[community] Design for Autism

[Hung, Jonathan]

I find this article interesting. A few things come to mind:

- the design and use of the space reminds me of how children’s spaces in museums are created (The Strong Museum, and The Ontario Science Centre have spaces like this).
- the design itself appeals to all types of children (and grown-ups!). I imagine if more learning and play spaces were created in this way, everyone would benefit.
- the article only scratches the surface in explaining the design decisions. The architects themselves "had never designed for autistic children before”, so what research did they use that lead them to their choice of materials, colours, surfaces, etc.?

They even moved the HVAC to another space so it doesn’t interfere with the ambiance - I wish our offices considered that! :)

Thanks for sharing that article Justin.

- Jon.

> On Feb 8, 2016, at 10:07 AM, Justin Obara <obara.justin at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> Fast Company’s summary of DaSilva Architects design for the new Center of Autism and the Developing Brain. ( http://www.fastcodesign.com/3054103/how-to-design-for-autism ). Part of their approach was to pay specific attention to the sensory sensitivities that often affect those with autism. That influenced the lighting and materials used, and resulted in the design appearing more like a small village/town rather than a typical space.
> 
> The post end’s with the quote:
> 
> "There's a joke that if you know one autistic person, you know one autistic person," Black says. "Each autistic person is very different: it's a whole spectrum of different conditions."
> But we might argue that this is true of everyone.
> 
> Thanks
> 
> Justin
> 
> 
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