The Architecture, Culture & Tectonics Research Group warmly invites you
to attend their Virtual Seminar on Wednesday 16 June 2021 at 12pm.
“How inclusive is the built environment? Why people struggle, what designers miss, and the way forward”
Guest speaker: Efthymios Kapsalis
Abstract:
Inclusive design is an approach that promotes the creation of spaces accessible to and usable by all individuals regardless of age, gender, or functional capabilities. Inclusive design celebrates diversity and equality in the built environment, both of which are particularly relevant to disabled people.
In the UK, almost a fourth of the total population consists of physically or mentally disabled individuals. Despite the plurality of guidelines that support inclusion in the public realm, much of the built environment has been constructed as if all people have similar needs and capabilities. As a consequence, a great number of people struggle with performing everyday tasks such as opening a door, locomoting across paved surfaces, or boarding transport vehicles.
This seminar intends to explore the societal and developmental importance of designing for inclusion whether in the macro-, meso-, or micro-scale. It will feature an up-to-date outlook of accessibility conditions in the built environment, supported by findings from socio-spatial studies. The seminar will also shed light on the impact of design decisions on quality of life of disabled people as well as provide recommendations to reinforce inclusive placemaking.
Biography:
Efthimis Kapsalis is a final-year PhD student at the Department of Architecture & Built Environment of the University of Nottingham. Efthimis holds a MSc. of Architecture (2016-18: Lund University, Sweden) and a BSc. in Spatial Planning (2009-14: University of Thessaly, Greece). He has worked as an urban designer and an architectural technologist both in Sweden (2018) and Greece (2014-16).
Efthimis’s current research focuses on deployable structures and performance-oriented design for accessibility purposes. His interests also include sustainable urban design, algorithmic design, and design representation in mixed reality environments.
This virtual seminar will take place through ACT Teams - Office 365. If you did not recieve an invitation and would like to attend, please contact Sarah Taylor, Research Administrator.