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About the possibility of an inclusive Bucharest at the Bucharest Architecture Annual 2023
The effects of the major problems faced by society at a global level, such as climate change, migration, social isolation, economic disparities or the aging population, are felt more and more locally.
Professionals have been forced to respond to the new challenges of an increasingly diverse society by relying – further – on existing paradigms and standards.The community's reactions provide proof for the professional practice that it is not enough to respond only to the needs of the majority, of the standard person, the one described in the norms. The lack of interest in human diversity in relation to architecture leads to the segregation and isolation from the community life of certain social categories, but also to the designers' exclusion from the decision-making processes regarding the accessibility of the built environment and future plans of improvement to develop social inclusion.
An inclusive approach requires changing mindsets related to human diversity, in all its forms: age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, skills, culture, education, profession, etc. Change can be achieved by generating an inclusive dialogue between professionals, public administration, civil society and expert citizens, in order to understand the current obstacles, the benefits of such an approach for the community, how diverse and changing the human body is and to become more aware of the impact the built environment has on society.
The Bucharest Architecture Annual 2023 is a great public event and opportunity where we propose to lay the foundations of this dialogue through a series of activities that will bring together diverse social and professional categories and generate a moment of introspection on the topics of accessibility and inclusion in connection to Bucharest's public space. It will be a first step of a wider study that aims to understand society's perception of the topic, in order to be able to define a long-term plan with clear actions that could transform accessibility and inclusion into natural parts of the design process.