Design für alle?

Can design meet the needs of a diverse society? How does it respond to the fundamentally different requirements of its users? Debates about inclusion and participation have been an important part of design discourse since at least the 1980s. Contemporary design approaches expand the concepts of Universal Design or Design for All and reinterpret them within a community-based and participatory design practice. Design for all? Inclusive design today brings together various projects, initiatives, and concepts from different design disciplines in recent times and initiates a dialogue with international actors from education and research for the first time. The multifaceted negotiation of inclusive design strategies is seen as part of a paradigm shift that fundamentally questions the normative values of society: Can design make society fairer? Evelyn Steiner, a graduate architect from ETH / MA in Art History, works as a freelance curator, publicist, and moderator. Sara Zeller is a PhD art historian and curator at the Museum of Design Zurich.