Beyond Barriers: Inclusive Design As A Creative Opportunity
Presented by Public Record Office Victoria
DETAILS
Ticketed
Victorian Archives Centre
99 Shiel Street, North Melbourne VIC, Australia
How can we move beyond ramps and accessibility to design outcomes where inclusive design is a creative opportunity not an afterthought or restriction?
This talk and panel discussion, with accompanying exhibition, will explore the critical importance of inclusive and equitable design in shaping the built environment. Bringing together architects, accessibility consultants, urban designers and disability advocates, it will examine barriers to inclusion from a lived-experience perspective and discuss the progressive implementation of Universal Design principles.
The event will provide a historical overview of disability rights activism in Australia and Melbourne, emphasising its transformative impact on urban spaces and policies. It will highlight the life and work of disability rights campaigners like Geoff Bell, and community-based organisations initiated by people with a disability who laid the groundwork for services like the NDIS.
Panelists will discuss best-practice examples from local and international contexts, while exploring strategies to expand the conversation beyond regulatory compliance to foster truly inclusive innovation. Many of the panelists have been involved in the current Melbourne Arts Precinct redevelopment, and will be deep diving into this case study.
Beyond Barriers is produced by Public Record Office Victoria and Folk Architects.
Participants
Folk Architects
Folk Architects is an award-winning architecture practice with a reputation for high quality, user-generated design projects driven by participation and engagement with client, community and broader project team. Their designs are about people and experiences. They activate spaces by integrating art, design, science, and technology in a way that is collaborative, innovative, and pragmatic yet playful. Their approach is to engage with people in a site specific and shared design process that explores the possibilities of architecture and how it can contribute to and enhance our everyday. They have a shared vision to create inclusive and equitable spaces that engage with the community.
Janice Florence
Janice Florence (she/her) is the manager of training and Consultation at Arts Access Victoria. She has worked at AAV since 2012 and has been a disability advocate in the arts sector for many years, after an earlier career in education. Janice is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Weave Movement Theatre and has been a performer and a pioneering force in the field of accessible dance and physical theatre for 30 years. Janice has worked and had residencies with State of Flux (Melb), Joan Skinner, Karen Nelson (USA), Blue-Eyed Soul, Touchdown and CanDoCo in the UK. Janice was the inaugural winner of the Australia Council Disability Arts-Established Artist Award in 2019.
Ben Duckworth
Ben Duckworth is one of the Heads of Design at Hassell Studio. He has led international design competitions for projects such as Adelaide Contemporary as well as major developments like the Melbourne Arts Precinct redevelopment and Tennis HQ, both in Melbourne. Before joining Hassell he also worked on world-renowned projects such as London’s Tate Modern while at international practice Herzog & de Meuron.
Nick Morris OAM
Nick Morris OAM is a former gold-medal winning Paralympian and an accessibility consultant with over 25 years’ experience. As a founding director of Morris Goding Accessibility Consultants (MGAC), he's an expert in Universal Design, providing advice to events, major developments and infrastructure worldwide. International projects have included the Great Wall of China and Beijing’s Forbidden City, the Taj Mahal and the Statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio. In Australia he has assisted with accessibility at Uluru and with the Melbourne Arts Precinct redevelopment.
Cara Wiseman
Cara Wiseman has a wide range of experience across the built environment sector. An architectural graduate, her practical industry experience complements her advocacy roles at the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) in England, and teaching roles at universities across Germany. At the Office of the Victorian Government Architect, she provides advice to government and advocates for a better and fairer built environment for all.