Zeit als Barriere
In the common understanding of language, barriers are associated with physical hurdles: be it a wall, a rock, or a mountain range, which make it difficult for us to reach our destination, and therefore also to progress. However, as we all have had to discover increasingly during this difficult Corona pandemic, barriers are not only physical in nature. They can also be unseen and they can act psychologically – not just physically.
I explored the basic significance of time and barriers and how they relate to our lives. By reflecting on Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory and Hartmut Rosa’s notion of acceleration, the following questions presented themselves to me: can time stand in our way? Is it the same everywhere or do we move at different speeds in different places? What consequences does societal acceleration have on our design?
Drei-Minuten-Weg
While I was making my usual way home from Mannheim to Offenbach, a memory remained very much on my mind: just as I was getting off the train at the main station in Offenbach, so too did an elderly lady with a walking frame. She, too, was forced to walk down the long staircase towards the exit. No lifts or ramps are available there. She declined the offer of assistance with a smile. This once more made me aware how important a barrier-free environment is. The fact is that accessibility is urgently needed for 10 percent of the people in our society, important for 30 percent and fine for 100 percent. This is the reason why I began to examine the following terms: accessibility, inclusion, universal design, independence, mobility, awareness, and barriers. The subsequent research resulted in a work that addresses the improvement of orientation in public spaces for blind people.
