GRANDMA BUILDS WHEELCHAIR RAMPS FROM LEGOS - AND THEY WORK
In an effort to undo decades of building design and urban planning that’s made spaces inaccessible to those with mobility challenges, 62-year old Rita Ebel is spending part of her golden years building wheelchair ramps out of colorful Lego bricks in an effort to improve the small German town she calls home in several different ways.
After a car accident Ebel has relied on a wheelchair for the past 25 years, but it was only after a friend of hers lamented about having to be carried down the steps by four people after a leaving a shop that she was inspired to do her part to improve the accessibility of Hanau, the German town she calls home. She’s no carpenter, but a medical journal featuring a photo of an electric wheelchair traversing a ramp made from plastic Lego bricks was proof she didn’t
need to be.
Working with her husband for two or three hours every day, Ebel uses tubs and tubs of Lego bricks to assemble the ramps, and to date the pair have created 12 sets of ramps that have been installed in stores and shops in and around the town. To ensure they survive the survive the wear and tear from wheelchair wheels, and the elements, the Lego bricks are glued together as the ramps are assembled, which is a technique professional Lego builders also rely on to ensure
that larger sculptures don’t fall apart...read more
