Architecture and Autism. Sensory Perception and Independent Living

Autistic Spectrum Disorder – ASD – is a developmental disorder estimated to affect 1 out of 160 children. It involves repetitive behaviour, a lack of communication skills, a complex sensory perception, and individual peculiarities. ASD begins in childhood and tends to persist into adolescence and adulthood. For some ASD individuals, it is possible to live independently, but housing services for special needs conventionally deal with issues of physical access and rarely with their complex and sensory needs. This paper aims to produce an overview of what has been characterized on the overall sensory perception of ASD individuals. Furthermore, the European SENSHome Project is presented.

The paper discusses the typologies of facilities for young and adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder within Italian context, the methodology applied by Sapienza University team in this field of research, and in conclusion, it shows a “best practice” to aid the transition of autistic young adults into the labour market. The paper underlines the importance of the research in this specific field, with the aim to identify the building requirements based on the users’ needs.

The text illustrates the first steps of some research conducted within the European SENSHome project on living environments and indoor spaces for adults and young adults on the autism spectrum. The aim is to understand significant aspects and methodologies offered to architects who deal with designing for autism. The study was conducted through a preliminary collection and further analysis of guidelines from all over the world. The results of the comparison lead to some critical reflections on the use of such guidelines in designing for the spectrum and suggest the need for new metaphors and paradigms to improve the quality of the design process.

Interior design studios are still too little concerned with designing for autism, instead, these issues are left to building regulations, accessibility manuals, supportive technology, or linked to the prescriptive application of guidelines. However, this approach to the design of living environments cannot suffice, since it does not take into account the multiple facets of autism in many aspects of life. In this paper, some examples will be described of design experiences of architects all over the world who have been able to mediate between the generalizations needed to build guidelines and the study of specific preferences.

People on the autism spectrum face challenges in different areas of life that can be supported by a smart home and interior design solution developed in the SENSHome project. A guideline is provided through the Human Centered Design approach, that includes methods and tools to assist the design process from the very beginning. Through workshops, the users and the context of use were considered in order to derive requirements for a comprehensive solution. Personas, which represent too a corresponding depiction of activities of daily living, risk factors, and mitigating measure served as a basis for the later development of the requirements and functionalities of the SENSHome environment.

When being commissioned to design a house for a child with Autism, the proposal went beyond the choice of colours, acoustics, safety or materials. Through a Research of Alicante University with doctors, psychologists and ASD associations, the spaces and their distribution, have been projected following a predictable route, where shortcuts and windows at different orientations help him to take decisions, understand the pass of time and recognize emotions that strengthen social skills. As it happens in his education with pictograms, each room presents the objects in a frontal view, organized from left to right, which makes it easier for him to understand the surrounding. Therefore, the house teaches him skills to order processes, such as taking off his coat and shoes when entering the house.

This paper reports on the opening intervention of the Workshop: the title, objectives and structure are explained. The study day was proposed as a multidisciplinary comparison of the relationship between architecture and autism. The starting assumption was that this is not merely a relationship necessary to improve the living conditions of autistic people and their families, but also potentially useful to broaden the possibilities and viewpoints of architecture rather than limiting them. Some theoretical references are presented to support this hypothesis, which could guide the new technical possibilities which engineering and technology can make practicable to enrich the sensitive responsiveness of architecture.

In this paper, we outline a framework for justice in design practice that escape the paradox inclusive design seems to be trapped in and introduces three tools to meet the demands it raises: Rawls’s idea of the original position, cognitive empathy, and public deliberation. We suggest that applying these tools to the design process makes sense of inclusive design as an effective design stance and allows meeting the demands for equitable use it raises.

Studies show that many autistic adults are less likely to live independently regardless of their abilities. This paper summarizes insights into the role of the built environment in the independent living of autistic people. Existing architectural research concerning autism has focused predominantly on the built environment. By contrast, our research focuses on autistics’ lived experience. The role of the built environment in autistic people’s independent living plays at different scales: from a location over the spatial organization to interior finishing and detailing. Additionally, the built environment’s design can facilitate or hamper independent living in various ways, not only through sensory qualities but also through what it affords and what it means.

Acoustics represent one of the most important comfort parameters for autistic people, their relatives and caregivers. Many design criteria of residential spaces related to autistic user describes the peculiarities of acoustic theme as their primary target. But an approach based specific acoustic parameters of international standards is still missing. For the SENSHome project, we had to figure out what the ideal interior acoustic conditions were for a space – a house – that could be autistic-friendly and, at the same time, accommodate smart support systems. The reverberation of a living space can be controlled by the insertion of sound absorbing elements of various types, but in the case of autistic users, literature suggests that it is necessary to follow the fundamental concept of “user centered design approach”.

The study day was proposed as a multidisciplinary comparison of the relationship between architecture and autism. The starting assumption was that this is not merely a relationship necessary to improve the living conditions of autistic people and their families, but also potentially useful to broaden the possibilities and viewpoints of architecture rather than limiting them. Some theoretical references are presented to support this hypothesis, which could guide the new technical possibilities which engineering and technology can make practicable to enrich the sensitive responsiveness of architecture.