Architect and accessibility consultant Karen Braitmayer wants us to see the world in all its dimensions and from all its angles, to recognize its limits and possibilities, regardless of how we move, see, hear, and think. To do so requires accessible, intelligent, and enabling architecture.
Braitmayer offers a brief history of the disability civil rights movement, the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and its impact on building design today. But ADA compliance is just the beginning. Braitmayer will share projects that exceed these minimums, elevating our expectations of good design, extending an architectural welcome to all, and helping to build inclusive communities.
Karen L. Braitmayer, FAIA, is Founder and Managing Principal of Studio Pacifica, a Seattle-based architectural consulting firm specializing in accessibility and accessible design. She advises state agencies, local governments, school districts, developers, and architects on accessibility for housing, commercial, retail, institutional, and educational projects. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and an Obama appointee to the U.S. Access Board where she served from 2010 to 2023. Braitmayer has enhanced local icons, such as the Space Needle and the Amazon Spheres, and critical spaces throughout the region.
