IN-PERSON: Prague – Section A

Abstract

Accessibility to the built cultural heritage is significant for its continued relevance in society. Finding a balance between development and conservation that enables use while protecting values is a ubiquitous challenge in working with the built cultural heritage that is no less difficult when it comes to creating accessibility. Today not everyone has the same level of access to the built cultural heritage, meaning that some people are excluded from the right to access to the built cultural heritage and from participating in the activities that take place there. Efforts to make these buildings more accessible are often insufficient in terms of inclusiveness or compromise heritage values. In relation to buildings and the built environment accessibility can be understood as concerning both physical, sensory and cognitive factors. Accessibility is often understood as either or. A more nuanced perspective is that accessibility is a result of a dynamic between environment and individual. This paper investigates and discusses the physical, sensory and cognitive accessibility barriers in the built cultural heritage. The investigation is based on an on-site study of listed buildings in Denmark that represent a variety in age and typology. The aim of the investigation is to create an overview of the factors that affects the levels of inclusiveness in the listed buildings, thereby pointing to a broader understanding of what makes a building inclusive or exclusive which can in turn point to new ways of working with accessibility in the built cultural heritage.