HORIZON 2020 - How disability can pioneer architectural innovation

Disability is often associated with access legislation rather than a source of creativity for architects. With her ERC grant, Prof. Ann Heylighen wanted to reverse this perspective. Her findings suggest that disability can be a valuable source of innovative solutions in architecture by extending prevailing ways of understanding space and designing buildings.

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Excellent Science European Research Council Belgium

date: 15/07/2015

Project: Architectural design In Dialogue with di...

acronym: AIDA

See also: CORDIS

Through their interaction with the environment, disabled people are able to detect obstacles and appreciate spatial qualities in the environment that most architects are not attuned to. The experience and insights of people who are visually impaired or who are diagnosed with autism or dementia can complement and enrich the professional expertise in this field. They can draw attention to features we may all sense but never can formulate as well: for instance the non-visual qualities of a room (temperature, sound, air displacement); or features that (dis)connect or regroup people in a building.