The Neurodiverse City
Winner, Design Trust for Public Space RFP “The Restorative City: Building Community Wellness Through Public Space”
New York City
2021-
with Verona Carpenter Architects and AHRC NYC
The Neurodiverse City is an ongoing research and design initiative in partnership with The Design Trust for Public Space to reimagine NYC's public spaces to better support neurodiversity. Learning from the experiences and knowledge of neurodivergent self-advocates, the teams are applying learnings from participatory workshops and surveys with local community organizations to design prototypes for NYC streets and playgrounds. Ultimately, the Neurodiverse City aims to identify scalable ways of creating neuroinclusive environments in the public realm.
Through a multi-year, phased research and co-creation process with local organizations that champion neurodivergent communities, the team is examining existing public streets and designing prototypes to make them more sensory friendly. The learnings from these prototypes will inform new guidlines to support the greatest range of physical, emotional, and neurological differences in the public realm.
Though we live in a neurodiverse city, the design of the public realm does not support the entire population and their range of physical, neurological, and emotional needs. As social isolation is on the rise, it’s urgent that our city spaces offer inclusive zones where all of us, including those with “invisible disabilities” and sensory sensitivities, can come together and find restorative common ground. Through a research and co-creation process with local communities, this project will examine existing public spaces - such as playgrounds, streetscapes, and pocket parks - and propose new design guidelines to support the greatest range of physical and neurological differences.
WIP team members:
Sonya Gimon
Bryony Roberts
Lindsay Harkema
Sasha Topolnytska
Sera Ghadaki
Abby Coover
Elsa Ponce
Ryan Brooke Thomas
Recent News:
“How to Build A Neurodiverse City” by Alexandra Lange, Bloomberg
Photos by Katt Manzueta
