Creating an inclusive and participatory way-finding canvas for All

Abstract

Abstract The recent development of the Chinese visual culture has shown the coexistence and the combination of two major trends: a seamless development involving changes and innovation, and a clear break between a before, often not so distinctly defined, and a now. Here, we can find that the idea of a contemporary national identity, that can be detected in crafts, art, graphics, design, architecture, fashion, music, dance and so on, is going through a process of constant development and maturation. This article summarises and discusses the process and some of the outcomes of a three years research project with a Design for All approach (DfA), started at Tongji University, and which aimed at co-creating a way-finding system through an open platform towards a strategic inclusive approach in the college. Our goal has been to offer a structured canvas to the school for the professors, the students and the staff so they could freely experience it, interpret it and work on it while adding new layers relative to the all the various present and future projects: a participatory, transcultural, multisensorial, inclusive and autopoietic project, i.e. DfA in its core.