This article from cnn.com reflects the details architects must take into consideration when specifying “cool” ideas. It showcases how there remain gender issues in the design of public spaces to this day. CNN BLOG
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Airport Outlets
When traveling I like to bring my laptop to pass the time and stay connect via wifi / social networks. Not all airports seem to realize that the people who end up spending long periods of time waiting in their building need access to outlets for various electronic equipment. While I was waiting for a [...]
School Design: Just for Architects?
As a neuropsychologist, my father designed a school for students to whom the mainstream schools weren’t adapted. Not only he designed the space of the school for easy way finding, great natural and artificial lightning, and considering crowding, but be also created a new way to teach these kids. All of the exercises they [...]
Planning for Future Repairs
I have done various commercial and residential HVAC work around Chicago for over 10 years now. There have been countless times when I have arrived at a home or a place of business to repair an air conditioner, furnace or fridge and the space that the equipment was located had virtually no space to work. [...]
Cruise Ship Tabs
Cruise ships are a wonderful experience, providing exceptional service to their guests. An open tab enables guests to buy or purchase things without feeling the guilt of overspending. Poolside snacks, open bars, special pampering, and entertainment – it all feels free when you’re not handing the cash over every time. To most people, this sounds [...]
Hot Stairway
Temple Buell Hall, a building at the University of Illinois, has a Southern stairwell and a Western stairwell that overheat majority of the time. This is a disadvantage to me because I am very sensitive to extreme temperature changes. When I go from hot to cold weather, I have a tendency to faint. Another way [...]
Dorm Bathrooms
Communal bathrooms present many negative issues for their users, along with creating efficiency of space. In the past it was standard practice in student housing design to incorporate communal bathrooms that include sinks, toilets and separate shower facilities. These facilities require users to enter with a “shower caddy” full of their toiletries needed for bathing. [...]
Heavy Doors – Illini Union at the University of Illinois Campus
I am not a frail person by any means – but every time I go to open a door at the Illini Union I feel like I am back in high school gym class participating in a strength evaluation test. A number of the older buildings on campus have heavy doors like this. I know [...]
Disadvantaged by Landscape Design
The Gateway Geyser is located at the riverfront of East St. Louis, right across St Louis’ famed Gateway Arch, and was completed in 1995 at a cost of $4 million. The geyser soars to 630 feet high, with four auxiliary fountains sitting around which represent the four rivers in St. Louis area. It is claimed [...]
Staff Health/Safety vs. Patient Wellbeing
It is a well-known fact that the general population in America is become more and more obese. Ceiling mounted lifts are quickly becoming an important addition to every hospital room. These lifts, which often run on tracks, carry patients from their bed to the bathroom, lifts a patient up to other equipment, etc. From a [...]
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