Sensory Public Building Design for Adults with Autism
Ernst, Urs Moritz (2024)
2024
Master's Programme in Architecture
Rakennetun ympäristön tiedekunta - Faculty of Built Environment
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Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2024-11-18
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202410289562
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202410289562
Tiivistelmä
This master thesis studies the development of sensory public building designs for adults with autism spectrum disorder, as the sensory needs of autistic adults have so far been neglected in the design of public buildings and environments. The produced thesis aims to better understand autistic sensory needs and will explore a set of tools which will help architects and designer make more inclusive and enabling design decisions. As part of this work, a public building design in the form of a community centre is proposed at the Viikinranta area of Helsinki, Finland to test and critically assess these inclusive tools and all the included sensory design implementations for their effectiveness in creating enabling spaces for autistic adults.
The theoretical section of the work starts by the exploration of the general importance of sensory design in architecture and the importance of sensory design in architecture for the purpose of including and enabling people with sensory disabilities. Further, the section establishes the autism-friendly set of design tools, which include the concepts of design justice, empathy, deliberation, and human-centred design. The theoretical section also looks at specific design guidelines and case studies which can be used by architects to better understand how projects can implement autism-friendly design choices.
The practical section of the work deals with the challenges of developing a public building design project which includes autistic adults as one of its target user groups. This design exploration starts out with the brief development and the determination of the applied design strategy. The chosen strategy does not only focus on the autism-friendly design but is also implementing the key themes of sustainable architectural design in the context of the climate emergency. By including these themes in this work, the project ensures to be aligned with the UN sustainability development goals.
The added focus on the sustainability aspects of the project is particularly important, as the chosen site must be developed with utmost care for the local natural environment to not damage the already fragile ecosystem, however when done correctly, the proposed building can have positive benefits for the urban and natural environment around the site and for its future users.
Following the brief development is the development process of the project and the implementation of specific design choices in the building to create an autism-friendly inclusive and sustainable environment. These design implementations are then showcased in more detail to explain their relevancy in making the design usable for autistic adults.
Lastly, the design implementations are assessed using a critical design audit to test the building and its design process to establish how helpful the proposed design tools are and showcase how and in which ways they should be used in the future by architects and designer.
The theoretical section of the work starts by the exploration of the general importance of sensory design in architecture and the importance of sensory design in architecture for the purpose of including and enabling people with sensory disabilities. Further, the section establishes the autism-friendly set of design tools, which include the concepts of design justice, empathy, deliberation, and human-centred design. The theoretical section also looks at specific design guidelines and case studies which can be used by architects to better understand how projects can implement autism-friendly design choices.
The practical section of the work deals with the challenges of developing a public building design project which includes autistic adults as one of its target user groups. This design exploration starts out with the brief development and the determination of the applied design strategy. The chosen strategy does not only focus on the autism-friendly design but is also implementing the key themes of sustainable architectural design in the context of the climate emergency. By including these themes in this work, the project ensures to be aligned with the UN sustainability development goals.
The added focus on the sustainability aspects of the project is particularly important, as the chosen site must be developed with utmost care for the local natural environment to not damage the already fragile ecosystem, however when done correctly, the proposed building can have positive benefits for the urban and natural environment around the site and for its future users.
Following the brief development is the development process of the project and the implementation of specific design choices in the building to create an autism-friendly inclusive and sustainable environment. These design implementations are then showcased in more detail to explain their relevancy in making the design usable for autistic adults.
Lastly, the design implementations are assessed using a critical design audit to test the building and its design process to establish how helpful the proposed design tools are and showcase how and in which ways they should be used in the future by architects and designer.