Susanne Stadler Email & Phone Number

There are many approaches to architecture and mine is about connecting people across generations and supporting them so they can feel strong and confident in their homes, neighborhoods and cities. I grew up in Salzburg, a small city of immense beauty in Austria. I now call the San Francisco Bay Area (Oakland, CA) my home, an equally beautiful place, though known perhaps more for its natural rather than architectural beauty. Both places have impacted how I think about creating space and strengthening community. My home town taught me that public spaces, from parks to squares, are a vital extension of one's home. The Bay Area has shown me the power of inclusive design in connecting people of different ages and abilities. From both places I have learned that beauty/delight is an essential part of inclusive design. Seemingly small obstacles, like a poorly lit stairway or broken sidewalk, can discourage people, especially in older age, from participating in public life. Even the most humble spaces are enlivened and become beautiful when people occupy the space. We need everyone on board to have beauty in our lives. I have an MArch and MBA from UC Berkeley and briefly considered a diplomatic career after graduating from the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna. What ties these explorations together is my passion for connecting people. I practice architecture by designing age-supportive environments, like the Wallis Annenberg GenSpace in Los Angeles, and by empowering individuals to adapt their homes to their changing lifestyles and needs as they grow older. The aging process and addressing our needs as we age is the focus of At Home With Growing Older, the nonprofit I founded and co-direct; we attach a value to this work of growing older that invites solutions that are about delight and imagination as much as about safety.

Listed skills include Design For Age Accessibility And Aging In Place, Architecture, Interior Design, Life Cycle Design, and 16 others.