Critical Design in Universal Design Settings - Pedagogy turned upside down

Oct 15, 2026

Universal design is positioned as urgently needed amid humanitarian displacement, where people must resettle without shared language or cultural knowledge, and amid ageing populations requiring housing that supports long-term accessibility and safe “ageing in place” without loss of independence. With countries integrating diversity and inclusion into policy, the paper argues that future designers must be trained to respond to complex accessibility demands through critical design pedagogy in educational contexts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Universal Design

Existential designial analysis; the critical design method

Critical Design in Universal Design Settings: Pedagogy turned upside down Anne Britt Torkildsby, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology; The Norwegian Research Laboratory for Universal Design, Norway Abstract Universal design thinkers are needed now more than ever. The world is facing one humanitarian crisis after the other, forcing people to flee their homes and resettle elsewhere without knowing anything about the local language, traditions, and way of life. Moreover, an ageing population is in need of (housing) design that facilitates long-term accessibility and hence homeowners ‘ageing in place’ safely without losing their independence. Moreover, nations such as Japan, Spain, and Norway have made diversity and inclusion part of their national political agendas to ensure that future products, buildings, and exterior spaces, are inherently accessible to all. Taking all of this together, it is imperative that the next generation of designers is informed about and skilled at dealing with future challenges and demands, however complex they might be. Originally developed as a powerful tool for designers, architects, and others to explore ‘extreme environments’, such as hospitals and prisons, and the ways in which objects impinge on existential wellbeing, the critical design method is now gradually being adapted and applied to the field of universal design. Two series of workshops have been conducted to test and further develop this way of thinking about design for educational contexts. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of applying the critical design method to various universal design contexts, and to discuss the results thus far. Furthermore, the paper examines to what extent critical design is an appropriate method for questioning and improving the field of universal design. Key words critical design, universal design, design methods, educational practises, workshops, wellbeing Introduction 1.1 Universal Design According to Mace, who is credited with coining the term in the mid-eighties, ‘universal design’(UD) is “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design”(Centre for Universal Design, 2018) . In the last ten years, however, UD as a design code or philosophy has been broadened in terms of its scope to include the wider issues of subjective values such as social inclusion and selfactualisation (Zöller & Wartzack, 2017, p. 55-69) . Thus, a more recent and accurate definition is as follows: “A process that enables and empowers a diverse population by improving human performance, health and wellness, and social participation”(Steinfeld & Maisel, 2012, p. xi) . Zöller and Wartzack think along similar lines, recently proposing that UD should prioritise the objective and subjective well-being of users (2017, p. 55-69) . Moreover, because there is currently no end to the needs, wants, and desires of the public as relating to improved human performance, health and wellness, and so on (Steinfeld & Maisel, 2012, p. 90)– nor will there ever be – future UD thinkers1 should always keep their knowledge of UD current, this paper argues. Among other things, this means that academia will have to deliver consistently outstanding teaching and learning outcomes. This will be undertaken in order to equip the universal design thinkers of tomorrow – be they designers, architects, engineers, or other professionals – with novel ways of approaching the UD process. Further; what if design educators were to turn the key terms and concepts relating to UD upside down (metaphorically speaking)? This could be undertaken by implementing, early in the design process, a CDM that makes it possible for students to focus on “what it means to design for a fundamental form of being human”, rather than “what the thing we design is intended to do as we use it”(Torkildsby, 2014, p. 30) . Would students have

FAQs

Why does the paper argue that universal design education is needed now?

It links universal design to urgent humanitarian displacement, to ageing-related accessibility needs, and to national diversity and inclusion agendas that require inherently accessible products and spaces.

What is the critical design method (CDM) in this paper?

CDM is described as shifting attention from a product’s functions to its impact on users in “extreme environments,” using provocation to question and improve design practices.

How does Existential designial analysis relate to CDM?

Existential designial analysis is presented as an alternative thinking method about design in extreme environments and is summarized as a critical design method developed for contexts people cannot readily leave.

Oct 15, 2026

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