Easy Care

“Easy architecture” is translated from the idea of “easy writing”, a way of writing for people with temporary or permanent reading difficulties. It ensures access to space, fosters interaction with space, and allows appropriation of space.

Residing in an institution for neurodivergent people is commonly linked to an overflow of care and consequently a loss of autonomy. The roles of “care receiver” and “caregiver” are precisely defined. The “care receiver” is dependent on the “caregiver“, in a one-directional relationship. The project Easy Care investigates around and through the idea of interdependence, dissolving the hierarchies and one-directional relationships in the system of care.

Easy Care re-thinks care as an interdependent network within the public and urban space. It is a system of free services, primarily for people facing a loss of autonomy in their everyday life. The easy care network addresses three everyday life activities taken directly from Cristina Morales’s novel: to be informed, to share resources, and to wash. These three acts are part of our daily life and are essential for the wellbeing and independent lives of vulnerable individuals.

The criteria of access, interaction, and appropriation are key elements to achieve more self-agency within spaces. Like “easy read”, “easy architecture”’ follows a framework of guidelines to stay versatile, flexible, and interdependent.

• Some of the general guidelines of “easy architecture” are:
• Make the building noticeable from far away.
• Keep the ground shape simple.
• Make space around the building.
• Show where the entrance is.
• Make use of the inside and of the outside space.
• Use contrasts to make objects clearer.