Stadpluraal | Who gets in ? Accessibility across New and Historic Architecture

What experiences are taken into account when we design new constructions or intervene in historical sites? And how can architects go beyond checklists and regulations to create spaces that are truly inclusive?

As part of Stadpluraal, this panel discussion brings together Enka Blanchard and Negin Eisazadeh to question accessibility, both in contemporary architecture and in heritage.

Starting from lived experience, practice-oriented design approaches, and extensive empirical datasets, the conversation moves beyond mere compliance and explores accessibility as a visible, critical, and creative force in both contemporary buildings and existing structures. Moderated by Josse (Josefien) Cornette.

Enka Blanchard (they/them) is a transdisciplinary researcher at the Cnrs at Lamsade (Université Paris Dauphine Psl) and an affiliated researcher at the Cnrs Centre Internet et Société. Their original expertise lay in the human aspects of security (particularly voting technologies), with numerous publications on designing secure and accessible voting systems. More recently, their research has expanded to the geographies of disability and the differences in spatial experiences of people with disabilities.

Negin Eisazadeh (she/her) is an engineer-architect (University of Tehran) and architectural historian (Shahid Beheshti University). She also obtained advanced master’s degrees in Conservation of Monuments and Sites (RLICC, ku Leuven) and Digital Humanities (KU Leuven). In September 2025, she defended her PhD (ULiège and ku Leuven), in which she explored how diverse heritage experiences can contribute to more inclusive approaches to heritage care.

Josse (Josefien) Cornette (they/them), born in 1994 in Belgium, studied fine arts (LUCA School of Arts, Ghent), art history, and gender and diversity studies (Ghent University). They identify as a disabled maker. Born with a rare congenital condition, fibular hemimelia, they develop a hybrid practice deeply rooted in artistic research. They often work within critical disability studies, critical trauma studies, and crip and queer theory.