAll- acomprehensive design tion.The battle to improve means of physical
programme access, such as ramps and lifts, to establish
homes and schools for particular kinds of dis-
Itis a basic human right forpeople with physi- abilities, and to end the discrimination of dis-
cal or cognitive impairments to participate in abled peopleinthe housingmarkethasopened
social life.Nevertheless,access to the built en- up a wider perspective of possible improve-
vironmentis stillnot amatterofcourse.Weare ments and set itssights on a much broaderno-
still far from achieving AccessforAllas an ev- tion of what constitutes quality of life: a new
erydayqualityofthe designofourenvironment, culturein which allpeople - regardlessoftheir
although the path to achievingthis aim has be- abilities or disabilities - should have equal op-
come clearer.The first advances were made al- portunity not just to access the built environ-
most half a century ago with a gradual shift mentbutalsotoexperienceit fully.
awayfromthe prevailingpracticeofsegregating The issue of "access"has since become a
the physically and mentallyhandicapped from mainstream concern.General receptiveness to-
the rest ofsociety.Itbegan with the building of wards the issue has increased, fuelled by an
special care homes and special needs schools awareness that, as life expectancy increases,
followed later by the installation of technical the probabilitythatanormal-abled personmay
aids to overcome barriers in the home and ur- suffer from one or more disabilities in old age
ban environment and more recently the intro- has increased drastically, particularly with re-
duction ofintegrativemeasures in schools and gard to cognitive faculties as one's senses be-
atthe workplace.Despitethis progress,disabled comeimpaired.Weare allcalled upon toshape
peoplestillfacenumerousdifficulties.Thebasic the architecture and urban design ofour built
human rightsofpeoplewith handicaps arestill environment from the house to the city as a
far from being fully realised, and much still networkofdiverse spaceswith particularqual-
needs tobe putinto practice. ities that are generally accessible foreveryone,
Overthelastfewdecades,morewidespread withoutaccording certainindividualsorgroups
prosperity and tireless campaigning for policy any special status. If we are able to compre-
reforms bythe various disabled interest groups hend architecture as a medium for accessing
haveraised awarenessofaccessibilityaimsand and experiencing indoor and outdoor spaces
successfullypushed forward theirimplementa- with all the senses, we can look forward to a
9
much more diversebuiltenvironmentthan we ever, this is not just about "access" in conven-
know today. tional terms; it encompasses a wider under-
Ninetyyears afterthe founding ofthe Bau- standing of accessibility, for example with
haus,this challengesthedominanceofclassical regard to accessingthe Internet.
modernism:thetypicalimageofabstract,white, The collection ofessays in this book offers
rectangular architectural compositions oflight insights into new directions in ongoing efforts
and shadows was an understandable and wide- to fully integrate people with different and/or
ranging answer to the excesses of ornamental- restricted abilities. The challenge is to develop
ism andthedarkinteriorsof19thcenturyhomes. architecture and urban neighbourhoods that
At the same time, modernism's credo of rigor- relatespecificallytothephysicalcharacteristics
ous functional separation and the radical opti- of people and their senses, with the aim of es-
misation of the individual functions stripped tablishing a kind of "resonance" between man
the environmentofsensoryrichness. and his environment. It is about finding an ap-
Bycontrast, the principle of Access for AIl propriate spatial and architectural expression
embraces an extended notion of access to our for the ethical norms ofequality.
environment, one that engages all our senses.
Theintegrationofpeoplewithdifferentabilities
in abuiltenvironmentthatisopenforeveryone
touse andexperience,leadstothedevelopment
ofunusual design approaches thatcanbe invit-
ing and appealing for people of all age groups
and abilities. As a result, everything that is de-
vised and realised for these groups of people
benefits the quality of the environment as a
whole, creating stimulating spaces for "normal"
citizens too. Children and young people, who
have ever fewer opportunities for physical and
sensoryexperiences as aresultofthe complete
commercialisation of the city, will benefit par-
ticularly and directly from Access for AIL How-
Introduction
Wolfgang Christ
Formore thanhalfacentury,access tothe built built environment is not just about the oppor-
environment has been associated with disabil- tunity to take part,on their own terms,in the
ity. Barriers have been identified and pro- plethoraofoptionsavailable inthe urbanrealm,
grammes ofaction putin place fortheirremov- rather this access is a matter of existential ne-
al.Whatbegan as a minoritygroup'scampaign cessity.
for greater assistance and recognition has de- The essays make it clearthat a categorical
veloped into a civil rights movement. Specific demand for access "forall"willhave significant
buildingnorms and design standards testify to implications,not least for the future role of ar-
the progress made and herald the gradual end chitecture.Itisforeseeable thatarchitecturewill
of discrimination in the housing and employ- have to fundamentally reappraise its very self-
ment markets,in the public realm, in modes of conception. Infuture, itwillnot be sufficientfor
transportorinthe handlingofeveryday objects. architecture tobemerely "freeof' barriersto ac-
Alaborious process is underway characterised cess.Asaplace,enclosureand mediuminspace,
bytermssuchasrehabilitation,equalopportun- architecture will have to shed its passive role
ities and qualityoflife.Inthe builtenvironment, and actively support accessibility. Barrier-free
the solution to the problem of access is the buildingisafirststage, the trainingground asit
eradication ofbarriers- forthe disabled. were,foranew conceptionofarchitectureas an
Thisbook takesabroaderlookat this issue. architectureofaccess foreveryone.
It proposes a new way of seeing and puts for- AccessforAll - Approaches totheBuiltEnvir-
ward arguments for a paradigm shift in archi- onmentbuilds on international discourse on hu-
tecture where access is recognised as a struc- man rights, accessible building and products
tural challenge in the urbanised world of the and services forthe physically or mentally han-
21st century.Today, access is a problem we all dicapped.Keywordssuch asUniversal Design,De-
face and it has as many different facets and signforAllor BuildforAll1 characterise the cur-
contradictions as the environmentin which we rent state of developments that first begun in
live.Theauthorsofthis bookexaminethis issue the 1950s.Thefollowingrepresentsaquickover-
from abroadspectrumofdifferentperspectives, viewofkeymilestonesofthis process:
reflecting on this experience from their respec- After the end ofthe SecondWorldWar,the
tive professional backgrounds. Forpeople who USAwasfaced with the challengeofintegrating
live with some form ofhandicap, access to the thousands ofinvalid soldiers into employment
1 AGAngewandteGeographie/EDADe.V.(ed.):VonBarriere- 3 http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.del
tteibeitzumDesignfurAile-ErfahrungenausForschungund rezensionen/2007-4-025.
Praxis,MOnster2007. 4 AGAngewandteGeographie/EDADe.V.:lac.cit.
2 www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/aboucud/udhistory.htm 5 www.schindleraward.com.
CenterforUniversalDesign,CollegeofDesign, 6 AGAngewandteGeographie/EDADe.V.:lac.cit.
NorthCarolinaStateuniversity.
11
andeducation.This markedthefirst systematic strated by example its model qualities by initi-
research into and subsequent development of ating the "city for everybody" as an official pro-
assistive technology. In 1961thefirst standards gramme,whichithasbegunto implementstep
for barrier-free building were published, but it by step."
was not until 1991, 30 years later, that the In 2003, the European Council proclaimed
"Standards for Accessible Design" were imple- the European Year of Persons with Disabilities
mented as enforceable legislation. Civil rights and with it provides the impetus for the Access
for the disabledwerefirst establishedin 1973in for AII student competition awarded by Schin-
the form of anti-discrimination laws, which dler Holding Ltd., a Europe-wide competition
cameinto force in 1977.2 thattakes place everytwo years."
InGermany,the1970swereregardedas the This chronology of progress in the field
decade of rehabilitation.' Building norms for shows that even in highly-developed, indus-
theseverelyhandicappedandwheelchairusers trialised nations with democratic constitutions,
were issued as well as planning guidelines for it has still taken two generations to achieve so-
the disabled andelderlyin the public realm. cietal recognition for what are essentially
In 1977, the European Council passed a straightforwardandself-evidentqualitiesoflife
resolutionfor the adaptationofhousingandits - for example, physical and legal accessibility -
immediate surroundings to the needs of the andto takeappropriate action. However,we are
disabled.In1981,theUnitedNationsproclaimed still far from achieving Access for All! Rather,
the first everInternationalYear of Disabled Per- exceptionsare moretherule.The factthatcities
sons under the motto FuII participation and are able to actively advertise their accessibility
equality. In 1981, the exhibition Designs for In- credentials - for example Illingen in Saarland,
dependent Living opened at the Museum of Germany, or Esch-sur-Alzette in Luxembourg,
Modern Art in New York, heralding an aware- thelatterbeingthefirst townin Europe tohave
ness of the legitimate market potential of peo- established an "accessibility plan"- makes the
ple with restricted abilities. In 1993, the UNO general dilemma painfully apparent.
6
proclaimed the 3rd December to be the annual Access does not enjoy the status of a soci-
InternationalDayofPersonswithDisabilities.In etal, economic, technical and culturalprinciple
1995,the Barcelona Declaration was agreed, af- inthesameway assustainabilitycurrentlydoes.
ter which the Catalonian capital city demon- ComparedwithUniversalDesign, Green Building