Inclusive towns

september 2015- august 2016

SHORT DESCRIPTION

The persistence of architectural and environmental barriers and the lack of an inclusive urban strategy represent some limits which contribute to the exclusion of PwDs, people with reduced mobility. Universal Design and gender urban planning are two themes we carefully analyzed in order to design high-quality spaces and buildings through inclusive processes. The urban regeneration is envisaged through some little interventions which, as a whole, constitute an incisive and repeatable system. The projects were realized in four rural communities in Hebron District, in West Bank: Beit Ummar, Der Samit, Ithna e Saer. Every project was conceived taking into account all type of disabilities (physical, visual, hearing, intellectual and/or psychological impairments). The projects include urban requalification of public spaces and architectural interventions in public building, such as clinics, municipalities, schools and community centers. We used materials which are easily accessible in situ. They include: recycled materials, such as metallic barrels in Beit Ummar, and natural materials, such as local stones, production scraps derived from mines, used in ramps and fences, bamboo for the roofs and wood for the benches. Well integrated with their urban context, the projects represent alternative and sustainable solutions.