Ramps to overcome height differences: reversible and integrated solutions for all

Walking along the historical centres of European cities or visiting civil or religious buildings made in the past, frequently it can happen to encounter differences in height between the floor of the building and the surrounding urban area; they are restrained differences in level (often not exceeding 1 - 1.5 meters) due to functional or distributional requirements, the need to elevate the buildings entrance or simply to accommodate the morphology of the ground. In Italy, there is also a diffused heritage of small towns, whose origins date back to the Medieval Age, built on hills where the streets have inevitable slope due to the morphological conditions of the ground. Although these situations can be considered “physical barriers”, sometimes they represent also one of the intrinsic values of urban sectors or historical buildings and they must be taken into the right consideration when deciding to design a restoration or a redevelopment. Over the last thirty years, the increasing attention to weak users (not only people with disabilities but also the elderly, children, pregnant women, heart disease, obesity, etc.) and the development and affirmation of the cultural tourism have led to reconsider the issue of accessibility and usability of the historical heritage. Ramps, stair lifts or platform lifts and pantograph systems are just some of the elements that can be used to overcome restrained height differences; between all these possibilities, the ramp can be considered the best solution, especially in the case of gradients below one meter, as it is characterized as “universal”, suitable for any type of user, and without the necessity of any operator or mechanical system, therefore always working. The developed research aims to investigate the main aspects related to the design of ramps to overcome restrained differences in level both in historical buildings and in urban spaces. Thanks to the detailed explanation of examples taken in the national and international contexts, the research gives clear guidelines, useful to develop accessible spaces. In particular, the work analyses the design aspects related to the intervention reversibility or its possible integration with the historical features, as two different approaches that architects can use to help people with disabilities to move safe and individually.