Welcome to Accessible Housing Matters!

In today’s episode, I welcome Architect Erick Mikiten

Erick Mikiten, AIA, started Mikiten Architecture in 1991 to elevate multi-family affording housing to a higher level of care and design. As a wheelchair-rider and hard-of-hearing architect, Erick has been sought after by clients around the country to bring new, creative levels of design to mixed-use, library, museum, global corporate workplace, and single- and multi-family projects, and appointed by the California Governor to the CA Building Standards Commission.

30 years later (and 30 years after the ADA took effect), seeing that the profession was still just barely meeting the ADA threshold - and rarely striving above it - Erick created another firm to advocate for radical new levels of Universal Design (UD) and inclusion, intended to demonstrate that great UD is not a compromise that has to make buildings look institutional, or that limits creativity. Instead, great UD opens new opportunities for user-centric, comfortable design that treats everyone well. This new business - and rallying call for the profession - is The Art of Access.

Listen to find out more about:

[00:01 - 04:40] Opening Segment

• I welcome Erick Mikiten to the Show
• • Bio
  • I needed to talk with Erick Mikiten, here’s why
  • Erick shares his journey in finding his way to architecture and housing

[04:41 - 27:44] Designing Accessible Spaces

• Did the ADA help?
• An insane experience at the place for people in wheelchairs
• Commercial designs and their accessibility designs
• Open to go beyond the code, do better, think broadly
• Erick talks about universal design and architectural modality
• Changes in universal design concepts
• Working with global high tech firms and young people
• • “Well, of course!”
• Erick’s project: One’s a building, one’s not
• “How can we move the architectural profession?”
• Not just “How?”, but “Why?”
• • Erick speaks about his firms and his hope for accessible architecture
• Excitingly groundbreaking, conceptualizing and building Shinsei Garden in Alameda

[27:45 - 29:25] Closing Segment

• See links below to know more about Erick Mikiten
• Final word

Tweetable Quote/s:

“... It's sort of like, you know, in order to get to or in order to use the accessible feature, because it's not in a primary location. It's like being told to go to the back of the bus.” - Erick Mikiten

“I wanted to make more of a difference.” - Erick Mikiten

“If you make it a universal design with a capital D for design, then there's an opportunity to make it really shine and make something special for everybody.” - Erick Mikiten

You can connect with Erick through Erick@mikitenarch.com or you can visit the following links Mikiten Architecture, Art of Access, and Shinsei Gardens and join him in his craft and passion in designing accessible spaces.

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Accessible Housing Matters is dedicated to raising awareness about important issues around accessibility and housing, and getting conversations going. I'd love to learn more about what's on your mind, and get your feedback about the show. Contact me directly at stephen@accessiblehousingmatters.com to share your thoughts or arrange a call.