Kapsalis, Efthymios Timo
(2024)
Contemporary use of co-design and computational design methods for inclusive built environments: a case study of platform-train interfaces.
PhD thesis, University of Nottingham.
Abstract
Accessibility of the built environment has a huge impact on the experience and extent of disability. This is particularly true for public spaces – for example, train stations – both indoors and outdoors. Mobility-related impairments are amongst the most common types of impairments, according to international disability indexes. There is an emerging need for researchers and practitioners to investigate the built environment through the lens of users of mobility assistive devices (MobAD) – such as wheelchairs or canes. The profound implications of design decisions on societal equality and individual wellbeing underscore the significance of this research.
Universal Design is a late twentieth-century design philosophy aimed at creating built environments that are accessible for both disabled and non-disabled people. So far, very little attention has been paid to the role of contemporary approaches, such as computational design or structural adaptation, as agents of universal design. The disregard for the functional capabilities of a diverse population as well as the technological stagnation of the spatial design profession are two major factors for built environments of substandard quality insofar as disability access is concerned.
The central aim of this research is to investigate the impact of ill-designed spaces on MobAD users and explore how designers can create accessible environments for all. Adopting a research-by-design approach, the research problem emerges from a real-world context and is continuously shaped by MobAD users’ needs and interests. The research-by-design strategy fosters a seamless interplay between theory and application, encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and stakeholder participation to create a usable and accessible solution.
The research design is realised in two parts: Part A focuses on understanding the problem through theoretical background investigation, literature review, and accessibility assessment. Part B centres on designing a suitable solution through a series of design ideation, inspiration, formation, and evaluation processes. The research employs various strategies to identify challenges and arrive at an appropriate solution, such as a systematic literature review, accessibility audits, online surveys, co-design workshops, computation-enabled design development, and usability evaluation.
The research revealed substantial disparities in the built environment in terms of MobAD-accessibility. Ill-designed spaces significantly impeded the mobility and independence of these individuals, while well-designed spaces facilitated inclusivity and enhanced user wellbeing. The study identified key areas of concern regarding physical inaccessibility and outlined specific requirements for designing accessible spaces. For the identified research problem, a human-centred design solution was proposed, developed through stakeholder participation and extensive use of state-of-the-art computational tools as well as structural adaptation. Upon evaluation, this solution demonstrated potential to improve accessibility for MobAD users at critical points within the built environment.
The contribution of this research has been to introduce new techniques, such applications of deep neural networks and evolutionary algorithms, which can highlight the potential usefulness of computational methods for the design practice. Moreover, this effort foregrounds structural adaptation as an enabler of physical accessibility and, thereby, augments the ambit of adaptive architecture beyond previously investigated domains. Most importantly, this research describes a practical application of an integrative design effort – i.e., one that adopts inclusive, collaborative, computational, and structurally-adaptive approaches – to alleviate social exclusion in the built environment.
| Item Type: |
Thesis (University of Nottingham only)
(PhD)
|
| Supervisors: |
Jaeger, Nils
Ryan, Brendan
Beccarelli, Paolo |
| Keywords: |
inclusive design, co-design, computational design, adaptive architecture, mobility assistive devices, disability |
| Subjects: |
N Fine Arts > NA Architecture |
| Faculties/Schools: |
UK Campuses > Faculty of Engineering
UK Campuses > Faculty of Engineering > Built Environment |
| Item ID: |
78298 |
| Depositing User: |
Kapsalis, Efthymios
|
| Date Deposited: |
18 Jul 2024 04:40 |
| Last Modified: |
18 Jul 2024 04:40 |
| URI: |
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/78298 |
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