Eleventh International Conference on The Constructed Environment

Abstract

Contemporary society, including architecture, urbanism, and city planning, stands at a vital juncture. Calls for heightened equity amidst growing diversity offer an unprecedented opportunity to reconsider design thinking. A part of this equation pertains to the ways that users address and operate within the built environment moving past mobility, to include people with intellectual disabilities (ID). Intellectual disabilities have been understood historically with the manifestation of intellectual ableism within the built environment. Current design research and practice under-represent intellectual disabilities, affirming the need of innovating architectural solutions that encourage inclusion and participation. Holistic Responsivity, a term coined by the authors, conveys this notion that designers shoulder serious and imminent responsibility for creating built environments that are responsive to the wide-ranging abilities of users. It is proposed as a provocation of the status quo, an expansion in the catchment in critique of current universal design’s one-size-fits-all approach to accessibility. Informed by neuroarchitecture, agile architecture, and cybernetics [NAAC], Holistic Responsivity provides a conceptual framework that can be applied to design processes. This research is consolidated through case studies, primary data collection via three survey methods, and action-based research. Collected data will, downstream, be qualitatively analyzed through content, narrative, and discourse analysis to understand the experiences of people with cognitive disabilities and perceived barriers in the built environment, and how disability is perceived within architectural practice and education. Through logical argumentation, this methodology unites primary and secondary research towards experiential equity, finally proposing new design guidelines that are more responsive, resilient, and responsible.