It’s easy to be drawn to square footage, but the layout tends to matter more than size – a large property can still feel awkward if rooms don’t connect well, and a smaller home can feel comfortable and practical if the space is used efficiently. Think about how you’ll move through the home and ask yourself if the living areas are easy to access, or whether you’ve got to walk through multiple rooms, and is there enough storage (in the right places), and so on. These are the details that are doing to affect your life a lot more than a few extra meters. Continue reading What People Often Overlook When Choosing a Home→
There has been a tremendous increase in accessibility in both private and public spaces throughout the past few years. Curb cuts, ramps, and elevators are now common in many city locations, due to updates and revisions to the accessibility building codes. Despite the emphasis on accessibility in building codes, recreational spaces outside of buildings continue to be omitted from accessibility plans, resulting in how people with mobility impairments participate in very basic forms of outdoor activity. Although there are no apparent technology-based barriers to inclusion, it appears that planners have simply overlooked these environments. Continue reading Accessible Design Ends at the Door: Rethinking Yards, Pools, and Patios→
The original International Symbol of Access (image below) was designed in 1969 by Susanne Koefoed. Enlarged above is the Accessible Icon, a recent redesign that portrays a person in forward motion, propelling through space. Surrounded by small images that depict various iterations, the new symbol represents people in wheelchairs as dynamic, rather than static bodies. The Accessible Icon Project began as a social intervention with the goal of making cities more inclusive. Continue reading Eye on Design: Accessible Icon By Tim Ferguson Sauder→
I’ve never seen one of these symbols in any colors other than white or blue, so of course this Pink Handicapped Accessible Sign caught my attention immediately. This symbol was spotted at The Ace Hotel on 29th Street just east of Broadway.
