Press release
3rd Inclusion Days of the City of Potsdam: Students present Exhibition "attractive and accessible – Aspects of a barrier-free University"
In the winter semester 2022/23, four courses in the departments of Design and CITY | BUILDING | CULTURE at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences dealt with barriers. The result is an exhibition that opens on the 5 of May and can be experienced on the university campus until the 13th of May.
How can a university be made accessible? What role do orientation systems and structural measures play? What opportunities do digital solutions offer for better accessibility? What could a university for everyone look like? As part of the exhibition "Attractive and accessible – Aspects of a barrier-free university", students will present ideas and individual solutions for a barrier-free campus. The exhibition venue in the foyer of House D on campus is designed to be inclusive and accessible.
Exhibited projects
Design for all – attractive added value instead of deficit-orientated special solutions
The proposed solutions developed in the workshop represent the spectrum in which barrier-free accessibility is necessary: from orientation on campus to the furnishing of workshops, from the lecture theatre to the canteen, from seating to the library. The works clearly demonstrate the potential of the Design for all approach.
Supervision: Mathias Knigge (Department of CITY | BUILDING | CULTURE)
A signage system for the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam
In the seminar Guidance System Campus FHP, students developed various designs for comprehensible and location-specific orientation. The resulting guidance system projects include visible, tactile and audible solutions in analogue and digital space: from the classic guidance system carrier with fixed information structures to offers with dynamically updatable content and individual routing using augmented reality.
Supervision: Prof. Christina Poth (Department of Design), Lennard Dose (Department of CITY | BUILDING | CULTURE)
A barrier-free website for young poets
In the Lyrix + FH;)P cooperation project, concepts were developed for a digital platform that summarises all the winning poetic texts from the national competition for young poets and explores possibilities for interaction in a writing workshop. The students investigated structural, design and typographic methods and rules for the visualisation of websites, taking barrier-free aspects into account. The focus was on a design that corresponds to the young target group without neglecting accessibility concepts.
Supervision: Prof. Susanne Stahl (Department of Design)
Planning for real – Participatory design of the campus open spaces
In the InterFlex seminar Planning for Real, students and employees of the university developed design ideas and concepts for the further development of the campus open spaces. In addition to guest lectures on sociological spatial theories and citizen participation, gender, inclusion and diversity in spatial planning as well as blue-green infrastructures in the course of climate adaptation, the "Planning for Real" planning concept developed by Tony Gibson played a central role in order to enter into dialogue with the people on campus using a wooden model of the entire campus area.
Supervision: Prof. Dr Michael Prytula (Department of CITY | BUILDING | CULTURE), Katja Stephan (Department of Social and Educational Sciences), Anna-Magdalena Dimanski (Institute for Applied Research – Urban Future), Michael Kreutzer (Department of CITY | BUILDING | CULTURE), Sonja Schmidt (Department of CITY | BUILDING | CULTURE), Anouk Meissner (Department of Design)
Exhibition
The exhibition will open on the 5th of May at 4.00 pm. Guests who deal with the topic of inclusion in various areas will take part in the panel discussion. Following the panel discussion, the project leaders will introduce the projects. There will be a translation into sign language. People with visual impairments can find audio descriptions and alternative texts on the exhibition website. There will be individual guided tours by students on the 6th and 13th of May. Registration is not required.
Panel discussion
- Moderation: Prof. Dr. Arne von Boetticher, Representative for University Members with Disabilities
- Prof. Dr. Eva Schmitt-Rodermund, President of the FHP
- Djamal Okoko, student at the Department of Design, who is writing his Bachelor's thesis on the interface between design and disability studies
- Jolanta Paliszewska, lecturer and alumna at the Department of Design
- Mathias Knigge, grauwert, Büro für Inklusion & demografiefeste Lösungen, chairman of the competence network EDAD (Design für Alle – Deutschland e.V.) and lecturer at the Department of CITY | BUILDING | CULTURE
- Emilia Knabe, PhD student at the Department of Design, who is researching the concept of inclusion with the involvement of marginalised groups (especially young people) in the participation process in Potsdam
