Day, K and Martel, A (2021) Designing for neurodiversity: Reimagining the home for a COVID normal life. In: Scott, L and Neilson, C J (eds.) Proceedings of 37th Annual ARCOM Conference, 6-7 September 2021, Online Event, UK.
Abstract
As cities went into lockdown in response to COVID-19, for many, the role of the home in everyday life expanded. Activities that would normally occur at another venue, including work, study, recreation, and health appointments, were reconfigured to be done in the home. Among the legacies from this experience is a clearer understanding of the spatial and phenomenological quality of the spaces in which we live. Housing design already assigns private and public areas within dwellings, such as bedrooms and living rooms, but these are often rigidly defined and largely inflexible for alternative uses. Research on designing housing suitable for people with cognitive disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), (such as a 'sensory design' approach, where it is necessary to move beyond public vs private, and recognise other dicotisms, light/ dark, warm/cool, loud/quiet, hard/soft, work/rest, and so on, and the transition between modes), may provide lessons for more general COVID-normal housing design. This study analyses three case studies of residential accommodation for people with ASD as opportunities for developing more responsive housing that can adapt to the demand for a greater range of activities to be fulfilled in the home.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | housing design; disability; COVID normal; multidisciplinary; phenomenology |
| Index terms: | everyday life, case study, COVID-19, disability, phenomenology, housing, bedroom, housing design |
| Subjects: | architectural elements, health risk and incident analysis, design process, methods and analysis, sociology, health conditions and diseases, construction type, data collection methods |
| Topics: | Urban Studies, Design Practice, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Construction Technology |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here