Barrier Free Design Architecture: Home

"Building for everyone" - that is the best definition of what lies behind the unwieldy concept of "barrier-free design": the complete and total usability of buildings, including for those with disabilities, for the integration of all of society's members can only succeed when their environment is made accessible to them. Demographic changes demand new qualities of private and public space, qualities that are also required by new legislation. The Detail Practice volume "Barrier-Free Design" provides all planners and architects, but also interested building sponsors, with basic practical information and a range of possible planning implementations in the domain of barrier freedom. It shows how corresponding requirements can be turned into aesthetically distinguished architecture. And it demonstrates that taking barrier freedom into account in the early planning stages of a project need not lead to additional costs compared to "classical" construction and design. In addition to an overview of planning fundamentals, the book also includes the associated body of rules and regulations as well as examples of how they are embodied in actual projects and perspectives on their development in the larger European context.

The future is looking old. We are currently at the threshold of the largest demographic transformation of modern times, the advent of the age of the senior citizen. What awaits us - what kinds of products, what kinds of houses? The fifty-and-over generation represents an enormous potential: in Germany alone, twenty million seniors have hundreds of billions of euros, but they hardly spend them for lack of suitable products. This book provides answers from a sociological and design perspective for architects, designers, decision-makers, and firms who wish to respond to the demands of this diverse and discriminating target group. It investigates the various aspects of senior citizens' lives from tip to toe and offers technical articles as well as authentic case studies and reports. Attractively laid out, fully illustrated, and with pointedly written texts, it is also aimed at the silver agers themselves, especially those who would like to find out what architecture and design can do to make their lives as pleasant and independent as possible.