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Forms of Accessibility
PRO 7463

Course Information

Description

This seminar approaches accessibility through a formal lens--examining architectural form as it operates on the threshold of human abilities. Moving beyond prescriptive standards and the notions of acceptable minimums or generous maximums, the seminar aims to expand the understanding of human abilities and their range, while critically investigating the origins and methods through which accessibility standards have been developed.

From these two analytical trajectories, the seminar seeks to map out latent formal projects--a series of case studies developed by students--that connect the disciplinary interests of architecture with the objectives of accessibility.

It explores the reciprocal relationship between form and its receiving senses, and how each threshold condition affects the legibility of the other. Ultimately, the seminar asks: How can we critically engage with and appreciate the unexplored formal projects that emerge and operate at the threshold--the moment when one of our senses reaches its limit?

This course was offered as 3538 in spring 2026. Students who took 3538 cannot enroll in 7463 for credit.

School Graduate School of Design
Credits 4
Cross Reg

Available for Harvard Cross Registration

Department Architecture
Course Component Project-based Seminar
Instruction Mode In Person
Grading Basis GSD Graded
Distributional Electives MArch Professional Practice Distributional Elect
Limited Enrollment Limited enrollment, GSD students given priority