New Standards will identify and confront some of the barriers to architecture, its education and practice, and consider how these can be overcome to embrace wider forms of creativity. Each event in the series will address the idea of comfort to challenge the idea of ‘standards’ as a bare minimum or one-size-fits-all approach. Together, we will question how we might better provide comfort in all its nuanced forms.
The second event in the series will explore movement, and our different experiences of how we pass through spaces, how long we get to spend in them, and how we define and can defy expectations of movement in places of domesticity, education and practice. Jordan Whitewood-Neal will discuss his research addressing disability and the tension between accessibility and retrofitting – exploring the history of disability at the Architectural Association. Pip Jackson will share her work on inclusive design and co-design across UCL, the City of London, the GLA, Camden Council as well as experience working with Andrew Walker – founder of the Environmental Access course at the AA in the 1990s. Christopher Scarffe will present his work examining how spatial design and the built environment play a role in empowering or disabling differently-abled minds and bodies.
The conversation will take place around a communal table to facilitate an open and comfortable discussion between the presenters and attendees. Free food and drink will be available throughout the evening.
PIP JACKSON (she/her) joined University College London in April 2019 as their inaugural Head of Inclusive Environments; working across the university providing in-house expertise on inclusive design and access, and embedding inclusive environments in to their education programme. Pip sits on a number of industry led committees and panels, including the British Standards Institutions’ B559 committee which is responsible for BS8300 Design of an accessible and inclusive built environment. Pip has over twenty years experience of working on access and inclusion in the public sector, in both planning (working on strategic planning applications for the Mayor of London as principal advisor- access) and building control settings (including as Building Control service manager for Camden Council). Pip is national President of the Access Association.
CHRISTOPHER SCARFFE (he/him) is a London-based designer currently working at Universal Design Studio. He recently graduated from the MA Architecture course at the Royal College of Art where both his thesis and dissertation explored the complex, often contradictory ways that spatial design and the built environment play a role in empowering, or indeed, disabling differently-abled minds and bodies. His dissertation was nominated for the RIBA President’s Medal and he now continues to present his work to architectural practices in London. Chris’ interest in the intersection of dis/ability and architecture stems from a personal experience of living with congenital upper limb impairments. His design practice is informed by disability theory and framed by his subscription to the affirmation model of disability and impairment; a model which rejects ‘tragic’ or ‘medicalised’ perceptions by actively reinforcing a positive and valid identity for differently-abled minds and bodies.
This event will have British Sign Language interpretation. Ramps will be in place to enable access to the AA buildings. A quiet room will be available. In order to enable those still vulnerable to Covid-19 to safely attend the event, we encourage everyone attending to wear masks where possible. Please do not attend if you feel unwell and are experiencing any symptoms. The room will be well-ventilated and have areas of distanced seating.
Please get in touch to let us know of any additional access requirements that you might have and how we can best accommodate these. If you are unable to attend physically but would like to participate in the event remotely please email [email protected]
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