A
Assistant Professor
Institute of Architecture and Space
Roberta Cassi
Architecture shapes how people participate, belong, and experience quality of life. Through my work, I investigate both existing and emerging approaches to creating more inclusive and supportive spaces, understanding how architecture can respond to diverse human needs and contribute to more equitable and meaningful experiences.
Relevant projects
FILM: Places and Small Pleasures
The short film Places and Small Pleasures features four disabled persons and unfolds their positive spatial experiences – small pleasures – at four different locations in Copenhagen. They take us to their favourite places and their narratives highlight the extraordinary in the quotidian. At the intersection of architecture and disability, the framing is almost always negative. Too often, the focus is on problems for disabled people, who are reduced to the label of ‘not normal’ or defined by an aberrant lack of ability. With this film, showcasing their delight and unique relationships with the places, we wish not only to understand how the environment relates to the feeling of pleasure in architectural space, but also to explore alternative ways of thinking about disability.
Film concept: Masashi Kajita, Jacob Yoon Egeskov Nossell, Louise Mclaughlin, Peter Græsbøll Holm and Roberta Cassi
Filming and editing: Claus Brondbjerg Erichsen
ANTHOLOGY: Universal Design as a Tool for Change
Universal Design as a Tool for Change is a collection of cross-disciplinary essays that explore Universal Design (UD) as a creative path to reimagining and transforming society, institutions, bodies, mindsets, and relations across scholarly fields and societal contexts.The contributions to this anthology reflect the work of the Bevica Foundation Interdisciplinary Research Network - an interdisciplinary group of researchers based in Denmark that aims to support new critical understandings of Universal Design.
The contributions show how UD has moved from a primarily rights-based framework to a value-based approach, drawing creatively from diverse disciplinary fields and practices. This work specifically calls for reflexivity, curiosity, and creative ways of thinking to bring disability from the periphery to the centre of attention in research and practice.
Edited by: Høj Mathiasson Mia, Skovgaard Worm Thomas, Hemming Pedersen Leif, Borsotti Valeria and Cassi Roberta
PODCAST: Universal Design and....
Hosted by Jos Boys, this podcast explores different ways of re-thinking the concept of Universal Design. The aim is to explore the many collaborations with practitioners, researchers, educators and students at the Academy, and to capture and share what we learnt about engaging more creatively with issues of disability, access and inclusion.
The second episode "Universal Design and… making better buildings and places" discusses how we can map existing barriers to universal design in rich and creative ways, connecting to current projects on the Royal Danish Academy, to better inform a more accessible future for disabled people.
Guests: Marcus Aminaka Wilmont (fashion designer and educator, Royal Danish Academy), Olga Popovic Larsen (architect and educator, Royal Danish Academy) Roberta Cassi (architect and researcher, Royal Danish Academy) Adam Linden Neilsen (research and teaching assistant, Royal Danish Academy) Masashi Kajita (research cluster lead, architect and educator, Royal Danish Academy)