HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY

PROFESSOR JOHNSON-WRIGHT

Tomorrow marks the 35^th Valentine’s Day I’ll spend with my soulmate, Heidi.

Through the years, she has been my:

Scholarship winning undergraduate student Valentine

Law school graduate Valentine

Proud public servant for the State of Ohio Valentine.

Co-author of hundreds of articles about travel and disability Valentine.

First time home owner Valentine.

Travel around the world by wheelchair Valentine.

Move 1,200 miles from heartland Ohio to pulsing Miami Valentine.

First in history full-time Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator for the City of Miami Beach Valentine.

Purchaser of a 100-year old home in the heart of Little Havana Valentine.

Point person for all things ADA, serving nearly 3 million constituents, in Miami-Dade County Valentine.

Protector of urban park land and open space (stopping concrete paving over paradise) Valentine.

Educator of town planners, urban designers, architects, mobility engineers and other shapers of the built environment Valentine.

Survivor of the pandemic – using her own computer to stay connected in a leadership role – Valentine.

Creator of a unique course on design for all Valentine.

Lead instructor/professor of a graduate and undergraduate full-credit course on Universal Design at a top 10% rate school of architecture Valentine.

Happy Valentine’s Day – my soulmate, superstar wife and partner in making the world a more equitable, inclusive, diverse and accessible place.

ARCHITECTURE THAT IS NOT EQUITABLE, INCLUSIVE AND ACCESSIBLE -- HAS NO PLACE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

SCHOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE MUST TEACH UNIVERSAL DESIGN

For years, we have been saying that there is no reason that modern buildings continue to create barriers for people with disabilities.

For ages, we have marveled at how architects are creative and unburdened when addressing flood plain, windstorm, life safety and myriad other codes, regulations and best practices – but are resistant toward even the most basic Universal Design.

Universal Design is inclusive, equitable and accessible – to all people of all ages and abilities. It is NOT something built just for people with physical, visual, hearing, cognitive or other disabilities.

Now we are sharing this spot-on article from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design.

Matthew Allen wrote a piece Designing for Disability Justice.

It includes a great quote from Sara Hendrenon, on the barriers of standardization within the subject of disability in design:

“I think the biggest barrier, of course, is the limited imagination that standards tend to create. Because it’s a checklist and a liability matter, the rhetorical framing of disability gets subsumed under that logic: a cloud over the excitement of a project, or a ‘don’t forget’ matter of inclusion.”

Read the full article at:

https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/2021/02/designing-for-disability-justice-on-the-need-to-take-a-variety-of-human-bodies-into-account/