Spaces for Reading, Spaces for Inclusion
"Each of us is an embodiment of many stories.
Often, our more dominant stories could be hurting us while other healing ones lie dormant and ready to be discovered.
By making room for the discovery of our healing stories, we create the spaces for inclusion."
Such was the outlook we developed and adopted towards designing reading spaces at two locations for children with special needs for an Early Intervention Centre in Mumbai. This outlook is the result of experience and associated insight : over two decades as a parent to a young adult with special needs, over three decades as a social activist working within groups striving for the inclusion of the socially marginalized, and as an architect working at breaking down barriers through ‘universal design’.
The design, which i...