A registered charitable trust, Sadhana Village has been involved in the care and rehabilitation of adults with mental disabilities. Situated in the Kolwan valley, it is about 30 kms from Pune and is called Residential care centre for Special friends (SF's). A group of 12 sociology elective students from BNCA visited this centre in february'13 and had a very enriching interaction with the inmates.
The caretakers informed the students about the centre and took them around the building. A structured daily routine and simply designed living spaces are basic needs of such a user group. As per Ranjana tai,a senior volunteer at the centre, complicated building layouts can confuse people with mental impairments and hence architects must design spaces which facilitate easy way finding. She shared that colours and pictures/graphics are very effective in enhancing legibility of spaces particularly for this user group. On interaction with the inmates, students learnt that open spaces like terraces and courtyards were some of the favourite hangout areas of the inmates.
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