The event was organised by the City of Barcelona’s Municipal Institute for People with Disabilities with the participation of 150 people and cooperation from heads of the merchant associations from the city and the different districts where the analyses were conducted to improve accessibility to commercial premises associated with this project. Teachers and students of Architecture from various universities, such as Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) and La Salle-Ramon Llull University (URL) and UIC Barcelona’s School of Architecture participated in the event reviewing progress and sharing their experiences in improving accessibility to the businesses analysed in the different districts of the city. Enrique Rovira-Beleta, lecturer in the subject Accessibility at the School of Architecture, participated on behalf of UIC Barcelona. 

The CASBA project was created in 2013 in the Ciutat Vella district and has allowed the analysis of physical, sensory (visual and auditory), cognitive and communicative accessibility of 53 public, municipal or managed by private entities, and 924 shops in the ten districts of the city. CASBA uses the service-learning methodology so that the students of Architecture, together with people with disabilities from each district studied, to diagnose the existing level of accessibility in city shops, putting themselves “in the shoes of people with temporarily or permanently reduced mobility or communication, seniors and people with disabilities to offer different proposals or recommendations for improving accessibility in these shops,” Enrique Rovira-Beleta explained.

During the event, Enrique Rovira-Beleta contextualised the accessibility project of the city of Barcelona: “Since the 1992 Olympic and Paralympic Games, more than thirty years ago, Barcelona is a city that has gradually transformed itself, becoming a leader in accessibility, especially in the streets and in public transportation. This project is our city’s brand, which will surely be replicated in other cities in Spain and the world, thanks to the efforts of our students.” 

Since the 2017-2018 academic year, UIC Barcelona School of Architecture has participated in this project with the students taking the subject Accessibility taught by Rovira-Beleta. The lecturer explained that “most of the students are foreigners and in many of their countries of origin, accessibility regulations don’t even exist; therefore, with this real-life exercise, our students discover how to improve the different commercial shops and buildings analysed, incorporating accessibility regulation requirements, and always trying to respect the original design of the shop or commercial premises analysed. Rovira-Beleta added that “they incorporate accessibility in way that doesn’t stand out and with minimal economic cost for the different actions recommended, so that the client (shop owner) discovers that on many occasions, these low-cost design solutions can significantly improve the comfort, convenience and safety of existing spaces and elements, thanks to universal accessibility measures and design for all.”

Rovira-Beleta pointed out that he always tries to make his students learn “to touch up,” and not make big transformations in the spaces or elements analysed, always respecting the original store design, and trying to incorporate actions that not only include they see, but also what they hear, smell, smell, feel … and “common sense”, to create a “universal design for all people” that “also incorporates accessibility measures so that they don’t stand out.”  

During the event, UIC Barcelona School of Architecture students Vitoria Hörz Saviano and Zoe Bramchtein shared their experiences in the CASBA project. Bramchtein participated in the panel discussion explaining her experience the previous year, and how her way of designing and projecting her projects have evolved, always incorporating accessibility measures to improve the quality of life for all people. Hörz showed the project she did in the third-year compulsory subject Accessibility for the La Deesa del Bosc shop and explained, “I did a detailed spatial analysis by drawing on the photographs I took of the store. I also suggested important and essential interventions to improve accessibility of this store, such as the toilet and shower, the ramp, the signs for interactive communication, and the spatial reorganisation of the furniture, to put forth a project proposal that not only would enhance the spatial quality of the store, but also other aspects such as its visual identity and marketing.” Carpets were added, which reflect the identity of the store in the shape and colours of leaves, in addition to ensuring safety and accessibility avoiding a slippery floor and incorporating spaces and elements whose design involves the five human senses. 

“The key to the success of the CASBA project is the alliance between users, technical staff (university students) and professionals from the City Council,” commented Mr Joan Ramon Riera, councillor for Children, Youth, Seniors and People with Disabilities, and president of the Municipal Institute for People with Disabilities-IMPD of Barcelona who closed the event, together with Ms Josefina Antonijuan, vice-rector of Social Responsibility and Equality at UPC.