Model Habitats
Digital Accessibility : Becoming an a11y Through Design
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Cynthia Wiley
If you search for the hashtag a11y on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, you will find thousands of posts. This particular hashtag is being used by a large community of practitioners, including academics, entrepreneurs, and IT leaders. But it’s not just some viral trend like #tbt, #caturday, or #NotToday, it’s an important part of the landscape of inclusive design. The term “digital a11y” refers to the word accessibility, with the letter “a” followed by 11 letters and ending with the letter “y.” The number 11 stands in for the 11 characters omitted from the abbreviation. This shortened version of the word accessibility has a specific meaning. While access means different things to different people, the root of it is inclusion and opportunity. It boils down to the method of inclusive design. I define inclusive design as the appropriate use of the elements and principles of design to avoid exclusion of any person due to differing abilities. However, digital a11y can and should be flexible and nonlinear. Designers of digital content wield a lot of power, and this power can be dangerous if real users of these systems are not brought into the design process at the beginning of a project. Too often, testing with people comes too late (or not at all), and we are left with mediocre designs that are not accessible for many people. When inclusive design is done well, it can be innovative, creative, and growth fostering, not to mention it can make a positive economic impact.
Climatic Treatments and Environmental Needs in Hot Areas
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Hala Sirror, Salma Dwidar, Amal Abdelsattar
Since the beginning of time, people have made sure to prepare a space that offers protection from changing climatic factors, as an attempt to create a suitable limited environment which enables them to perform various activities. It is natural that there are limits for climatic comfort relating to temperature, humidity, and ventilation which achieve human comfort. Past those limits, physical exhaustion and lack of production occur. Two methods have emerged to find solutions for this problem: the closed system and the open system. The closed system follows a group of ideas which rely on mechanical control. The open system depends on natural climatic control where the building acts as an environmental filter. In general, some buildings which lie in and around the area must be studied and lessons must be learned and extracted from them, the effect of traditional architectural treatments on the interior climate must be measured as it may be possible to find a group of urban bases and standards to control the thermal and climatic comfort for the residential areas. Our research considers urban and architectural bases to control the thermal comfort as they can be used to reach a suggested model for a residential compound which is suitable to the aforementioned standards and which achieves thermal comfort for the person inside their residence and city.
Creative Air Design Approach in Architecture:: Investigating Art Produced Notions Translated into Spatial Design Forms with Air Penetration Potentiality View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Anastasia Stavridou, Angeliki Chatzidimitriou, Athena Christina Syrakoy, Nikolaos Kalogirou, Panagiotis Prinos, Konstantinos Ioannidis, Lydia Kallipoliti, Ioanna Symeonidou
This study presents a creative air design approach in architecture and explores art produced notions translated into spatial design forms with air penetration potentiality. This approach affects the architectural design from the early stages of shaping fulls and voids in a structure and it provides meanings that enrich the process of form production. Particular paradigms are elaborated displaying a method that considers art contribution and air participation as substantial factors of its principal design thinking. Each paradigm includes interpretation of an art piece, creation of an air penetrable spatial design form, presentation of the air flow potential and highlighting of the reflections of art seen in each configured form. The potential of air flowing through art-driven forms gives a new motive and advanced prospects to spatial design and architecture, while it conforms to sustainable approaches of contemporary theories. Outcomes indicate that with the presented approach, the architectural synthesis can be developed with innovative qualities and features that affect both the “positive” design (spatial design form) and the “negative” design (air flow field). This fact broadens the possibilities of creating novel and effective air flow fields in art-emerged architectural structures that aim at promoting an improved environment. Such kind of providence for air passing through the built environment can obviously support fundamental environmental issues as natural ventilation, air quality, thermal comfort, and appropriate spatial atmosphere. This project has received funding from the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) and the General Secretariat for Research and Technology(GSRT), under grant agreement No[835].
Creative Place Making for New York City Public: Public Seating Areas Powered by Strategic Design and Collaboration
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jimin Hwang, Chotika Rakphuak, Neeta Rajchaiboon, Saul Marquez Vitela
In New York City (NYC) public seating, including city benches are disappearing. NYC residents and tourists are impacted by this shortage. Further, seating facilities in tourist attraction areas in Lower Manhattan and Midtown are predominantly owned by private businesses, and walking-tour pedestrians are struggling to find a place to take a rest. Our intent is to develop a partnership with NYC Department of Transportation to provide seating facilities available to the public across the city. Our objective is to make a difference by creating practical and meaningful collaborations with a variety of stakeholders to provide sustainable activities to the public. We plan to work with a variety of design, construction, and legal frameworks and methodologies. Our design solution will be beneficial to key stakeholders including small to medium-sized businesses, property owners, government agencies, and the public. Through the creation of sustainable seating areas, we will provide compelling and sustainable space to the public and in return give opportunities to local and community- based small businesses, partnering with established brands to increase exposure and brand awareness. Creative place making inspired by strategic design can improve experiences for tourists as well as local residents and generate inclusivity for businesses. Our model and road map may be replicated in other cities.
