Innovation in Planning of Inclusive University Spaces. A Comparative Study of Psychological Perceptions of Urban and Architectural Typologies Among Students of Creative Disciplines and People with Intellectual Disability

Abstract

The planning of university spaces is a transcendental action, from which their urban-architectural, functional and experiential improvement arises. Research is a mission called upon to provide guidelines for innovation. The text comprises the results of the R&D Project "Inclusive Campus and Architecture" (Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities of Spain -PID2020-114373RB-I00), that translate into the genesis of qualitative transformation patterns that are born from the sensitivity of people with intellectual disability. The research process, aimed at providing criteria of excellence in university planning, also promotes the social inclusion of people with ID. The work explores the emotional responses of people with intellectual disability to a range of spatial typologies, adding a comparative study with what was contributed by students from two creative disciplines, such as Fashion and Architecture. In this way, full inclusion is achieved, where applied creativity has acted as a link between the 3 groups surveyed. The result is a series of contrasted criteria to address the requalification of university spaces, so as to increase values such as human scale and welcoming, which contribute to the effective improvement of campuses for any type of community that experiences them.