The human body: a starting point for Universal Design or another way to put women in the shadow?

The human body: a starting point for Universal Design or another way to put women in the shadow?

Dana-Nicoleta MITICA SHU M.Arch. Studio 4 Jan 2018

Contents Abstract Introduction 1. A short history of female transparency in anatomy and architecture studies • Marcus Vitruvius Pollio • Leonardo da Vinci • Le Corbusier

2. Universal Design- The beginning of a new approach • Patricia Moore • Yvonne Lin Conclusion Bibliography

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Abstract In the current economic and financial climate, the male-dominated design and innovation industry lacks female perspective. As a result, companies often resort to a stereotypical “pink it and shrink it� design strategy that frustrates and alienates women.

In this paper, I would like to analyse and debate women’s lack of visibility alongside the history and present times in terms of how objects and buildings have been designed using male body measurements as the main reference.

Introduction From early times, it was proven that the human body was used as the ultimate measurement tool in designing objects and buildings, creating in this way a strong relationship between human needs and architecture. Starting with the Parthenon, the Egyptian Pyramids, the Indian temples, the European Cathedrals to the contemporary ergonomic flats, all these have been designed according to precise measures that created the key of a coherent system linked to the human person: ex. Foot; finger (digit); thumb (inch); elbow; etc.

If the human body was used as the main source of proportion in architecture, why, along the history, we could only find evidence of studies and drawings based on the male body?

In was only in 1960, when the concept of universal design was introduced by the architect Ronald Mace. It is based on designing buildings, products and environments that are aesthetic and usable to the greatest extent possible, regardless their age, sex, ability, or status in life. Everything from buildings and public transportation, to kitchen tools and door handles, can be universally designed. To create a good product, a designer must understand the user. Sex and gender can and should influence design as much as ergonomics, function and aesthetics. A holistic and interdisciplinary approach mirrors how women think, behave, and make decisions.

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1. A short history of female transparency in anatomy and architecture studies

• Marcus Vitruvius Pollio (80-70BC - 15BC) Marcus Vitruvius was a Roman author, architect and writer of treatise De Arhitectura (published as The Ten Books on Architecture). The treatise is one of the few major works of the antic architecture that survived till present times. Among his concepts and theories, Vitruvius highlighted the idea of the architecture as a copy, mimicry of the nature. As the birds and bees are building their own habitable spaces, the humans should use natural materials and tools, as well as the architectonic edifices should integrate the environment; concept that is still used and appreciated nowadays. Moreover, Vitruvius used to describe the human figure as being the principal source of proportion among the classical orders of architecture, describing perfection. In his work, he studied many examples of ‘well shaped men’ and discovered that these bodies shared certain proportions. He showed that the 'ideal' human body fitted precisely into both a circle and a square, and he thus illustrated the link that he believed existed between perfect geometric forms and the perfect body. (please see Picture 1) In this way, the body was seen as a living rulebook, containing the fixed and faultless laws set down by nature.

So it followed, according to Vitruvius, that an architect's designs must refer to the unquestionable perfection of the body's symmetry and proportion. If a building is to create a sense of eurythmia, a graceful and agreeable atmosphere, it is essential that it mirrors these natural laws of harmony and beauty.

If architecture was thought to be designed according the human body, why was the male body the starting point? If Vitruvius would have been a woman, would this have been different? Or if women would had had the opportunity to pursue in man dominated fields from early ages, would there have been a Women reference drawing as well?

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Figure 1, Drawing by Vitruvius 5

• Leonardo da Vinci (1452- 1519) The Vitruvian Man (Le proporzioni del Corpo umano secondo vitruvio) Leonardo da Vinci, the very famous painter, mathematician and architect created a new drawing accompanied by his notes and observations based on the work of the architect Vitruvius: ’The architect Vetruvio, puts in his work that the measurements of man are distributed like this: a palm is equal to four fingers (1:4);a foot is equal to four palms (1:4); a cubit is equal to six palms (1:6); four cubits are equal to a man (4:1);a pace is four cubits (1:4); a man is equal to 24 palms (1:24)and these measurements are in his buildings’. (please see Picture 2) Both, Vitruvius and Da Vinci believed that these principles should be used when designing a building. However, Leonardo tried to take these ideas further, and spent much of his life searching for connections between the structure of the human body, and other patterns in nature. Elsewhere in his notes, he proclaimed that ‘The Man is the model of the world’.

And my question remains: Why ‘the Man’?

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Figure 2, Drawing by Leonardo Da Vinci, The Vitruvius Man 7

• Le Corbusier (1887-1965) Le Modulor Another prominent and influential example would be ‘Le Modulor’ (The Modular Man with his arms raised), designed by the feminist architect, Le Corbusier. (please see Picture 3) The Modulor was meant to be a new system of proportions for re-ordering the universe, that would be identified as a recurrent silhouette in Le Corbusier’s art and buildings. It's a stylised human figure, standing proudly and square-shouldered, sometimes with one arm raised. This system could then be used to provide the measurements for all aspects of design from door handles to cities. Corbusier believed that it could be further applied to industry and mechanics bringing together the mathematics, the human body, architecture and beauty. This Modulor Man is segmented according the "golden section", a ratio of approximately 1.61; so the ratio of the total height of the figure to the height to the figure's navel is 1.61. These proportions can be scaled up or down to infinity using a Fibonacci progression. In devising this system, Corbusier was joining a 2000-year-old hunt for the mathematical architecture of the universe, a search that relied on Pythagoras, Vitruvius and Leonardo Da Vinci.

Le Corbusier developed the Modulor in 1943, and the first volume of his study of it was published in 1950. From the Unité d'Habitation in Marseilles (completed 1952) onwards, Corbusier applied the Modulor to his buildings, including the government complexes he built in Chandigarh, India, and his rural retreat, Le Cabanon. It won widespread praise, and was used by architects and designers including Georges Candilis and Jean Prouve; no less a figure than Albert Einstein said: ‘It's a tool that makes the good easy and the bad difficult.’ But it was not widely adopted, perhaps because Corbusier wanted to patent the system and earn royalties from buildings built using it.

He became transfixed, attributing mystical virtues to the system and seeing it as part of the fundamental architecture of the universe itself, but the architectural historian Charles Jencks, who has written extensively on Le Corbusier, identifies Peter Eisenman and Cecil Balmond as the inheritors of the spirit that drove the creation of the Modulor.

The Modulor was, however, as arbitrary as any human measurement: its six-foot basis was plucked out of the air, there was no reason the Modulor Man couldn't be five feet ten or six foot two. As is often said, a six-foot rule is hardly fair to women and children. Also, Corbusier's own application of it was somewhat haphazard. Jencks points out that the children's bedrooms in the Unité are six feet by 23 feet, not exactly an elegant proportion. If it's flawed, if it never became the universal measure Corbusier wanted, why honour it? Why even remember it?

What is even more interesting, it is the fact that Le Corbusier was a feminist himself, trying to liberate women from domestic drudgery, by hiring women architects in his own practice and by encouraging women to pursue in the man dominated fields, as architecture and engineering. Regardless the economic and political rights, one of the things I think it was omitted at the time was that the environment and tools had to be adapted according to their needs as well.

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Figure 3, The Modulor, Drawing by Le Corbusier (1950)

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2. Universal Design- The beginning of a new aproach ‘Universal Design is the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability. An environment (or any building, product, or service in that environment) should be designed to meet the needs of all people who wish to use it. This is not a special requirement, for the benefit of only a minority of the population. It is a fundamental condition of good design. If an environment is accessible, usable, convenient and a pleasure to use, everyone benefits. By considering the diverse needs and abilities of all throughout the design process, universal design creates products, services and environments that meet peoples' needs. Simply put, universal design is good design.’ (The Disability Act 2005 defines Universal Design, Centre for Excellence in Universal Design, National Disability Authority).

This concept, initially created and concentrated on people with disabilities and the elderly, has been lately adapted to female needs.

Figure 4, Female designers aim to promote Univeral Design (2015)

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• Patricia Moore ‘The Mother of Universal Design’-An approach to design that considers every ability, age and walk of life.

In the 1970’s, Patricia had the opportunity to work for the renowned Raymond Loewey design office in New York. ‘… he was the father of the Industrial design in United States. I was the only female, and there were three hundred and fifty architects, designers and engineers. I was the only woman to take on board industrial design. I had a voice that was not as common as the others in the room and I was the one that was bravely raising the hand and asking: ‘What about people with arthritis? What about people who don’t have feet to walk, but use wheelchairs? What about…? What about…? And I constantly heard: ‘Patricia, we don’t design for those people.’ So, I couldn’t understand that some people deserve good design and some people didn’t so I knew in my heart of hearts that I have to change it!’. (Moore, Patricia (2012). RIT Innovation Hall of Frame). Frustrated by this attitude, Patricia came with the idea of exploring the feeling and needs of an elder person to design products that are suitable for everyone. As twenty first century designers, we automatically include empathy into every project, but what Patricia did was more than …

During 1979-1982, Patricia Moore become an eighty-five-year woman when she was in her twenties.

She dressed up as an elderly woman wearing her grandmother’s clothes, uncomfortable shoes she made that she had difficulty walking in, plugs for her ears to distort her hearing, and thick glasses that significantly distorted her vision. During this three years she travelled to 116 cities in America and Canada and pretended to be an eighty-year-old. With her body altered to simulate the normal sensory changes associated with ageing, she could respond to people, products, and environments as an elder.

She created nine different personas which she would rotate, including a homeless woman and a very wealthy woman to reflect on how other aspects influenced her experiences. With the use of canes, walkers and a wheelchair, she was also able to approximate different levels of reduced mobility.

Patricia was dismayed at some of the treatment she received, including being attacked by a gang that left permanent injuries inclusive her not being able to have children. This experience helped her to intimately understand how difficult the world was to negotiate as a woman as well as an elder.

Another considerable example is the mammographic unit that she designed so that when the female breast is in compression, which is very painful, the unit has an automatic release once the XR has been completed. What made her very proud about this project was fighting against the men who were financing the project and were simply saying: ‘We don’t need to spend money on that detail.’

In a recent interview by the California College of the Arts, Patricia discusses the power of design.

‘Design has morphed into the cornerstone of equity, culture, and socialisation. It’s about bringing resources to people who don’t have them …. The power of design is to look at each individual, their home, their community, and the infinite small things that make for success or failure of interaction in those realms….’ (Moore, Patricia (2012). California College of the Arts).

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Figure 5, Kitchen Tools designed by Patricia Moore Figure 6, Paricia Moore dressed as an elder woman Figure 7, Patricia Moore

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Figure 6

Figure 7

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• Yvonne Lin Another pioneering designer that was stricken by nowadays inequalities, particularly in the medical field was Yvonne Lin. Yvonne has been helping companies like Nike, Johnson & Johnson, Samsung and Lego understand how to design for women. Yvonne became painfully aware that the outdoor industry fell short of meeting her gear and apparel needs. She co-founded 4B to help such companies identify opportunities to understand and satisfy women's needs, a company with a very strong motto: ‘We design to satisfy women. All 4 billion of them.’ Furthermore, she worked on improving medical devices designed for the male gender (devices made for tall males and that require strength to be operated), by designing them to be more universal so everyone can use them- male or female; ‘The world is, little by little, becoming more equal, accessible, and barrier-free’ (Lin, Yvonne (2015). Co.Design).

In one of her recent articles she critically debates and questions why a large percentage of products and services across various industries are still not satisfying women ‘Women are the primary decision makers for 85% of cars purchases, but 74% of women feel like they are misunderstood by the automotive industry. Women make 80% of household health decisions, but 66% of women feel misunderstood by health care marketers. Women over the age of 50 control more than half of all discretionary income in the United States, but 53% feel ignored by brands. Why are the design and innovation industries failing?’. (Lin, Yvonne(2015). 4B) I feel like the answer relies on the history that has been building this gender gap regarding the women’s lack of visibility ever since Vitruvius, or even before. Nowadays, when it comes to creating a “for women” product, many companies resort to the “pink it and shrink it” strategy. This has been applied to pens, laptops, outdoor sports gear, toys, and myriad other goods. Often, the more male dominated the industry, the pinker the “for women” product becomes. Even for supposedly genderneutral products, many companies ignore that women may have different needs altogether (physical needs, not a desire/choice for pink, purple or glittery), and their products and services default to a design for men.

For example, cars are driven by both genders, but they are really designed for men’s bodies. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: ‘A person is significantly more likely to experience a serious or fatal injury when sitting 10 inches or closer to the steering wheel. This is a serious issue for short people. Short is classified as 5’2″ or under. More than a quarter (26%) of American women fit in the “short” category, compared to less than 1% (0.6%) of American men.’

(National Highway Traffic Safety Administration). Therefore, who is more likely to be sitting closer to the wheel? If we are doing the maths, 40% of short women driving medium to large cars and 27% of short women driving small cars are sitting closer than 10 inches from the steering wheel. And this should make us wonder again why are we facing gender design inequalities that can result in fatal injuries. ‘The heart of the challenge, is a lack of understanding of how gender impacts design. You don’t have to be a woman to know how to design for women (just like you don’t have to be a man to design for men). But you do have to understand them. And their gender matters. The easiest person to understand and design for is yourself. And when “yourself” is 85% male, that’s whom you tend to design for the best.’ (Lin, Yvonne(2015). Co.Design).

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Figure 8

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Figure 11 Figure 8,9 &11 4B Website (2018); Figure 10 Ivonny Lin 14

Conclusion From early times to the current economic and financial climate, the male human body was used as the ultimate measurement tool and scale in designing objects and buildings. Of course, there are endless examples of pieces of art that bring to life the beauty of women, but very few were the dots that would connect them with the architecture industry. In this way, women were covered underneath a ‘vail’ of fragility, vail that, unfortunately, made their needs even more transparent in the male eyes.

There have been several improvements in the last couple decades, but we still have a long way to go.

There are women like Patricia Moore and Yvonne Lin that are pioneering universal design and making it beneficial and user-friendly for everyone.

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Bibliography Books:

• Le Corbusier (1950). The Modulor 2. London: Faber and Faber Limited.

• Fisher, Thomas (2008). Architectural Design and Ethics (1st Edition). Oxford: Elsevier Ltd. • Petrescu, Doina (2007). Altering Practices. Oxon: Routledge • Hart, Robert (2015). A new look at humanism. California: Meadowlark Publishing Web Pages: • The British Library Board. Vitruvius's theories of beauty. Retrieved from http://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/bodies/vitruvius/proportion.html • Hdez, Gabriela (2016). Leonardo Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man Explained. Retrieved from https://owlcation.com/humanities/Leonardo-Da-Vincis-Vitruvian-Man-Explained • Vitruvius Chess (2012). Why Vitruvius. Retrieved from http://www.vitruviuschess.com/article/Perche-Vitruvius.html • National Disability Authority (2012). What is Universal Design. Retrieved from http://universaldesign.ie/What-is-Universal-Design/ • Design Engine (2015). Female Designers aim to promote Universal Design. Retrieved from http://design-engine.com/female-designers-aim-to-promote-universal-design/ • 4B (2017) We design to satisfy women. All 4 billion of them. Retrieved from http://4bcollective.com/ • Lin, Ivonne (2016) The Innovation Economy Is Terrible At Designing For Women Retrieved from https://www.fastcodesign.com/3063442/the-innovation-economy-is-terrible-at-designing-forwomen Pictures

• Picture 8, 9, 10 &11 4B (2017) We design to satisfy women. All 4 billion of them. Retrieved from http://4bcollective.com/ • Picture 2 Hdez, Gabriela (2016). Leonardo Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man Explained. Retrieved from https://owlcation.com/humanities/Leonardo-Da-Vincis-Vitruvian-Man-Explained • Picture 1 &3 The British Library Board. Vitruvius's theories of beauty. Retrieved from http://www.bl.uk/learning/cult/bodies/vitruvius/proportion.html • Picture 4, 5, 6 &7 Design Engine (2015). Female Designers aim to promote Universal Design.

Retrieved from http://design-engine.com/female-designers-aim-to-promote-universal-design/

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