For our online users, we are on a break. Our second session will start here in room one. On behalf of the working team and the conference presenters, I would like to welcome you to the conference and hope that you will enjoy the sessions. I will put up a URL for you. Our next presenter will be Regina Cohen, and she is from Brazil. Welcome all internet users to the Ohio State University conference. We are pleased that you're joining us, and we will be starting the next presentation in just a few minutes. You will be able to text your comments, text your questions in, and students who are at computers will be able to bring them up to the presenters for you. We will handle as many questions as we possibly can. Thank you for joining us. As I I understand it from our intranet users, the animation for this session will be available after when you see it archived on the internet. Reason being it is quite a large file. We are able to get it to the audience onsite, but you will definitely be able to see it when you look at the archives. Archives will start being available probably on Monday. For those who have just joined us, welcome to the Ohio State University conference. Our next presenter is setting upright now. There will be a slight delay. Stand by. Good morning, Robert and everyone. I am Pat seed from Canada. I am hosting you for this part of the internet conference. We welcome all of you, and we're glad you could join us, and we know that you will enjoy the conference. We are at a short break between sessions right now. Regina Cohen from Brazil is getting set up to do her presentation. The live audience will be able to see the presentation. However, the presentation was too large to put on the internet, and so it will be available in the archives, and the archives will be available starting on Monday. Anyone who wish to say make any comments or particularly ask questions, you can text your questions in and students will bring them up to the presenters. We will handle as many questions as we possibly can within the time limitations as we have in order to keep presentations on schedule. Thank you for joining us. In this break if you would like to try out your text messaging if you haven't done so, feel free to say good morning to everyone, and you will know whether your text messaging works. Good morning, Mark. We see you. Good day from Nebraska. I hope it is not as hot there as it is here. It is going up to about 90 today in Ontario, Canada. A few people typed in hello. We thank you very much for doing that. Hello to Toronto. Hello from Michigan. Tri lake center for independence. Good work. Yes, Diana, that's something I definitely believe from is ipd peninsula. For those of you who have just joined us, we are waiting for our next presentation, and the presenter is setting upright now. You will not be able to see the presentation, but you will be able to hear the audio. The presence will be able to be seen as an archive starting on Monday. We encourage to you stay and listen to the audio so that you can ask any questions that you have in text mode. Students will bring them up to the presenters, and we'll handle as many questions as we can. Yes, you will be able to hear the audio once it begins. Yes, you will be able to see and hear the presentation in the archive version. You're welcome. Glad you joined us. Not for this particular session. That is going to be going on next. We have 34 people in the room right now, and if you would like to view everyone's name, though you cannot send individual messages, you can scroll on your screen, and you will see all of the names. One quick way, press ALT-Y. That might bring you to the chat display window, and next to that you will see the -- just to the right of that you will see the attendees list. Let me know if you see that. If you go to the list of your applications, you should find the list of applications on your task bar, and you should be able to click on the conference room 1. If you are having difficulty getting back to the room window, you can -- in the break because we have it, go out of the room and come back in, and you will then hopefully be at your welcome page. Welcome screen.
We will be hearing today from Ms. Cohen who is speaking with research and accessibility and universal design in Brazil. A professor at Ohio State University.
Hi, I am Jack Nasar. I want to welcome you all to Columbus and Ohio State University. I want to also apologize for this room arrangement. It is both good news and bad news. First of all, let me check, can people in the back hear me? You can hear me. Can we get the volume turned up on these things a little bit? Can you hear me yet? You can't hear me in the back yet? You can hear back there okay? What we're going to be doing is moving additional seats up around the edge here. As I said, we're thrilled to have you here in Columbus, welcome you. When Jennifer and I started planning this, we were worried about the attendance. We were hoping we could get between 50 and 100 people. It turns out we have 130 people onsite. We have 70 people participating at a distance with us. We have representatives from 31 states in the United States and seven countries. We're thrilled to have you all here and participating in this conference. If you have any questions or needs for help at all, please come to Jennifer or myself. You will also see some people with stars on their badges. They are people, students who are helping us out with the conference. Approach them as well. We want to make this as good an experience for you as we can. We hope the weather cooperates a little bit and let's you get some time to explore the city of Columbus and explore the campus. There are lots of good things for you to see, lots of good restaurants and things for you to visit. Let me get turned back to the conference. A few little details. We're going to be having a book exhibit which will be hoping this afternoon, and there is a display in our exhibition space right around the corner here being put on by Roberta NUL L, the universal design exhibit. The book display and that room will be open during breaks and closing during sessions because the books are basically from the University, so we have to keep watch over them. Oh, yes, room numbering and the bathroom location, so we announced this earlier. I will read it for those of you who did not hear it, this new building has some qirks in design, and, yes, shocking. What a surprise. Let me explain to you how the numbering system works. I am really interested in (indiscernible) finding, and I think itat people should actually be able to find their way around the building. This building does not allow you to do that. The normal way you would number spaces, at least for the U.S., is you have odd numbers on the right, even numbers on the left and they go up in sequence, the way you experience them on the street. The original numbering system for this design was set up that way with a sort of building split in half, and an architect looked at that system and said that's not good. They actually renumbered it so it goes sequentially up this side of the building getting larger and numbers come back this side of the building and getting larger. Anyhow, the rooms 175, one of the rooms you will be going for smaller sessions is up this ramp to your left. 195 is over this way. So as you move along this side of the building, the numbers increase. I don't think you have any reason to visit offices, but they increase going that way as well. Room 250, one of the big spaces that we'll be using is all the way up at the end of this ramp on the top left there. The rest rooms, another qirk of the building, the men's room is this end. Ladies room is down at this end. If you go up a floor, the one floor above this one is the ladies room down at this end, men's room at this end. Instead of alternating it, it does two floors. There will be two floors of men's rooms and two floors of ladies rooms. Very peculiar. Anyhow, on this floor men go that way, ladies go this way to get to the rest room of el free to ask me if you forget the instructions where they are. Let me get onto introducing our speaker. I was at a conference in Sydney, Australia, and I saw a presentation of this material from Brazil, and I thought it was fabulous, and I wanted to make sure we got it for this conference, and so I contacted them, and they were willing to present it at the conference. I am going to be introducing Regina Cohen who is going to be the next speaker, is an architect and associate professor at the School of Architecture and urbanism, the University of Rio de Janeiro, post graduate program in urbanism, doctor of cosology -- she coordz the discipline for specifications for the project, is one of the coordinators for the research center on accessibility and universal design, nucleo pro, access. They have won a host of awards for the work they've done in presenting this material at various international conferences. Some of the awards come from the European association of architecture education, and several scientific papers which I won't list here. They have done work on accessibility and universal design consultant projects in urban spaces and buildings for government, governmental organizations. Let me introduce Regina Cohen who will be talking about research and teachings of accessibility and universal design in Brazil, hindrances and challenges in a developing country. Please join me in welcoming Regina Cohen.
Can you hear me, everybody? I prepare a presentation about what we are doing in Brazil on research and teaching of accessibility and universal design at the University of Rio de Janeiro. I prefer to read because of my English is completely different, is completely different (indiscernible). I prefer to read because I not make so many mistakes. First of all, I want to thank Jack Mather and the Ohio University. My students will help me to do this presentation for you. I am a Brazilian arc secretary working with accessibility since 1987 when I had a car accident and became a person with disability. In 1999 I presented my presentation on urbanism considering the issue of accessibility in our country with a study of the city of Rio de Janeiro and the real city (indiscernible). Since then I created process with my client (indiscernible). What we call the accessibility nucleoprocess (inaudible). (inaudible). The biggest and most important federal University in Brazil. I will present you some of our conclusions on accessibility and universe at design and challenges (indiscernible) in a developing country as ours.
Here is a summary of what I am going to tell you with some examples of urban accessibility found in our cities and development of (indiscernible). I will try to concentrate on the third bullet which is research, ex tense ziff are they better experience. I will also show some of our results trying to get to major conclusion. So disability accessibility in universal design. How many persons with disability are there in our country. According to the last study in 2,000 there is 14% of population with some kind of disability which means 180 million inhasbeen taint, 25 million persons with some kind of disability or difficulty. How many persons with disability are there? Consider it is only necessary to find one single person excluded from social gatherings in spaces to question the social function of public areas. Now I will show some examples in the main street. Here is the city of SAO PAULO. The picture on the left shows the entrance of a station and why it is a ramp and some persons with disability trying to use it. Next, please. KURITIBA adopted very good solution as platforms to wait inside, but walking on street is not so very easy as you can see on the picture right below. It is example of (indiscernible) for blind people on pedestrian sidewalk. BELEM. This is avery poor example but I needed to show you. It has (indiscernible) to build ramps in the city. In the northern part of the country, it is a poor city, and what you see in the picture, I call it (indiscernible). It is really is no area connecting anything to what I really -- (inaudible) it is what they have done there. VITORIA is very pleasant city implementing the marketing of good solution for what they call the (indiscernible). Now I will tell you about the city of Rio de Janeiro, my own city, and I can talk better about my own city. Here we have some situations -- the features of the city -- (inaudible). I will tell you about this feature on the screen. This feature shows 1991 the first moment of awareness in the city of Rio where ramps were built to cross the long side of the beaches. We have almost 20-kilometers of beaches. (inaudible) 1981 was the first moment that (inaudible). Here also in the city of Rio de Janeiro three years later after that first experience (inaudible) represented an organization with measures trying to change our urban reality in the main axis of 14 districts in the city. Here we have some good urban ramps in a successful area. This project was the study of a (indiscernible) promoted by the (indiscernible). Also I have -- I will explain the graphic, the picture of the graphic. The urban intervention shows the process in which (indiscernible). 9 graphic shows prior to it is not there. 52% of persons with disabilities, 49% consider that every day life (indiscernible) but some of them did not see (indiscernible). We can see on the beaches some paradoxes why I need to explain a (indiscernible) in the middle of a romp, a street in the middle of a ramp, and a lamp post in the middle of the crossing street area. Oh, I had some pictures about (indiscernible) but they're not there. Even so, Rio de Janeiro is well known as the most beautiful city in the world, and I must agree with this. Yes. Don't you believe me? You are entitled to your opinion. I love my city. It is really a very beautiful city, and accessibility (indiscernible) forever, and it is only becoming better, but we have a long way to go. What happens in the country in 2004, the Brazilian government create the accessible Brazilian program which is implementing some other changes on small and big cities all around . Now considering all of this we created the accessibility research (indiscernible) 1991. It is a research teaching and design group that wants accessibility in universal design linking to the program in architecture in Brazil Rio de Janeiro. Our group was experience in the country searching strategies for the creation of accessible spaces for all. I myself developed the first accessibility research, and I believe that with this group, this research group, since we are doing so many things that I will try to show. Our concept in our activities of research, teaching and (indiscernible) we use seven concepts. Accessibility, universal design, accessible, environmental experience, spacial exclusion developed by (indiscernible), social (indiscernible) and advantage. For this we could count on the work of some twelve known authors such as (indiscernible), (indiscernible), (indiscernible). I show some of these concepts. First of all, the main concept of course accessibility is to show the definition of the Brazilian (indiscernible) use building space (indiscernible). I don't believe that it is not so clear. Can you see the picture? Who cannot see? It is a ramp, and we don't have independence to use this ramp, and I use this, and let me just explain almost in all the pages (inaudible). I would n-- I would prefer to be carried on the stairs case and not this ramp. This is not a ramp.
I know we are in the United States, and this concept may be well known by all of you, just to tell that for a long time we've been -- the physical barriers, we are talking about barrier free design but now we preer to talk about universal design. This is well known by all. The accessibility route is a very important concept. Next, please. Spear spacial exclusion. This was a concept developed by (indiscernible) space as an actor that deals with users excluding or including them in spacial interfaces. An example can be given to an elderly person feels when walking on uneven streets. The tiredness is a poor invitation to the pleasure of enjoying places and going there and being excluded from the urban environment. And what will happen, the spacial exclusion. Then represents a social exclusion. It can be segregation of people with disability. Did know (inaudible) this picture shows a person in wheelchair from a place they wanted to be in the city. The disadvantage concept can result from environmental conditions, something that places want in certain circumstances, the stairways on the right, this is the stairways of one of the schools in our University, but the spatial (indiscernible) and environmental conditions on the street in the picture, there are some steps. In the slum, this is a slum in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It also represents a physical and social disadvantage. The slum in the city with many problems. Now we see a person on wheelchair with complication, and I ask you what is the factor responsible for disadvantage? The disability? The condition of contestants or the inclination of the track. A better situation of a person on wheelchair on same competition, this is a one-way. What is the factor responsible for this Victory? Disability? The physical condition of contestants or the inclination of the track? Can you answer me? Next picture, please. The possible answer is that space itself is disabled and not the person. Many of the limitations of persons with disabilities are due to a disability of built spaces in gathering differences rather than the lack of ability those people have. The stairs in the picture left put person on wheelchair in a disadvantaged situation, but on the other side a ramp gives the necessary entrance. And considering all of this concepts and all what I explained now, we developed in our research group some research projects that we were presented with a few awards. Access ibilityd to the academic spaces of teaching and research was the first big and complete accessibility project done in the country. In the research project, accessibility to public spaces be (indiscernible) with important buildings in the city of Rio, and accessibility to schools we are talking about education, special education, but akeessibility to schools is a project under development and with a big amount of that we (indiscernible) some of our accessibility and last but not least, there are some projects in architecture discertificatend -- those are some situations found in our own University, the problems that many see. This picture, so you can see. I explain, this is our school of architecture in Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. You can see this school of architecture, the entrance has stairs case, and we are trying to change this. Some findings in classrooms with so many stairses, the feature is a (indiscernible) and the school of architecture is -- I will show you. With all of this and more than 1,000 graphs, plans and designs, we've been (indiscernible) and the direct or of the University to develop a strategic plan during the next years and making all the units of our University successful, but it is yet a dream. (inaudible) we are changing and I hope we will change. Next, please. Just to show the research about accessibility to public spaces, considering here to the nearer points of access to sidewalks. This shows the municipal council of assembly men of Rio de Janeiro, an important -- where the city laws of the city, inner both (indiscernible). In the picture we can see the problems. In 2004 this building I tried to (indiscernible) representing the city as a blue print, and when I look at that, this building where if I the direction of the center, I needed to improve that accessibility for disabilities the (inaudible).
This is a picture of the building of the industry of education and it is an important building in the city also an important building because of the institutional presentation and it is a signal of the first modern architectural building, and it is a very important building in the country and in the city of Rio. Sorry. We are having problems with this. Not only the (inaudible) the traffic. It let's us see the importance of (indiscernible). Our research has also revealed that most of the spaces in the city are seen by persons with disability as a path to be tracked rather than a place to be experienced. Accessibility to schools, some pekts of children in schools -- pictures of children in schools. Here the way to develop the project is the map of the surroundings of one school in Rio, the differences and the service around and the search for accessible routes to get to the building. Here some picture of a school, narrow sidewalks in some sections of the building, parking problems all around in pictures like these, (indiscernible). Some pictures here of the school around, and need special doors and projects without any inclination on the floor and so on. And with all of this research projects and findings we have the necessity to develop an instrument as a tool analysis. Here is the official chart developed by (indiscernible) for the necessities of each research. We have this to ours (indiscernible) of institutions, tourist places and some others. The original chart you will find 46 elements. In this example for better understanding I will try to explain the first problem is the number of the research item, not the (indiscernible). Second problem, the situation of rules, laws and recommendations. (indiscernible). This is developed for our research projects there. So we had to develop one chart for each element. They're altogether. We have one and others for -- we are using this chart on our research project. Next.
Social spatial inclusion of children with special needs to ride in spaces,
Captioner: Audio was lost.
Oh, I want tell you that this was (indiscernible). I outlined the use of recreational spaces. I made an analysis of the ush ab perception of movement in the different Brazilian cities, and (indiscernible) (indiscernible). This is some pektsres of Brazilian cities that were part of my research. This is another ex tense ziff project, and I am not sure if it is the same. Those projects not -- it was an accessibility guide book. This picture on this slide shows the museum where people with disabilities can -- the objective of the guide back was to give information on accessibility in Brazil. This picture shows an experiment done, the example of a tourist city made for all. With this research project we could find accessibility guide books from many cities around the world. We began to do this guide back in the city of Rio de Janeiro, and we got a simple, beautiful and accessible map which can be easily held by a person even with disability. There is a legend for people with (indiscernible). Can you understand? Okay for all of you? Oh, this is a slide of the layout of the summary we created. Next one, please. A sample of one of the pages we really try to enter in the guide back, but we didn't succeed. Also the city where we begun our research. Some of the pictures in the museum in Rio de Janeiro not only in the country, but (indiscernible) of the country, and this feature was -- the slide was made in the building called the public museum, the local of the capitol where the President stayed here, the capitol is not here any more. Some of the beaches there. This is the picture who has been in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, a picture of me there. This is the most beautiful place in the city of Rio de Janeiro. It is not a reality. (indiscernible). It is not a reality. I am there, but we have means to get there, but even so, we certainly believe in the social impact of this work which will be information about the access of persons with disabilities and also permit that the urban population can live with the human diversity inside the city spaces. I tried to go -- this is some of our friends from France . It is another version. This is a project for children with special needs, extensive project develop and producing the accessibility -- (indiscernible) in Rio de Janeiro, but like many other projects, because of political reasons we could not accomplish this project, but together we fled a lot of information to develop drawings and sketches. The project was not implemented. I will talk make a few comments about our experience, and we have the discipline there (indiscernible) where (indiscernible). The conference, spatial experience, the person with disability should talk of their experience and the design, the process of designing accessible projects. We are showing the experience. The features on the school of architecture, the students on wheelchairs trying to (indiscernible). Here was the spatial experience, the museum in the city of Rio. What I like to say that it is really interesting the spatial and psychological feelings of the students . (inaudible) the attitudes, the feeling of being seen by other as someone -- these are experience and detail of (indiscernible). (inaudible).
Okay. They have cleared the audio in the room right now. If you would like to type any questions, we will try and see if they can be answered for you. We apologize for the microphone feedback that most of you heard. We also have been invited by the historical institute. They have many historical buildings, beautiful buildings in the country, and they request us to look at adapting buildings, and all of this happened in the last two weeks, and the results are coming, and we hope we can continue, and I believe that if we have (indiscernible) in the historical buildings, the two different projects will be very good, and inside the University we really believe, we hope, each direction for the -- each President of the University promised the University would change, and we begin to do programs and start to seeing change, and I don't want to be (indiscernible). We are having positive things happening around the country and telling about my city of Rio de Janeiro, and we have things happening, and persons can have a more satisfactory experience. I will want talk too much more. This was another project for architects. (indiscernible) in Northeast -- I will talk more about the did ITIC experience. We had students doing projects on accessibility from 2003 to 2005 and we had 11 graduation projects on accessibility. This is real change in the country. This is one of the projects for association of persons with physical disability from students. This was project of accessible -- from arc secretaries all around the country. The person fl needing the access ibilityd to the house, and it was really interesting. Here the picture developed this was a research for the historical building. This isn't an historical building. It is a museum. The project is called architect (indiscernible). This is not -- this is not a good ramp, but it is the (indiscernible) asthetics of the building not the disability . The two ramps, the ramp on the left is of an architect institution, and the ramp on the right they need to learn about the ramps and how to do it, and in the Brazilian city, there are ramps -- changes in mind. This is also important to the city and important to see changes in social awareness and as outlined, people trying to be in neighborhood affairs because they are part of a system of relations. A goal is to let people to get in contact with spaces in the city using their bodies and make places able to give them a satisfactory spatial experience. This picture is a woman moving freely. This other picture shows a person in wheelchair on the street in New York City, a city which they say doesn't sleep and everyone wants to be a part of it. I plan to go to New York, and I hope it will be okay, I am sure, and it is necessary to find strategies (indiscernible) for a person to participate more in the spaces, for pleasure, service, and future activities (indiscernible). The most important for me during all this experience teaching and trying to change scenery was visits and the consideration of a student, I wasen chanted with the -- (indiscernible). For us architects, it becomes an (indiscernible). This student is now an architect, and for two years ago, I met him, and he is now aware of the importance of accessibility. I hopeonally hope that our activities that we have professionals and Brazilians in other country go in and (indiscernible), the social impact and the ability of living with diversity is important to every single person in society. Thanks for your attention. You are invited to go to Brazil to the city of ree ree and to know mostly our work in the city and Rio de Janeiro and (indiscernible).
(inaudible). I also told that we need to keep positive. (inaudible). It is easy to make plan, but then it is not to easy, so I open for questions. Are there accessibility standards in Brazil?
Accessibility standards. We have the first accessibility rules in 1995, and in 1999 we change it, and in 2004 we change, and we have good (indiscernible) standards, but the problem is to go ahead with them, and now together with the standards we have the important law in the city, the most important law in the country, and we had so many (indiscernible) to make the law and the standards (inaudible).
What of new construction? The standards are not the law, but the law is (indiscernible) new construction, and now what is happening in the country with new federal law, it is a federal law is the most big to start the building to everything. This is the very big law, and the law was in 2004, but now and only now we are discussing with the public (indiscernible) looking for the responsibility of the new law, and the search of the institute of our architects (indiscernible) that I told you is to the buildings research, what they are doing, what they are changing, and this is what I told you that I believe this is going to be exchange. We search for to make a organization in the buildings and to look at the -- what they are changing and what they are doing. The law told that in five years (indiscernible) efforts, and the buildings I don't know, and I don't remember how many there is, but we have smp that I hoped it will change. Just last week -- (indiscernible) when I get to Brazil I have a lot of work to do.
We're going to alternate the online questions. Mayor of (indiscernible) is praised for invow evaluation and for accessibility and urban design (inaudible).
The innovation and accessibility and the universal design is accessibility in general and (indiscernible). The city, the measure of the city, who knows the example? The Mayor used to be an architect, and is President of the international association of architects, and the (indiscernible) the solutions are not so good. No, I don't believe it is not (indiscernible) the -- I don't know, but we have solution (indiscernible) and we don't see access ibilityd and it is not seen as a global solution that everything needs to be together.
(inaudible).
He was asking about changing (indiscernible) from the professionals, the architects, designers and planners in my country. I try to answer, and this is my point of view. In working with accessibility there for fourteen years, and we were fighting as a person with disability and as an architect I also try to change, but my point of view now is just to change my attitude. We are planning to give courses for architects. We are planning to act together with the institute of Brazilian architect, and having been -- (indiscernible) something that I am really wondering that this is what -- but what I believe of many accessibility information there with the construction, the transport transportation in the city, and they are very (indiscernible), and we need to change, and we need a strategy to change minds, and this is what I am planning to do. I need to change my own professional activity.
We'll have one more question from online since people are here. One more question. If people are here you can press the speaker.
This is an important, very important question. Slide shows deal with wheelchair access, what about (indiscernible) and how to (indiscernible). In the beginning of our works there, in the University we begun to work with persons with physical disability, it was really something that we needed to choose to make something that we couldn't do everything at the same time. Now we are really working with the person with the disability -- and I am sorry that the picture doesn't show -- the pictures don't show this, but we are working with this disability and also with this disability and even it is not on the pictures.
Thank you, Regina. We'll take a break.