Isabella STEFFAN
Architect - European Ergonomist
STUDIO STEFFAN
From accessibility to
Universal Design/Design for All
The architectural promenade
Villa Savoye, Poissy, France.
Le Corbusier, 1929
A public street across the building
Harvard University,
Carpenter Centre for Visual Arts,
Cambridge (Massachusetts), USA.
Le Corbusier, 1962
A ramp to the upper church
Chiesa dell’Immacolata Concezione della Vergine,
Longarone (BL), Italia.
Giovanni Michelucci, 1975
A ramp as exhibition path
Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA.
Frank Lloyd Wright, 1937.
A public ramp to the Museum
Staats Galerie,
Stuttgart, Germany.
James Stirling, 1979-81
A transparent facade for the ramp
to the upper floors
MOMA, Barcelona, Spain.
Richard Meier, 1992.
An accessible church, by law
St. Augustine Abbey,
Canterbury (Kent),
United Kingdom.
A reserved lift
Grand Louvre,
Paris, France.
Leoh Ming Pei, 1989.
Accessibility and Design for All
• Accessibility is about access, it is just the basic requirement of
UD/DfA . Accessibility according to legislation is just one of
the tools to achieve UD/DfA.
• Design for All means designing, developing and marketing
mainstream products, services, systems and environments to
be accessible to as much users as possible, with a low
effort, in an enjoyable way.
Accessibility and Architecture for All
Mercati traianei,
Roma, Italia.
Luigi Franciosini,
Riccardo d’Aquino;
consultants:
Giovanni Carbonara,
Fabrizio Vescovo
Accessibility and Architecture for All
Brescia, Italy.
Museum of Santa Giulia restoration.
Giovanni Tortelli, Roberto Frassoni architetti,
1998 - 2000.
Domus Ortaglia, 2003.
Design for All
• DfA/UD means: an usable product/environment, easy to use
safely and autonomously for everybody and connected with:
effectiveness, efficiency and users satisfaction (usability).
• DfA means also nice to use, enjoyment.
• DfA is a People Centered Design, focused on diversity,
people’s needs, desires and expectations.
Design for All and Ergonomics
• DfA requirents:
• accessibility, safety, usability, agreeableness.
• Ergonomics provides tools to the DfA approach, tools to
meet also unexpressed needs: interviews,
questionnaires, observations, videos, specific studies.