Twenty-first Century Global Aging

Demographics as a Catalyst

!
 95% 3%
regular school served in a specialized
school for children

The 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

support appropriate public school education

The design interventions such as learning disabilities and sensory
processing disorders are being explored in small studies around the world
but not yet widely known.

U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS)

Requirements for Accessibility

The United Kingdom’s Legal Infrastructure for Accessibility

The Royal Institute of The Disability U.K. minimum Equality Act about
British Architects (RIBA) Federal law Discrimination Act standards for anti-discrimination
published Designing for expansion about about disabilities as accessibility were law
the Disabled newly protected class a protected class issued

1963 1992 1995 2010

1984

1960 early 1970s 1990 2010

For the first time For the first time people Americans with Disabilities Revised Standards
design was identified with a range of functional Act (ADA) was signed and for Accessible Design
as a civil right limitations were equal rights to date
considered a “class” worldwide.

United States Legal Infrastructure for Accessibility

 “An umbrella term for impairments,
activity limitations, and participation
restrictions” (World Health
“USABLE” FOR ALL PEOPLE Organization, 2002).

STARTING PERSPECTIVE

required to assess needs, identify

“FUNCTIONAL LIMITATION” potential solutions, test them
with users, refine them, and
gradually to develop guidelines
for facilitating environments for
a mix of sectors (United Nations
Populations Fund, 2012).
Designers have the power to minimize disability

movement’s radical
modernism
reversal of focus

the universal design needed more

data about the human experience
UK (CABE/David Bonnett Associates), Singapore
Practitioners that recognize the (National Green Strategy), Housing (Queen
builds from a floor of accessibility within a
larger vision of equal rights. Elizabeth Olympic Park), Culture (The Castle of the
limits of fixed standards
gather precedents that is satisfying
Dukes of Brittany), DeafSpace Design Guidelines
esthetically, environmentally and (Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C)
economically sustainable.

HUBERT FOYER
 Culture
Cultural tourism has driven efforts in Europe to
make historic environments more welcoming
practitioners recognizing the limitations of fixed
Accessibility standards standards for disabled individuals
through universal design.
increased globally

demographic facts, incorporating human diversity

designing
without sacrificing aesthetics. solutions that align

The Castle of the Dukes of Brittany

United Kingdom Nantes, France

1999 2013
David Bonnett Associates
authored Inclusive Urban Design

United Kingdom’s Commission for Architecture and the

Built Environment (CABE) was created stresses the significance of legibility and wayfinding
as central to places that work
includes recommendations for consistency, lighting, touch, smell,
public body to help elevate the quality of public design. sound, and signage

Singapore
has made significant strides in universal design, They engaged designers and developers, leading to green and universal
emphasizing economic growth and improved quality of life. projects that have received international recognition.

Housing
acknowledges the need for reimagining housing to accommodate Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, exemplifies inclusive design in public
a growing population with functional limitations. and housing
6,800 green and universal housing units and health, retail, and community spaces.
Architecture can be a bridge in connecting and realizing a world which aims to
create an inclusive environments for humanity

Inclusive and universal architecture aims to create environments that are

welcoming, functional, and accessible to all, regardless of physical abilities,
age, culture, or background, while also considering sustainability and
user preferences.