Throughout the world, millions of people face an everyday struggle of physical limitation, where they encounter various barriers such as social inequality and daily disadvantages. These disadvantages can range from lack of accessibility to even the lack of social integration. Research shows that many of the disabled feel an everyday discouragement by their environments and communities. Although not everyone is aware of when or how we may lose a physical ability, it is a crucial factor that space acknowledges the importance of making architecture welcoming for different groups, including those “growing old” and the disabled.

There is a clear understanding of the effects of reconstruction on society, and how assimilating people with physical disadvantages is important for building a more welcoming and appealing community. In Changing the choice Architecture of Aging by Deborah Gale, she discusses the necessity of acknowledging physical limitations and understanding the true meaning behind “growing old” or being physically disabled. She also covers the different perceptions brought from altering our world to suit those in need. She engages her writing by saying “It is necessary to understand the traditional negative perceptions about aging if we are to alter them. At present, they do not match the unfolding realities of what it means to grow old, in the early twenty-first century” (Gale, pg.1). Gale chose to include this in her writing to point out that while integrating the disabled, one will learn to understand their perspective much better, especially since most people will face similar situations as they grow old. This would serve as an advantage in terms of an early learning experience since people may undergo similar situations through their lifetime.

Just like Deborah, Ian Waterman the author of Disabled Access to Facilities discussed not only the facts but the statistics surrounding the disabled. Waterman believes there is an importance in appearance and being able to exhibit a space to visitors. The exhibition is acknowledged in order to show the possible effects it has on the way people view it, and the ways it affects people with physical disability. In his writing, he recognized the likelihood of physical limitation, especially since statistics show that “It is estimated that about 93% of these disabled people live in their own homes and that 18% of the population of working age have a disability” (Waterman, pg.3). The purpose behind including this information was to exemplify that it is a growing factor in society, and it must be acknowledged to build a more informed community.

The disabled take part in all everyday lives, like everyone else they work, and attend school. Some don’t realize how likely it is to encounter those with a physical limitation, take college lectures halls as an example. If you have ever attended or witnessed a college lecture hall, you may have noticed the empty gap spaces within certain seats in the front (as seen in the image on the bottom left). These gaps were built in place in order to accommodate those in wheelchairs since some lecture halls have long rows of stairs. The stairs can impose as a challenge for those in wheelchairs, making it difficult to get up to any of the other rows. Perhaps if all the lecture halls had ramps, the seating would be a lot more accessible. This problem is not just prevalent in colleges, this dilemma can be seen found in various spaces, like public facilities such as libraries, hospitals, and other architecture.  

     

Bringing two communities together like those who are and are not physically limited not only creates a friendly environment, It attracts larger groups of people. An interest is built based on the facility’s involvement in accommodating the physically disabled. Waterman believed that “by providing disabled people with accessible goods and services on equal terms with other customers, a business can enhance its reputation for high standards of customer care for all its clients, retain customer loyalty and potentially increase its customer base” (Waterman, pg.4). Essentially people would feel much more prioritized, while also feeling liberated of any barriers that they could have possibly faced before. More people will become attracted by customer care, and visit these businesses or open spaces more frequently.

Another positive aspect of altering architecture into more inclusive and accessible spaces would be social acceptance of the physically disabled. It is important to encourage equality amongst both groups of people, and that they are treated as so. For example, Phyllis Agness, the author of Integrating Disabled Citizens into the Community believed in expanding education and reducing barriers to overcome that exclusion that disabled citizens face every day. Agness thought that including the disabled would not only help them in physically getting by but also encourage social integration. She demonstrates this when she says “educating and training a disabled individual to function as fully as possible in all major life areas is only half of the rehabilitation process. The second half of the rehabilitation process must then be educating and training the community to accept people with differences and to encourage them to live in the mainstream of life.” (Agness, Page 2). Someone who would agree on this concept would be Leonard Kriegel, especially since in his writing for Beloved Enemy he brings up the struggle of how sidewalks and certain aspects of the city life serve as a constant reminder that he is “crippled.” Even as a New York native he finds that the city is the place he is “forever trying to come to terms with”(Kriegel, pg.2), and it constantly keeps him from living a normal life.

If one were to diminish these issues by altering these spaces, the benefits for both those in need and those of no disability are endless. Not only will the disabled be a lot more accommodated but they will contribute to the workforce in ways they could not have done before. Setting up things like ramps and elevators could potentially open a path toward economic growth, through the participation of the disabled. In her article, Phyllis Agness shares that “through education and training, along with the removal of society-constructed barriers, the government could transfer millions of disabled from the rolls of charity to rolls of taxpayers.” (Agness, Page 2). This implying that while accessibility will increase as a resource, so will the contribution from the physically limited. Establishing these changes would create an increase in workers, and therefore more people will be paying taxes towards the country.

This wouldn’t be the first time in which architecture was altered to suit the needs of people. In the early years of the 1900s, magazine publishers came across printing issues due to heat and the humidity caused by it. In Thermal Delights by Emmett FitzGerald, he shares the how the air conditioning solved this problem for millions of publishers and while doing so also brought about the rise of air conditioners from a luxury to a necessity. The article includes a speech in which Willis Carrier stated that “air conditioning and cooling for summer may become a necessity rather than a luxury, and we will look upon present times as marking the end of that ‘dark age’ in which there was but relatively little cooling for human comfort.” Later on, this indeed became the case for many people around the world, and they looked for ways to making it happen. Air conditioning is a relatively new invention that came at a high cost, it was expensive and released lots of pollution into the environment. Architecture then became a big influence on cooling systems, whether that meant more windows to hold these air conditioners, or Indian architects constructing structures to provide similar cooling methods.

Just like the disabled percent of the people, architecture influences the everyday movement in progress. With alterations and changes in accessibility, there can be a greater achievement in an economic, and social way. Barriers that could have once imposed as an issue for many, will now encourage a growth in status for the disabled while also contributing to the everyday world of those who are not physically limited. Spaces that were once meant to be inclusive and open for all, will now do exactly what it’s entitled to do.