Design for the disabled

Taking a shower or simply getting out of a chair are things we all take for granted. But for people with disabilities, they can be impossibilities. In "The Next Generation" project, students from three design schools aimed to help those with limited mobility by making everyday tasks easier. Felix Lange, 28, designed this Paralympic-inspired wheelchair to strenthen the paraplegic user's muscles.

Juliane Huhn designed a line of sporty clothes for severely paralyzed patients living in care homes. She wanted to find a solution to a problem that her sister, a professional caretaker, encounters: Ordinary clothes only work when you're dressing yourself. Huhn used Velcro, buttons and zippers to make it easier for caretakers to dress patients - but she also tried to keep them stylish.

"Yes, I suffer from the 'designer disease' - a passion for black!" confessed Huhn, "But the main reason for using dark colors is that I don't want my clothes to look special. The person who wears them should not be identified as disabled." Adapting clothes she found in second hand shops, she's also created a vintage collection for people with disabilities.

Willi Möller, 28, focused on a simple problem: getting out of a chair. His design makes the most of the user's own body weight. When pressure is applied to the armrests, the seat moves forward, giving the user the extra push needed to stand up. Möller came up with his idea by watching people's behavior in doctors' waiting rooms, where he noticed some were embarrassed to ask strangers for help.

Carolin Schultze, 25, redesigned the bedroom wall in a nursing home, decorating it with retro-illuminated photographs. The light is activated by the movements of the patient, so if they wake up at night, they don't have to look for the switch. The different modules - boxes, mirrors, shelves, baskets and flowerpots - can be rearranged to a comfortable height for wheelchair users.

A group of students, including Nicole Bielenski, 25, and Julian Wiesermann, 27, focused on making bathrooms more accessible. They created a stool for the shower and a rolling bathtub for those who cannot move their legs. To test their prototypes, the young designers tied their own legs together and applied weights to their limbs.

To stand out, Rainer Böhme, 30, painted his bathroom fixtures black. The color also contrasts distinctly with the orange safety handle that runs along his sink. "If the person has a moment of blurred vision and slips on the floor - which is a common bathroom accident - he just has to remember that everything that he can hold on to in case of danger is orange," he explained.

Böhme's bathroom design is particularly suited to disabilities where muscle control is an issue. The design student says that designing for people with disabilities gave him more artistic space: "I learned that if you solve a practical problem, the visuals are completely free."