An investigation into the extent to which experiential universal design is being integrated in selected public buildings in Kampala.

Abstract

Many people will have a disability at some stage in their lives. For some the disability will be temporary,while others may be affected for a lifetime,in Ward (1979).15% of the world’s population, experience some form of disability, and this is mainly in developing countries like Uganda. The united nations convention on rights of persons with disabilities and other international organizations have come up with guidelines to help in the in creating a built environment that can be used comfortably by all users to the greatest extent regardless of one’s gender, age or ability or disability. The government of Uganda in collaboration with other organizations have also come up with policies and laws to support and encourage the design of a comfortable environment for P.W.D.s,but despite all these efforts there are still so many gaps because many buildings are very inaccessible. Even the few people that have embraced designing for P.W.D.s,some are doing it as a way of escapism and only tackling the functional aspects of design and little attention has been put in aspects like aesthetics and the experience of the user yet this is what good architecture is about. This research focused on investing the extent to which the principles of experiential universal design and how these principles have been integrated in selected public buildings in Kampala by reviewing the available literature on the subject matter, making observation, use of photography , having interviews with P.W.D.s, architects and organizational leaders The research went ahead to find out why some designers and developers have not embraced experiential universal design and also gave some recommendations on what should be done to encourage experiential universal design.