Professor Ricardo Gomes on Universal Design in Design for All India

The following editorial introduces the downloadable magazine, Design for All India, May 2009 issue:

From the Editors Desk:

In this May 2009, Vol 4, No. 5 issue, we bring you the second part of the book Universal Design @ San Francisco State University, very ably put together by Prof Ricardo Gomes.

...The previous issue focused on landscape design and curriculum design as the two ends of Universal design in a university system. This issue expands the domain further and brings in 'Designing for Majority'...

The first paper 'Designing to Live: The Value of Inclusive+ Universal' is by Prof Ricardo Gomes.

The paper corrects and enlarges our earlier understanding built around 'Living by Design'. It explores the importance of designers working with communities, responding to constraints, and maximizing ownership of users and other stakeholders? The new paradigm shift in expanding the role of designers in the 21st Century will continue to promote exemplary projects with an emphasis on participatory design, universal design and social responsibility. It will lead to 'Designing for majority' and Designing by Majority' and ultimately to the 'Democratization of Design'. This work is an excellent reflective research output of his design sabbatical immersed in Brazil. It is rooted and emerges from the wider reality of Latin America.

The second paper also from Ricardo "Inclusive Design in the "Majority World" Designing for the 21st Century Student Design Competition was a call to young design visionaries who appreciate the creative power of design for real people in real places. 200 student teams registered for the international student design competition from 41 countries. There were 14 jurors from across the world. The competitors were required to bring together Universal Design, Sustainable Design, Low cost and Design Excellence while addressing the practical needs of the "majority' world on an equitable scale.