ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Hawa Allarakhia has a Master in Education from the University of South Florida and is currently a doctoral candidate at USF. 

She is studying Program Development with a research interest in Disability Services with a graduate certificate in Academic Advising. 

She holds the positions of Graduate Assistant in the Office of Research, on the Sarasota-Manatee campus of USF. 

For questions, please contact her by email at hawa1@usf.edu

ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.

Q How did you incorporate the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with invisible disabilities?

A This was spoken about in class, and it was featured in some of the assigned materials for reading/video viewing/social media following outside of class (and graded via required journal entries on these subjects).

ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.

Q How did you incorporate the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with temporary disabilities?

A In each of our 15 course sessions, we explained that disability is not some remote, outlier issue … that it is not just a person with a spinal cord injury. 

We explained how universal design supports aging in place. 

We also underscored, frequently, the truth that barrier-free design is NOT simply for people with disabilities. 

That it makes the public realm and interior of spaces easier to live in for children, elderly, and all people. 

And that it can be beautiful and sustainable design.

ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.

Q How did you incorporate the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with physical disabilities?

A One of the team teachers uses a wheelchair for mobility. 

Also, we had guest lectures from nationally prominent architect Karen Braitmayer and designer Ileana Rodriguez — each of whom use wheelchairs for mobility. 

ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.

Q How did you incorporate the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with social and psychological disabilities?

A We had an expert presenter from the Center for Autism & Related Disabilities (CARD).

ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.

Q How did you incorporate the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with visual disabilities into the course?

A We had a guest lecture, via Zoom, from renowned expert Peter Slatin and had a live in-class presentation by a trainer from Lighthouse for the Blind.

ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED. 

Q How did you incorporate the experiences and challenges faced by individuals with hearing-related disabilities into the course?

A We had a guest lecture, via Zoom, from renowned expert Jeffrey Mansfield (via interpreter) of Deaf Space.

ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.

Q Did you design the course with a disability model in mind, i.e., medical, social, or moral?

A The model was certainly not medical or moral. 

So I suppose it was social. 

Basically, a lot of architects (not just students in the field) think the ADA is some kind of building code that can be waived or reduced by variance. 

I taught that it is basic civil rights protection under federal law. I also opened eyes by sharing that the UN has identified more than 1 billion people with disabilities on earth, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) numbers say one in four of us will experience a disability in our lifetimes. 

Those numbers speak to a market for design that accommodates all.

ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.

Q What impact do you believe a course about universal design will have on students with disabilities across higher education?

A A few of the students said they would dedicate/refocus their careers on design for all. 

A few, in all candor, seemed to reject the ADA and universal design as something constricting or even “woke” — their words.

Overall, I think it opened minds. 

ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED. 

Q How did you approach the University of Miami-School of Architecture about offering a course on universal design?

A approached the Dean of the School of Architecture and cultivated a friendship with him.

I performed editorial content services for the SoA and kept pitching ideas for a course.

ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.

Q Can you provide some background on the inspiration to develop a Universal Design course that focuses on architecture and cultivating a built environment that is accessible to all?

A I have been a journalist for nearly 40 years, and all of that time I have covered both the built environment and the rights/needs of marginalized people.

Combing those into a survey course that educated future architects/urban designers on universal design was a natural progression.

I have worked with town planners and as an urban designer. 

I frequently lecture on access for all at the American Planning Association.

ACCESSIBILITY CULTIVATING ACCESSIBLE ARCHITECTURE FOR ALL:

AN INTERVIEW WITH STEVE WRIGHT BY HAWA ALLARAKHIA, M.ED.

At the University of Miami, students studying architecture now have the opportunity to learn about incorporating accessibility by taking a first-of-its-kind class about universal design. 

Steve Wright, the instructor of the course, discusses how he integrated the experiences and needs of a wide variety of individuals with disabilities into the course.