Designing as a universal act of being

Since 2021, Yanki Lee has worked closely with staff and students to rethink Universal Design (UD) across the school. Her work has included:

• mentoring students for Kolding School of Design’s participation in the Bevica Scholarship programme
• initiating Kolding School of Design’s Universal Design Awards for BA and MA graduates
• giving lectures and workshops that encourage critical reflection on UD practice

Designing AS People
On 3 December 2025, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Yanki Lee launches the first edition of the publication online. It is the first case study book to demonstrate the UD4.0 framework of designing FOR, WITH, BY, and AS people, developed in dialogue with international design education and research communities. 

For Yanki Lee, UD is an everyday practice rather than a single solution—a practice of evolving possibilities:

- As designers, educators, and citizens, we are all participants in shaping shared futures.It is therefore not only about Universal Design; it is about designing as a universal act of being—attentive, collaborative, and profoundly human, she says.

To explore this, she has:

• investigated 18 projects by Kolding School of Design staff from the Lab for Social Design
• documented 10 student cases from Kolding School of Design
• curated 6 reflective essays with Danish and international interlocutors

These have been brought together in the case study book:
Lee, Y. (2026). Designing AS people: Beyond Ableism, Practising Universal Design Otherwise. Kolding School of Design (DSKD). 

The full version of the book (print and downloadable PDF) is planned for release in spring 2026, accompanied by launch events and celebrations.