What does the ideal family look like to you? | Raha Ashrafi | TEDxOmidSalon
28 Aug 2024 (15 days ago)
Ashrafi & Zaat's Architectural Firm and Design Philosophy
- Raha Ashrafi is an architect and urban designer who works with her partner, Marzieh Zaat.
- Ashrafi and Zaat's architectural firm prioritizes open communication and actively listens to the perspectives of their younger employees, even when those perspectives differ from their own.
- Ashrafi believes an ideal family creates a safe space for open dialogue, values diverse opinions, and enables all members to feel heard, understood, and respected.
- Designers, in addition to addressing the challenges presented to them, should strive to increase the number of stakeholders involved in a project.
- The speaker believes that inclusive design, which considers diverse people and preferences, should extend beyond urban spaces and into architecture.
Historical and Modern Urban Design
- Raha Ashrafi poses a question about the characteristics of an ideal city.
- Ashrafi explains that 500 years ago, cities in Iran were structured around caravanserais, bazaars, schools, and mosques, with residential spaces built in relation to these central structures.
- Ashrafi notes that public spaces in those cities were not necessarily designated roadways, but rather open areas that people used for various purposes based on their location and scale.
- Raha Ashrafi was responsible for determining access, zoning for residential, commercial, and industrial areas, and deciding the location and function of public spaces in urban planning.
- Historically, indigenous peoples created products based on available materials, customs, needs, resulting in variations between locations.
- Mass production emerged to cater to larger populations, prioritizing efficiency over individual preferences, but modern brands are finding success in incorporating customization options.
Participatory and Inclusive Design in Tehran
- Designers can customize public spaces and involve people in the decision-making process for those spaces.
- Tehran has a structure for projects where city officials identify a problem and work with designers to create a solution, but the citizens of Tehran, the rightful owners of the city, are not involved in the process and may not have their needs met by the solutions.
- This approach is similar to a patriarchal family where the father makes decisions without listening to the needs of the family members.
- People in Tehran often disregard issues in the city because they do not feel like they have ownership or the right to voice their opinions, as they are never involved in the decision-making process.
- There are different approaches to design, including participatory design, which involves people in the process, and inclusive design, which considers a diverse range of users and their needs.
- Participatory design can involve different levels of community engagement, from contributing information to participating in the design or building phases.
- Inclusive design aims to consider the needs of at least five different user groups in the design process.
- A project in Tehran aimed to add greenery to the city streets while preserving parking space.
- The project involved collaboration with residents who helped design and locate the trees.
- The project emphasized community involvement, with residents participating in data collection, construction, and ongoing maintenance.
- Inclusive design suggests that the current structure of design has problems and needs to be changed.
Case Studies in Inclusive Design
- The Silk Garden project, which was intended to address security concerns and a lack of facilities for women and children, expanded its scope to include the deaf and hard-of-hearing community living near the project site.
- Standards for the deaf were incorporated into the design of a project.
- The project in Biryank was located near a highway with noise pollution, and the goal was to design a project that addressed these challenges.
- The project near the metro station in the Golban neighborhood aimed to cater to a wider range of users, including both local residents and metro passengers.
- The speaker discusses a project located near a highway and the challenges of mitigating noise pollution.
- The design of the project aimed to create a space inclusive of different age groups and their needs, with five nodes catering to specific activities.