SF State senior Christina Daniels pays more attention to the campus’ landscape than most of the student body.

Daniels, an English language studies major, is visually impaired and uses a cane to navigate her way. She is always aware of her surroundings. The curving walkways, for example, can often become a challenge, rather than an aesthetic pleasure.

“I’m used to it now,” Daniels said, “but they tend to go off in different directions.”

The sloping landscape and lush plantings at SF State can pose problems for those with disabilities, who are unable to maneuver the grounds without difficulty. These potential difficulties play an essential role in SF State’s Accessible Landscapes Project (ALP). The project, started in 1990, focuses on creating accessible landscapes, which are also visually pleasing, creating as little obtrusion as possible.

“How can design be more responsible, more inclusive?” asked Ricardo Gomes, design and industry department chair. “We’re trying to minimize discrimination by design.”

The project’s director and manager of campus grounds, Phil Evans, was not available for comment, but Gomes – who collaborated with Evans on the project’s 1993 publication – said it sets a good example for design students.

“The principles that have been employed in this Accessible Landscapes Project are embedded in the course structure,” he said of three different upper-division DAI classes. “One of the principal tenants of the courses is universal design, or inclusive design.”

ALP is closely associated with the Disability Programs and Resource Center, which is located in the One-Stop Student Services building and provides assistance to students with disabilities. The office is in charge of identifying the problems that disabled students may face, according to the center’s director, Gene Chelberg.

One of these problems includes the Creative Arts building, which Chelberg described as “horrible.” In the future, the project hopes to re-grade and re-pave a ramp located on the hallway side of the building, near the BECA area, which will make it less steep and more accessible to those in wheelchairs.

“Have you seen it?” Chelberg asked. “It’s like a ski-slope.”

Currently, the ALP is working on two bench design concepts on display in the Cesar Chavez Student Center’s mezzanine. One of the concepts is a sliding bench, which can move to accommodate wheelchair users who wish to sit with a group of people at a table. The other idea centers on a “curving pipe bench,” that can maneuver to different positions for different environments.

“It is another prototype put in during fall 2005,” Gomes said. “They still have to put refinements on it, but that was another bench design project that DAI students were involved in, through independent study.”

Daniels, an English Language Studies major, knows first-hand how important an accessible landscape is.

“There’s less stuff to climb, which makes it easier,” she said. “But there are things here that you really have to curve around.”

Even though there is still work to be done, Chelberg said he is confident that the school is taking steps in the right direction alongside the project.

“Within the past five years, the campus has spent $5 million on barrier removal alone,” he said. “There are definitely still issues, which will remain issues as long as the buildings exist, but I feel we’ve made a lot of headway.”