DESIGNING SPACES EMPATHETICALLY

The design of all the spaces will need to be designed to be welcoming for people of all socioeconomic statuses. The best way to do that is through specific research and intentional evidence-based design. In order for this project to be well-integrated into the site and supportive of it, there must be public engagement and empathy. This ensures that people feel welcomed and represented.

This can also occur in the form of using familiar materials to the location of the site that allows the user to feel welcomed and comfortable. Another element of designing empathetically is employing universal design strategies that can incorporate different furniture types that can accommodate a wide array of needs.

This will occur in the project by taking special care to focus on empathetic design practices such as being: human-centric (focusing on being cognitively empathetic), individual and communal-sensitive (appealing to both individuals and the community at large), justice-oriented (making the spaces equitable and comfortable for all), and values-based consistent (creating the spaces to be flexible and meeting the focuses of the designers and stakeholders in the project).