Good Morning, Good Afternoon, and Good Evening.

Where ever you are, welcome to my In-Depth introductory post! My In-Depth project is how we can design buildings that they are fully accessible to anyone with a disability.

When my family hosted a Paralympic rower from Sweden for two months, it really opened my eyes to how difficult it was for her to get around because she is in a wheelchair. I really started to notice that some trails around my house are accessible and others aren’t. This was when I really started to want to learn more and try to make a difference in the world so that people with disabilities can get around easier.

After doing my Eminent Person Project on Sir Ludwig Guttmann, who was a pioneer of Para-sports, I felt that doing something that would tie into paraplegics would keep the theme of Para-Sports running throughout the year.

I was able to find a mentor in early January. My mentor’s name is Annerieke Van Hoek, Architect AIBC, MRAIC, LEED AP, MScA, and BScA. So far, I have only been doing research because I haven’t been able to find a meeting time with my Annerieke. Some of the questions I was planning on asking in our first meeting are, “Why are cities built without people with disabilities in mind?” “Does price affect how many curb cuts, elevators, ramps, etc. are build?”

Hopefully, between now and the next blog post, I am able to set up a meeting time. If not, by backup plan will be to send my questions in an email and communicate like that.

Until next time,

Matthias