PRINCIPLE 1: EQUITABLE USE
PRINCIPLE 2: FLEXIBILITY IN USE
PRINCIPLE 3: SIMPLE AND INTUITIVE USE
PRINCIPLE 4: PERCEPTIBLE INFORMATION
PRINCIPLE 5: TOLERANCE FOR ERROR
PRINCIPLE 6: LOW PHYSICAL EFFORT
PRINCIPLE 7: SIZE AND SPACE FOR APPROACH AND USEAppendix: The Principles of Universal Design. Copyright 1997 NC State University, The Center for Universal Design.
The first thing which is noticed about Güvenpark is that its design too and wrongly orientates people and its design is not proper for “low physical effort” rule. Firstly, Güvenpark has entrances which are really strict and limited on especially its two sides. In order to enter Güvenpark, people have to walk along whole sides. Secondly, in Güvenpark, ways cross at the right angel and there is almost no hypotenuse in order to use as a shortcut. If people want to less walk, they have to damage to nature by walking on grass.
While former group stairs are too high to be proper for children, elder so on, latter group stairs are different high and there is no answer to the question“Why this design are used?”. Besides, if people are careless, they can easily fall.Also, that this stairs are impaired make condition quizzical.
There are fountain pools in Güvenpark. Whether they are beautiful or not is a argumentative question, but why seats are made of marble is a unanswered question.
Because they are too cold to seat on in winter, autumn and even spring. Yes, they are proper for summer, but there is not anything which protects people from sun.
Overpasses in Ankara are quite problematic constructions regarding both their design and utilization. The citizens are totally unsatisfied with them because their only use is serving for teenagers as a gathering place and sometimes as advertising billboard. Moreover they are incommodious. They are not useful in any way. You can hardly see anybody using them because such overpasses require to much energy just for the sake of passing a street. They are not up to international standards. For example, because of the fact that some of their stairs are 10 cm high while the others are 20 cm, they create a serious danger for children and aged people. Another thing that called my attention is that under some of overpasses there are traffic lights. Then for what purpose serves the overpass? However when we consider the opposite, the situation becomes even more dangerous because it leads to confusion between vehicles and pedestrians.
As being a permanent user of Eskişehir Yolu, I see as a necessity to mention Gökkuşağı Parkı in Road of Gökkuşağı. We are writing this blog as architecture students but one doesn’t have to be an architect to realize that something is going wrong about that set-up(I can see your faces agreeing!). Before critisizing the park on its own, I want to point out to the negative impacts it causes to its enviroment. In order to my research; after the construction of the subway , refuge of the upside of the road was enlarged for a ‘’recreation zone(!)’’ and now, it has this park on it. The road which is narrowed(narrowed into single road!) bacause of the Gökkuşağı Park, has lots of bus stations on both ways of the road.This time to enlarge the road the pavements narrowed until the National Library and resulted in a double- lane road which is also to narrow for that kind of busy route. This situation causes lots of taraffic problems especially on rush hours and makes people wait longer hours in bus stations. It is obvious that this city planning design of that road contradicts the principles of Universal Design which requires appropriate size and space for approach and use. And this structure also designed without respect to National Library, because of the park the silhoutte of the building is now impossible to see. The second issue is about the about the park itself. Its the most questioned thing about the structure is that, in what purpose that park designed onto a refuge. While creators of that park , shows university students as their target group and created spaces for eating and resting, I suppose they didn’t consider the exhaust smell and the noise pollution! I can say easily that this place can never be an eating and resting place and unsuprisingly it is totally empty now. Another problem that contradict with the design principles is that , one have to walk all along the road to get in the park which rquires a lot of physical effort. I bet no one would do that to get in that wonderful park! Finally , I’m ending this post with my best wishes to Ankara, I hope in future we will be able to experience usable and rational spaces which will be designed in respect to Design Principles.
