The ideas of access, of "universal design" or "visitability" are all but missing from the national discussion about building things. Here's just one example.
The New York Times hosts a lot of blogs; one is the "by design" blog, with blogger Allison Arieff. Arieff is
Editor at Large for Sunset, and the former Editor in Chief of Dwell magazine. She is co-author of the books “Prefab” and "Trailer Travel," and the editor of many books on design and popular culture, including “Airstream: The History of the Land Yacht” and “Cheap Hotels.” Ms. Arieff lives in San Francisco.
People in San Francisco should know about access. Berkeley, CA, just next door, is considered the home of the "independent living" movement -- the place where the disability rights movement of the 1980s really got its start. California has had some of the strongest access laws in the nation, and the oldest. So.
I searched Arieff's blog for entries about access. Nothing. I searched for "universal design"; for "accessiblity"; for "visitability"; finally, for just plain "disabled". Nothing.
Arieff's always going on about "green design". That's good. Everybody nowadays seems to go on about "green." Which is good. It's become a "trend."
But when will access ever become a trend?
A look at the tags on her blog let us know that she's into blogging about every conceivable trendy and near-trendy design issue:
Levittown Aeron agriculture Airstream Bill Stumpf cities coffee holder communities democratization droog design earth day efficiency energy efficiency farmland footprint future design gadgets Gio Ponti global footprint green buildings green design green living green schools greenwashing hospitals housing developments imagination industrial design innovation karim rashid Kermit the Frog Legos Little Boxes modern architecture neighborhoods niche markets obsolescence parking signs Peoples Design Award philippe starck Schoolhouse Rock sustainability sustainable prefab toys typography wellness
Nothing, though, about... access. Yeah, yeah, there's "wellness." That's not about access either.
