Olivia Asuncion, AIA, is opening doors for people everywhere

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[["images-card",{"images":[{"url":"http:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/dpcbzfiye\/image\/upload\/v1689783081\/tvrdoo4f1whdp4onvplh.jpg","id":"6649039"}],"caption":"Olivia Asuncion in sixth grade"}]],"markups":[],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"This summer, Olivia Mae M. Asuncion, AIA, was nominated to\nserve on the White House Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance\nAccess Board. She is scheduled to be sworn into the role in October. She spoke\nto AIA about the honor and how she uses design to open doors \u2013 literally and\nsymbolically - for people with disabilities."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"The declaration was made during a sixth-grade promotion\nceremony. Asuncion offered her Philippines classmates a glance into her\nprofessional future. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cIn my speech I said, \u2018When I grow up, I want to build spaces\nfor people like me.\u2019\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Asuncion had already spent her elementary school years\nadvocating for wheelchair ramps and wider door spaces. Born with a physical\ndisability, she used a walker until she reached high school, when she switched\nto a motorized wheelchair to help move more quickly from class to class. By\nthen, Asuncion and her family had moved to the United States, where she found\naccessibility was significantly better than in her home country. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cYou don\u2019t realize how the design of space promotes\nindependence and gives people a kind of power,\u201d she said. \u201cThe things that\nexist to make my life more independent gave me agency and autonomy in what I\nwanted to do and where I wanted to go. That is where the spark happened to get\nme in the profession that I am in today. Even at 11, it was influential to be\nable to experience that change \u2013 immediately.\u201d "]]],[10,0],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Her rise in the profession is happening quickly, too. Asuncion\nsays she had dreamed of being on the Architectural and Transportation Barriers\nCompliance Access Board one day. The nomination, however, was a total surprise."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cHistorically, how I had perceived the Board was you needed\nto be more seasoned, older than I am. It was never something I thought I would\nget to do at this stage of my career. To get that recommendation and to hear from\nthe White House that they were excited about my involvement was such an honor,\u201d\nshe said."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Though her path to becoming an architect happened swiftly,\nAsuncion knows real change takes time and requires transforming the way people\nthink about accessibility. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cI have not done a project yet that is a universally\ndesigned building. What I have set myself to do is integrate accessibility and\nuniversal design as standard for all building types that I put my hands on,\u201d\nAsuncion said. \u201cA lot of the task is just convincing others what is important.\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"What is important to Asuncion, in addition to school\naccessibility, is fire and life safety accessibility. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cI was lecturing a class at UC Berkely. It was a\nconstruction class. I was a guest speaker. It was during COVID times, so it was\non Zoom. I was doing my spiel, I was telling them about myself, and the fire\nalarms started going off in the middle of my lecture, which is specifically\ncentered around accessibility. The professor said, \u2018Do you need to go? And I\nsaid\u2026I can\u2019t,\u2019\u201d she recalls. \u201cThere is no official protocol for how to evacuate\npeople with disabilities. There is an area of refuge in some stairwells. It\nvaries building by building. Think about the situation in what would be the\nmiddle of an emergency. Sirens are blaring. Lights are flashing. You are in a\nstairwell, by yourself, with no palpable way of communicating with anybody. That\nis the most terrifying and traumatizing thing you could experience. And this is\nthe standard. This is something that needs to be changed.\u201d"]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Easily entering a space, said Asuncion, is just as important\nas being able to safely exit it. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cThere are so many scenarios that so many of us, including\nmyself, take for granted because we are able to open a door. There is progress\nto make sure doorways and entrances are fully accessible to those who cannot\nuse their arms or for whom doors are too heavy. But for something as important\nas entering a building, it seems like it is a no brainer to put some priority\nto making sure those are inclusive. And on a symbolic level, too: If disabled people can\u2019t physically open\ndoors what kind of other metaphorical, symbolic doors will they be unable to\nopen, as well?\u201d asked Asunion."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Asuncion is proud to a symbol of independent living, and she\nuses her access to change the ways others see people with disabilities. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cI am very limited in what I can do physically yet look at\nwhat I am doing now. To be able to see a disabled woman who is an architect in\nAmerica, doing things like traveling and living independently. Other people\nhearing about it turns on something and people realize it is 100% possible,\u201d\nshe says."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"To keep her promise to her Philippines classmates, Asuncion\nhopes to one day build a fully accessible school in the Philippines, where she\ncontinues researching elementary school accessibility. She also continues fire\nand life safety accessibility. Until she reaches that milestone, she will use\nher role as an architect and the opportunity to serve on the White House Architectural\nand Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board to make change happen for\nothers. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"\u201cTo be able to review changes in how to include\naccessibility and inclusivity on a nation level \u2013 it is mind-blowing that I get\nto be part of that,\u201d said Asuncion. \u201cWe as designers and architects of space\nhave this power and capability to shape the world very literally. If we look at\nthat and if we do our jobs in the lens of promoting visibility and inclusivity\nby way for providing accessibility, we are giving the world a great gift.\u201d"]]]]}