Colorado State's Interior Design Students Showcase Barrier-Free Designs March 21-22
Monday, March 10, 1997
FORT COLLINS--Colorado State University's annual Barrier-Free Design
Contest
provides design students the opportunity to help break down barriers not only
for wheelchair
users, but for all of us.
The contest, in its 10th year, showcases barrier-free designs of
buildings by teams of
students from the department of design, merchandising and consumer sciences
in the College
of Applied Human Sciences. While the concept of barrier-free design addresses
legal
requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, students go one step
further by planning
and designing structures that eliminate barriers for pregnant women, people
with broken legs,
people with baby strollers, those with permanent or temporary disabilities
and anybody who
appreciates greater convenience, comfort and universal access to buildings.
"The contest was especially challenging to students this year because
design
requirements included a first-floor retail area and second-floor residential
housing," said
Vanessa Williams, staff assistant in the Office of Resources for Disabled
Students. "In
addition, design elements needed to include overall effects the structure
would have on the
neighborhood. This year, the site was a parcel of land near Lee Martinez
Park." Williams
coordinated the contest with staff assistant Erika Burgeson.
Winners will be announced at an awards and recognition ceremony 6-8
p.m. March 20
in the West Ballroom of the Lory Student Center. All contest entries will be
on display. The
event, hosted by the Office of Resources for Disabled Students, is open to
the public.
Awarded designs will be on display from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. March 21 in the
Lory
Student Center Sunken Lounge. The top five winning designs will be displayed
all day
March 22 in the Foothills Fashion Mall, 215 E. Foothills Parkway. Nineteen
student teams
competed for the top honors.
A judging panel selected the winning designs Feb. 28. Members of the
panel included
representatives from the local business community; the departments of design,
merchandising
and consumer sciences, occupational therapy and manufacturing technology and
construction
management; and the Office of Resources for Disabled Students.
The contest is part of Disability Awareness Days, which runs March 17-
21 at Colorado
State. The continuing awareness campaign, this year titled "Don't DIS My
Ability," is
sponsored by the Office of Resources for Disabled Students.
For more information on the Barrier-Free Design Contest or other
programs that
highlight disability-awareness issues, contact the Office of Resources for
Disabled Students at
(970) 491-6385; or Brian Dunbar, assistant professor of interior design, at
(970) 491-5041.
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