Codes+

Following our experiments with codes, ergonomics and proxemics a few issues of our designs have been revealed but we have also learned something new about the way people are thanks to the research we preformed. For example we discovered that people are generally comfortable having a space of about four feet between them and people they do not know which interestingly enough has effected our original estimates as to how many people could use the benches provided in our bus stop. Proxemics also helped us to realize that in a counseling situation the distance between where the doctor and patient would normally sit may in fact create a little tension between them due to the discomfort felt. In codes themselves we saw a number of handicap accessible features are not built to code to better allow the mobility of handicapped people.
We think that designers should always be open to change. In fact we as designers should embrace change, it may take away some sort of element you were going for but it could also create the possibility of an even better element to your design. Codes may seem like a burden but they exist to help make sure that no one is left out and if you have a great design you would’t really want to leave some one out. We will all be effected by codes at some point or another, at some points we may not be happy about codes affecting our design but other times codes will help us form a better connection with the people we are actually designing for, everyone is different and your architecture needs to be able to react to that, other wise it will be a failure and it will lose its intent.





For the Codes+ project we had to look at Codes, Ergonomics, and Proxemics as they applied to our Shelter/Bus and Bus/Shelter project models. These are my sketches, for more, see Kevin and Heather's blogs.




This is the entrance to the Shelter/Bus created as a shelter. The codes for a wheel chair ramp were applied to the model making it 60" wide and 36" long.




This is a diagram that shows one of the doorways in the Shelter/Bus for medical care. The door was widened 12" from the existing doorway to allow for two-way flow of traffic.









This diagram shows the Bus/Shelter. The roof had to be extended in order for there to be 60"of covered space for a wheelchair bound person to wait for the bus. The column that goes through the shelter for support was moved so that someone who is wheel chair bound is included in the shelter instead of being seperated from the other waiting passengers.





The table heights in the Shelter/Bus for shelter had to be lowered in order to acomodate those that are in wheel chairs. The green shows the new height at 33".








This is a diagram showing the pathway through the Shelter/Bus for medical attention. The space is 8 feet wide, and has plenty of space to provide the required 60" turning radius need for wheel chairs- this should be kept in mind when furnishings are added to the space later on.