An engineer (Renzo Andrich) and an architect (Stefano Maurizio) talk about the fundamentals of “Universal Design >> VIDEO
RENZO
I’m Renzo Andrich, from Belluno, in the north of Italy. I’m about six feet tall, I wear glasses, I have “silver” hair as befits my age (66). I’m talking to you from my office and behind me there is a white wall. I am married to Lucia and we have four children. I am an engineer, and for over 40 years I have been working in the assistive technology field, i.e., products supporting people with disabilities in daily life such as prostheses, wheelchairs, information technology tools, home adaptations, in short, everything that is useful to people with disabilities or improve autonomy and quality of life. For over 37 years I have been working as responsible for research activities in this field in a large organization is based in Milan, Italy (the Don Carlo Gnocchi Foundation) providing care, rehabilitation, and social services to people with disabilities.
STEFANO
I am Stefano Maurizio, from Venice, Italy. I am six feet tall (five feet when seated). I’m 61, I also have silver hair as Renzo says but much less than him. I am married to Mariangela and we have a daughter. Oh, I forgot, I use a manual wheelchair to get around, since I had a car accident many years ago. I am an architect and I run a professional studio with some colleagues. In everything we design we try to implement the principles of the so-called “Universal Design”: a design that considers the needs of all the different abilities of each person. Experience has taught us that meeting the needs of people with disabilities or elderly people helps improve the overall quality of the environment for all. We have worked at supervising many public works. We also provide consultancy to adapt private homes to support autonomy of each person with disabilities.
RENZO
Well. In this conversation we would like to offer to your reflection some basic concepts on accessibility. How the physical environment around us can contribute to autonomy, to relationships, to quality of life of the person who has limits in one’s physical, sensory, or cognitive abilities, for congenital causes or because of trauma, of a pathology or simply of older age? A well-known Italian journalist, Franco Bomprezzi, profound connoisseur of the disability world, also because he himself has been in a wheelchair since birth, in the introduction to a technical manual on architectural accessibility wrote as follows: “If I were Beelzebub, the devil, and I had to decide which category of people place in the darkest and terrifying part of hell, I would certainly put architects and engineers. Do you know why? Because they are the main culprits of our disability: they are the ones who build those barriers that hinder our life.” Stefano what do you think?
STEFANO
Basically, it is true. Beyond the metaphor, Franco I told a truth that perhaps is not yet fully understood. We all have some limitations in our motor or visual or auditory or intellectual or relational skills. We all use technologies to overcome our limits: for example, the car (how could we cover certain distances by walking?) or the mobile phone (how would we communicate remotely?). So, who is “disabled”? One for example who, like me, has a limited ability to move compared to the population average, and thus must resort to special tools which we call “technical aids” or “assistive technologies” when the mainstream tools and environments are not designed according to “universal design” criteria.
RENZO
In fact, the limit is not in itself a problem: it is a constitutive experience of any person. We all experience it, sooner or later, in certain moments of life, especially when we are elderly. Even less should it be a problem today, with all the technological possibilities we avail. So, it is society that, with its barriers, makes disability a problem. Society is the first “sick” that we technicians (architects, engineers, designers …) are called to cure.
STEFANO
Disability is not an attribute of the person: it’s rather a “situation” in which I can find myself whenever my limits conflict with a barrier. Not surprisingly, the World Health Organization speaks of “disability” as opposed to “functioning” and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities speaks of “person with disabilities” highlighting that first of all there is the “person”, in all its dimensions, and that disability arises at the moment in which the person interacts with barriers.
RENZO
Yes, let’s take an example. Let’s think of a mobile phone. I want to make a gift to an elderly relative of mine who likes to communicate with me but due to the ailments of age has difficulty seeing, hearing, and manipulating with the hands. So, I will look for a mobile phone that can be easily handled, with a screen that is clearly visible and bright, with large illuminated and embossed keys, with a loud tone of the ring, and maybe even with few functions, only those that are useful to her. So, when she wants to call me, she will be able to do it with no effort, autonomously, with zest, and I will not put her in trouble when I call her. Let’s suppose instead of giving her a smartphone, more modern and elegant, small flat black, with many buttons and icons and apps that require refined and precise gestures for their operation. She’ll probably take a while to answer my call before being able to take and hold it, to understand from a small text who is calling, to touch in the right place and direction to take the phone line, and so on… In the first case the mobile phone will be an “enabling” technology, in the second case a “disabling” technology.
STEFANO
We could say that the former is a good gift for mom, the second is for the mother-in-law …
RENZO
Of course, it’s a joke, but let’s keep it in mind, because it helps us remember the concept. There is also a useful motto which has been circulating in Europe for some time: “Good design enables, bad design disables”. That is: what is well designed makes people able, what is badly designed makes people disabled. We can have an “enabling environment” or a “disabling environment”. If I use a wheelchair, I will be perfectly independent in mobility until I find a barrier, for example a staircase or a ramp that is too steep or slippery or dangerous. If I have deafness but wear a hearing aid that is well adjusted to my needs, I have no problem with communicating unless I am in an environment which is full of echoes and reverberations. Hence the environmental characteristics (accessibility, safety, noise, lighting, ergonomics, etc.) have a decisive impact on the person’s ability or disability. Stefano, could you give us some examples?
STEFANO
Yes, of course. I give three examples: one in urban planning, one in public transport, one in private construction. The first example concerns my city, Venice, which is an architectural gem but which we can also imagine as a unique great architectural barrier. Think: there are 121 islands connected by 436 bridges. Making Venice accessible to everybody is a great challenge. Fortunately, there was a period when accessibility had been placed at the center of mobility and housing policies. A complicated challenge due to the complexity of the historical heritage and the amount of protected architectural monuments, which are also somewhat fragile and need care bay architects and engineers: a matter of mending and mending which makes our work truly fascinating.
We started from considering that today, and even more tomorrow, within a framework of sustainable mobility, more and more people move and will move on wheeled vehicles: we are not just talking about wheelchairs for people with disabilities, manual or electronic (more and more advanced as time passes), we also talk about electric scooters, skates, skates, pedal-assisted bikes and, typical of Venice, for example the trolleys, to carry clothes, suitcases, or carts to transport any kind of goods, from refrigerators to demijohns of wine. Well, every step, even the smallest one, is a major obstacle.
Hence the decision to equip the bridge stairways, in some urban paths, with removable ramps, suitable for any type of wheel. We proceeded in a participatory way: starting from an architectural project the Municipal Administration built a 1:1 scale prototype of a ramp to find out the best dimensions (slope, width, thickness of the handrail etc …) and materials (structure, walking surface, parapet). When evaluating this prototype, together with the designers, representatives of the main associations of people with disabilities were invited, along with the various responsible people for the building, landscape, history, and art heritage of the city. Together, it was possible to carry out live trials of the ramp with various types of equipment (manual wheelchairs, electronic wheelchairs, walkers, trolley, rubber-bottomed shoes, leather shoes…), and in various weather conditions (dry ramp, wet ramp). This led to shared choices, while respecting the reciprocal roles and responsibilities and personal or social needs of everybody who participated in the evaluation.
A circular-section steel tube was chosen for the handrail, with a diameter of 45 mm; fiber cement slabs were chosen for the flooring, because it was the only material among those tested which fulfilled all requirements of mechanical resistance, lightness, ease of assembly, and impermeability to the typical saline mists of Venice, while remaining non-slip at the same time, and maintaining natural and neutral color. A steel mesh was chosen for the parapet, with a visual effect of transparency, almost watermarked. Many bridges have been equipped in this way, and we notice that most of the people walking prefer the ramp to the steps: this confirms our initial hypothesis that if we start from the needs of the people with various types of disabilities the overall quality of the city is improved, for the benefit and the ease of use for all citizens and ecological sustainability.
RENZO
Interesting. And listen, the second example? The one concerning public transport?
STEFANO
Yes. Again, in Venice, in the mainland metropolitan area, the electric tram was recently introduced as a new means of public transport, serving the metropolitan hinterland but also arriving up to Roma Square which is the gateway to the historic center on the lagoon. In addition to the undoubted benefits of environmental sustainability (e.g., zero carbon dioxide emissions) the tram gave excellent results also in relation to accessibility. The vehicle moves on a monorail, which is placed flush with the asphalt and has a very low floor (22 cm). It allows a very easy climb for anyone, thanks to the stop platforms which are perfectly coplanar with the vehicle, in turn connected with the sidewalks with a very limited slope. The vehicle and the stops are equipped with sound and visual signals which are easy to understand, with indication of the stops both inside the tram and in the stop platforms that can also be used independently by people with visual impairment or blind or deaf or simply with the physical difficulties that are common among older people. Having had to renovate a large part of the tramway road structure, the opportunity was taken to make all pavements accessible for about 22 km corresponding to the entire tram route.
RENZO
These seem to me to be very clear examples to say that accessibility improves functionality, sustainability, the beauty of the city, the pleasure of living there and multiplies the aggregation spaces. Instead, in relation to the private home, the personal life space, what can you tell us?
STEFANO
Mrs. Manuela comes to mind, who has a progressive disabling disease (multiple sclerosis). Today she walks with a walker, and probably in the future she will have to use an electronic wheelchair. Her house is near a river with a high embankment where the road passes. The access path featured a steep downward slope to get from the street to the garden, and then two steps uphill to access the porch and the entrance door. In short, an ups and downs which is increasingly difficult for her to deal with independently. Fortunately, the inside of the house is all on one floor.
We solved the problem by creating a new pedestrian path that from the height of the road (by raising the pedestrian gate) reaches up to the entrance to the house. In this way the steep descent and the two steps were eliminated in one fell swoop. Today, the path has a non-slip pavement and is equipped with a handrail and has a very slight slope (around 2%) which can be tackled in an easy, safe, and autonomous manner both with the walker, or possibly with a wheelchair. The difference in height between the path and the garden was then connected with topsoil where the lady plans to plant roses, a great passion of her. All in all, a very simple intervention and relatively inexpensive. We can say that when we are confronted with the individual needs of a person with disabilities, in addition to the above-mentioned “universal design” principles you need to consider many other details: the clinical condition, age, habits, the assistive product used now and planned in the future. It sounds more complex: instead, it’s easier because we design together with the client, working together to achieve the maximum autonomy as possible.
RENZO
Thanks, Stefano, for these examples. Today, among other things, we are witnessing a growing integration of architecture and engineering. The built world is full of technological objects, who are aware of our presence; geolocated; able to interact with us perhaps recognizing our voice, our face, our footprint; connected in the Internet Cloud, linked to artificial intelligence algorithms able to translate from one language to another, to foresee certain of our intentions, and to solve problems in advance; sometimes connected to each other through the so-called “Internet of Things” which connects objects. Let’s think about the self-driving car, which is no longer science fiction: a matter of a few years and it will be usable by those who cannot drive today. All this opens new scenarios in terms of social security and vulnerability, of course. However, it also opens never-before-seen possibilities of making every space or object usable effectively by everybody. Basically, with the technological possibilities we have today, there are no more excuses not to consider the “universal design” as a true design standard.
STEFANO
Absolutely yes, Renzo. However, let’s remember one thing: however much progress can be made in terms of environmental accessibility this alone is not always enough: often the person has to make a step of adaptation to the environment by acquiring appropriate technologies (the so-called “assistive products”, which in Italian we call “ausili”). Here too the technological development offers solutions that were once unimaginable however not everywhere and not for everyone they are available. Renzo, you have always dealt with this issue, and you also chair an international information network on assistive technology: can you give us some examples?
RENZO
Yes, of course. A wheelchair, a lens, a white cane, a hearing aid, a communicator, a stair-climber, a handrail, or even simple tools such as adapted cutlery or a pill dispenser for people with memory difficulties, they are all examples of assistive products: tools that are essential to promote autonomy and the dignity of people, to support participation in school, at work and in society. Without the right assistive products, those with motor, visual, auditory, or cognitive limitations are exposed to marginalization; in certain countries where there is no social security system, they may run more risk of poverty; they may require a great deal of care by their families and communities. In many areas of the world, unfortunately, many people still encounter great difficulties in having the assistive products they need. It is therefore necessary to invest more in research, industry, in specialized services with trained staff able to help the persons identify the products suitable for their situations, to acquire them, to personalize them, to learn how to use them, how to manage them.
The World Health Organization is trying to speed up all these processes having recently defined the assistive products as “the fourth pillar of health strategies”, therefore of equal strategic importance as drugs, vaccines, and medical devices. However, many assistive products are still unknown to a large part of the population. Sometimes they are only available from small, specialized companies in some corners of the world. Fortunately, in many countries a great help is offered by specialized Internet portals; and, internationally, by the information network you mentioned, the EASTIN network (www.eastin.eu) which is a great example of international collaboration in this sector, involving about thirty countries.
STEFANO
Good. Let’s recap what we have said so far in four concepts.
First: disability is a “situation” rather than an intrinsic characteristic of the person: a situation that arises when my limit meets a barrier created by society.
Two: “Good design enables, bad design disables”: good design (note that “universal design” is good design) produces ability, while bad design produces disability.
Three: accessibility, when well designed, improves the quality of the environment for all. Accessibility is functionality, sustainability, beauty, relationality.
Four: assistive products are essential to support autonomy; anyone who needs them must have the opportunity to know and have them.
RENZO
Perfect. Then let’s come to the conclusions. Accessibility is not just a technical issue: it is a language by which the environment tells me “You are included, you are excluded”; it is an interdisciplinary cultural challenge which involves many responsibilities: politics, civil society organizations, social and health services, industry, tourism, education, art, communication etc. Within this framework, we technicians – I’m talking about architects, engineers, designers, but also of computer developers and web designers – we are entrusted with a particular responsibility: we technicians have the power to build new barriers, and this will inevitably happen if we design a building or an object or device in a traditional way and we think later how to make it accessible.
STEFANO
For example, we design a school from scratch with a staircase on the main entrance and then we make a separate entrance “for the disabled” thus creating a separation that does not exist in nature and that social ethics does not want.
RENZO
However, we also have the opposite power, that is to create accessibility, and this happens if we include accessibility among the initial requirements of the project, on an equal footing with safety, functionality, energy sustainability, aesthetics etc. Certainly legislation, standards, technical regulations are very helpful (many countries including our one have excellent laws) however legislation alone is not enough: it only serves to establish common starting points. To solve complex design problems, to do “good design” it is not enough to be simple executors of a norm: it is necessary to engage all the competence, creativity, the innovation capacity that the arts of architecture, engineering, design, can express. Provided, however, that we are constantly listening carefully to the people’s needs; constant searching for increasingly effective solutions; continuously re-evaluating our way of operating.
STEFANO
So, the idea of an accessible environment, of a world where no one, regardless of their physical or cognitive condition, encounters architectural or technological or social barriers that may affect their mobility, limit their relationships, prevent from self-fulfilling as persons and as citizens should no longer be confined in utopia.
RENZO
Oh no; today, with the means and knowledge we avail this “dream” or “utopia” must become reality: It is a prerequisite for the realization of an inclusive society. It is part of the “Integral Ecology” we want to pursue.