People and Buildings Under Stress: Neuro-Inclusive Design and Emergency Planning

Dealing with an emergency in the built environment—such as an evacuation or a sheltering in place—is stressful for almost everyone. But these situations, which are often accompanied by sudden, intense sensory input and other unexpected changes, can be completely debilitating for neurodivergent occupants. “People in Buildings Under Stress: Neuroinclusive Design and Emergency Planning” brings together design psychology, architecture, and lived experience to explore how emergency systems can better serve everyone. Through short provocations and case studies, speakers will unpack four critical dimensions of emergency response in the built environment: notification, evacuation, sheltering, and operations/first response. These dimensions highlight where current systems may inadvertently exclude or endanger some users.

This participatory session, hosted at the Center for Architecture, will move quickly from ideas to action. After an analytical look at the Center for Architecture itself as a test case, participants will brainstorm in small groups to identify pain points and generate design responses. Guided by moderators from the AIANY Social Science and Architecture Committee, attendees will leave with strategies and questions they can bring back to their own projects—from rethinking alarms and wayfinding to designing calmer shelter spaces and more informed emergency protocols. This program is intended for architects, designers, planners, and allied professionals interested in making emergency planning more inclusive, evidence-based, and responsive to real human experience.

Speakers:
Capria Berry, Director of Disability Inclusive Culture, NYU
Jennifer Carpenter, Principal, Verona Carpenter Architects
Melissa Marsh, Founder and Executive Director, Plastarc
Alex Norman, Founder and CEO, Access Built

About the Speakers:
Capria Berry is a student affairs educator whose work is rooted in the principles of disability justice. Throughout their career in student affairs, Berry has focused on building community and fostering inclusive environments where disabled students and staff can thrive. They are particularly interested in the complex work of driving institutional change within higher education, across silos and roles. Berry recently completed a four-year term on the disability leadership team for ACPA - College Student Educators International. As the annual convention’s Access Advisor for 2026, they were responsible for curating a low-sensory space, enhancing the accessibility-related guidance for session presenters, and coordinating accommodations for an event with over 1,000 attendees. An alum of the University of Illinois at Chicago (BA) and New York University (MA), their most recent writing highlights the intersections of identity across disability, race, and sexuality. Their engagement in disability inclusion is deeply personal and is informed by their research interests and student affairs praxis.

Jennifer Carpenter is a founding principal of Verona Carpenter Architects. Through built work, research, and teaching, the firm centers neurodivergence and disability to design for the widest range of bodies and minds. Carpenter is a New York City Mentor for minority and women-owned businesses, a registered architect, and a LEED Accredited Professional. She is a co-author of the book Inclusive Design for Structural Engineers from the UK Institution of Structural Engineers. She earned her BA from Yale and her M.Arch. from Columbia GSAPP.

Melissa Marsh is Founder and Executive Director of PLASTARC, a social research, workplace innovation, and real estate strategy consultancy. Her work leverages the tools of social science and business strategy to help organizations make more data-driven and people-centric real estate decisions. Marsh combines quantitative and qualitative social science research with architectural expertise and is dedicated to shifting the metrics associated with workplace from “square feet and inches” to “occupant satisfaction and performance.” This holistic approach enables PLASTARC to recommend evidence-based interventions that make the built environment more people-centric and responsive, promoting both individual wellness and business success.

Alex Norman is Founder and CEO of Access Built, a human-centered inclusive design and technology firm helping organizations identify and remove hidden friction points in the built environment that limit participation for people of all abilities. His work brings together lived experience, universal design, accessibility strategy, and data-driven insights to help clients move beyond compliance toward environments that are more usable, equitable, and future-ready. Norman is the author of Boundless: Real Stories and Practical Strategies for Inclusive Living and the creator of Access Built’s Friction Point™ Method. Through Access Built, he is also developing emerging technology tools that help organizations better understand accessibility, sensory, and operational barriers across civic, nonprofit, residential, hospitality, and venue environments.