Universal Design is political: Graduate wins grant to look into age-inclusive environments

Graduate in architecture, Bushra Tellisi, Tellisi recently won the first prize in the Bevica Scholarship Award for her project, 'Learning from Intergenerational and Inclusive Elderly Care in Japan', which aims to explore how Japan's elderly care system can be applied to other cultures. She was drawn to this topic because of the significant differences in elderly care across different cultural and healthcare systems worldwide.

Bushra Tellisi was personally inspired to work with the area, because of her experience and cultural background. Her family have roots in Libya, where elders are celebrated and more integrated in family life. She has noticed how this is different from northern European Cultures, where elders are more hidden away. 

“The main thing that I thought was quite interesting, at least from my experience, was that elderly care in a lot of Northern European countries is very different from other parts of the world. But is this because of culture, or how we have built our cities?” She asks. “That is one thing I’d like to explore.”

Her pitch originally only focused on Japan, but with the scholarship of 350.000 DKK she is considering also looking into southern European cultures, like Italy and parts of North Africa.

Universal Design is political

With a scholarship of this size, the options are many, but for Bushra Tellisi it is also important to be immersed in a culture, to really understand it. Something that is also an echo of her studies at the Royal Danish Academy.

Busha Tellisi graduated from the Master’s programme 'Political Architecture: Critical Sustainability' in the summer of 2025. 

She took her Bachelor’s degree in Architecture at the University of Cambridge, where buildings were at the centre. It left her with a great technical foundation, but something seemed to be missing. 

"I think there was something in my Bachelor's that I really missed. It felt like we were creating designs without having the context of what was appropriate for certain places.”

What really attracted her to the programme of 'Political Architecture: Critical Sustainability was indeed this focus on context. On humans and the way, they use the buildings and places. 

"Culture and architecture are intertwined and I think that Universal Design should prioritize inclusivity and accessibility. Political Architecture was very focused on ethnographic fieldwork and learning from other knowledge environments. I will for sure use this in my scholarship project.”

“In a sense, Universal Design is also political. Let’s think of its opposite; architecture and design that does not include everyone. That would be exclusive architecture.” 

Bushra really appreciates the ambitions of Universal Design and is exploring what it means in each context, for example how it allows people to participate freely. On the other hand, she is also identifying tensions in the concept.  

“There are contradictions within Universal Design that I find fascinating; the same accommodations that makes someone included, can exclude others. So, there’s a question of, can one size fit all?”

Architects need to be able to communicate and engage

After her studies, Bushra Tellisi secured a job within communications and graphic design, where she used her studies more indirectly. But it does mean she puts great emphasis on communication. 

Looking at communication skills as an important asset, is also a nod to her studies at 'Political Architecture: Critical Sustainability'. 

“I think there's a real asset to communication. As architects we might be able to design the most amazing buildings, but if we don’t know how to engage with the public or talk to other stakeholders, I think there's a real barrier. So right now, I'm learning skills that aren't necessarily how to design a building, but it feels like it's adding to my overall competences,” she says. 

During the next few months, Bushra will finalize her plans for the scholarship and plan her travels with the help of the Bevica Foundation. She plans to document the project and the findings.