Design Symposium

Last Saturday, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to a design symposium at BYU-Idaho. 

Mary Jo Peterson (CKD, CBD, CAPS, CAASH) who specializes in universal design spoke with her husband Steven Winter (FAIA) who specializes in sustainable design. I will post more on the symposium this week for my peeps. But for now, I'll tell you two little tidbits.

The first is that we reach our optimum physical state at the age of 16. From that point, we start aging or declining physically. I know; I felt the same way. Crud! I'm old! But Mary Jo pointed out that's why universal design is so important. Universal design basically means to design for all ages, meaning a 10 year old, 20 year old, and 60 year old could all live in the same house and it will suite all of their needs.

The second is that you can hide your "universal designs". For example, she design a bathroom similar to this one:

The two rectangular tiles that flanked the toilet were hidden panels where attachments were already in place for grab bars and armrests. What a great idea! I wish I could find the picture she had of her room.

What would you design for later in life?

A robot to fix you dessert when needed?

What could you use?

Enjoy your day! 

And if you want to find out more,

visit Mary Jo here: http://www.mjpdesign.com/

visit Steven here: http://swinter.com/