Article

PURPOSE: To respond to growing calls for a theoretical unpacking of Universal
Design (UD), a disparate movement cohering around attempts to design spaces and
technologies that seek to allow use by all people (to the fullest extent
possible). The on-going embedding of UD into architectural practice and pedagogy
represents an opportune juncture at which to draw learning from other
distinct-but-related transformatory architectural movements. METHODS:
Sociological-theoretical commentary. RESULTS: UD has to date, and necessarily,
been dominated by the practice contexts from which it emerged. Appealing as a
short-hand for description of "designing-for-all", in most cases UD has come to
stand in as a term to signal a general intent in this direction and as an
umbrella term for the range of technical design resources that have been
developed under these auspices. There remains a fundamental ambivalence vis-a-vis
the question of users' power/capacity to influence decision-making in the design
process in UD; technically-oriented typologies of bodies predominate in
influential UD architectural accounts. CONCLUSIONS: UD represents rich technical
and pedagogical resources for those architects committed to transforming the
existing built environment so as to be less hostile to a wide range of users.
However, within UD, unpacking the social role of the professional architect
vis-a-vis a variety of publics is an important, but hitherto underdeveloped,
challenge; issues concerning professional-citizen power relations continue to
animate parallel architectural politics, and UD can both contribute and draw much
from these on-going explorations. Implications for Rehabilitation Universal
Design (UD) architecture shares a close affinity with rehabilitation practice,
with the creation of built environments that allow use by individuals with a wide
range of capacities a priority for both. While an effective communicative
"bridge" between professions, UD's deployment typically leaves unspoken the
capacity of users to meaningfully affect decision-making in the design process.
UD architecture has much to draw from, and contribute to, parallel movements in
"participatory architectural design"; debates therein have illuminated much about
the social practices underpinning designing for difference. UD could engage more
fully with questions relating to the social and political role of the architect.

Langue : ANGLAIS