What is design?
From a chronological perspective, one can note that modern design starts in the 19th century with institutions such as the Government School of Design founded in 1837 in the United Kingdom, or the University of Arts, Crafts and Design founded in Konstfack, Sweden, in 1844, and that a fundamental role had the German movement Bauhaus initiated in 1919.
More recently, a very famous businessman and inventor, Steve Jobs, would define the term ”design” as follows:
“Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works. (…) Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works (…) Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.” (Jobs, 2020, 42–43)
Moreover, one additional aspect needs to be considered. Although design itself is a very catchy concept, for several categories of end-users, it may prove to be very limitative, and this is because of some specific form of disability they may suffer. This is why ”universal design” has been invented.
What is Universal Design?
According to the article 2 of the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,
« universal design means the design of products, environments, programs and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised design. Universal design shall not exclude assistive devices for particular groups of persons with disabilities where this is needed.”
Cf. Article 2 – Definitions | Division for Inclusive Social Development (DISD) (un.org)
It is also important to understand how many people are suffering from a disability. At EU level, as shown in the report “Disability in the EU: facts and figures”, out of the 101 million people, 1 in 4 adults has a disability, with the remark that the chances to acquire a form of disability increase with age.
Image showing the age proportionally increase of the disability percentages
among the EU population
According to the same study, the highest percentage is found in Latvia, with 40.7% of the population, the only one above 40%, followed by Denmark, with 36.7%, Finland with 34.8%, Portugal with 33.4%, Estonia with 32.5%, Netherlands with 32.1%, Slovakia with 30.5% and Romania, with 30.4% with percentages above 30%, Austria 29.7%, Spain 29.6%, Germany 28.2%, Lithuania 27.4%, France 26.8%, Czech Republic 26.8%, Belgium 25.4%, Poland 24.4%, Sweden 22.6%, Hungary 22.3%, Slovenia 21.6%, Cyprus 21.1%, Italy 20.6%, Ireland 20.5% with percentages above 20% and finally Bulgaria 13.6% and Malta 13.8% with percentages above 10%.
Cf Disability in the EU: facts and figures – Consilium (europa.eu)
Considering such statistics, the concept of universal design is important to every single person but most of all to those people who are in difficult situations due to their medical condition.
Who coined the term?
American architect Ronald Mace (1942–1998) introduced the concept of universal design starting from his own experience, as he contracted polio when he was nine and this resulted in him using a wheelchair for the rest of his life. From this position, he faced numerous disadvantages society did not think of before, or did not bother to consider seriously. He struggled to remove them, as he himself, while a student at North Carolina State University, could not go through the bathroom door from his wheelchair and also had to be carried up and down the stairs as no other means were available to him to get to classes. He graduated in 1966 and decided to focus his activity on creating accessible housing so that all products and buildings would be not only visually appealing but also and most importantly usable to the greatest extent possible by everyone, regardless of age, ability, or situation.
British architect and town planner Selwyn Goldsmith (1932–2011) is also acknowledged to have had a huge role in the spreading of the concept of inclusive design, being the author of Designing for the disabled: a manual of technical information, published in 1963, by the Royal Institute of British Architects, and of Universal Design, published in 2007 by Routledge. Goldsmith is the one who contributed considerably to the introduction of dropped kerbs or ramps in intersections in the city of Norwich, as well as to the need of consulting with end-users in order to check the feasibility and usability of the design.
Other terms for Universal Design used include: Design for All, Inclusive Design, and Barrier-Free Design.
Cf. Stephanie Woodward, Ronald Mace and His Impact on Universal Design