ABSTRACT Title of Document: ARCHITECTURE WITHOUT VISION Elizabeth Nolen Master of Architecture 2015 Directed By: Associate Professor Madlen Simon School of Architecture, Planning, & Preservation What is architecture if you cannot see? How might we perceive if we ignore our dominant visual sense to focus on inputs from the senses that we rarely engage as we move through the built environment? How might architects design buildings to fully engage our senses? This thesis began to address that question through research including a literature search, analysis of examples of architecture for visually impaired users, and interviews with blind individuals and people who work with visually impaired people. This research informed the development of a set of principles for the design of built environments that enrich the ability to people along the spectrum from sighted to blind to navigate the spaces of their lives through multi- sensory perception. These principles are tested by application to the design of a building, a Creative Co-Lab, in which blind and sighted users come together on the Baltimore waterfront to learn collaboratively about the multi-sensory ways to perceive and create space, place, and objects without vision. WHAT IS ARCHITECTURE WITHOUT VISION? By Elizabeth Camilla Nolen Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture 2015 Advisory Committee: Associate Professor Madlen Simon, Chair Lecturer Jason Winters Professor Steven Hurtt © Copyright by Elizabeth Camilla Nolen 2015 Acknowledgements Those who have helped me along the way. Madlen Simon [thesis committee chair] – Could not have made it through this process without you. Constant sounding board and means of support. Words cannot express how thankful I am. Excited for our adventures to come and the collaboration that will happen after thesis has ended. Jason Winters [committee member] – Thank you for your guidance the summer of 2014. For giving me Daniel Pink’s book (which definitely helped with my verbal narrative and organization of thought). And then agreeing to come on board for the thesis process. Attention to detail and passion for the psychology of space were common joys. Steve Hurtt [committee member + coordinator] – For constantly reminding me that I need to graduate above all else (when my goals were beginning to be too lofty). Debbie Brown – for making me realize that multisensory design is an animal needing much more attention. Jen + Scott White – for taking time out of your day and guiding me around Jernigan Institute. Being open and willing to answer questions. Russell Tutt – Special thanks for being the liaison between the Maryland School for the Blind and myself, being so open to collaboration and willing to take hours out of your schedule to guide me around the facilities/introduce me to others. ii Table of Contents Acknowledgements ...................................................................................... ii Table of Contents ........................................................................................ iii List of Tables ................................................................................................ v List of Figures ............................................................................................. vi Introduction .................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1 : Research ...................................................... 3 What is Blindness? ...................................................................................... 3 Blind in US Society .................................................................................... 13 Preliminary Survey ..................................................................................... 19 Literature Survey ........................................................................................ 20 Universal Design: Solutions for a Barrier-Free Living ............................. 21 Thermal Delight in Architecture .............................................................. 22 Questions of Perception: Phenomenology of Architecture ..................... 24 Essentials of Sensation and Perception ................................................. 29 The Eyes of the Skin .............................................................................. 31 The Embodied Image ............................................................................. 33 The Thinking Hand ................................................................................. 34 Chapter 2 : People ......................................................... 36 Blind ........................................................................................................... 36 Sighted Collaborators ................................................................................ 41 Sighted General Public .............................................................................. 48 Chapter 3 : Concept ...................................................... 56 Chapter 4 : Precedent Analysis ................................... 60 Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired ................................................. 61 Hazelwood School ..................................................................................... 74 Maryland School for the Blind .................................................................... 88 Chapter 5 : Program ...................................................... 95 Chapter 6 : Site ............................................................ 104 Chapter 7 : Design Principles .................................... 117 Space ....................................................................................................... 118 Edge ........................................................................................................ 118 Path ......................................................................................................... 119 Transition ................................................................................................. 119 Threshold ................................................................................................. 120 Chapter 8 : Design Process ....................................... 121 Initial Massing on Multiple sites [January 2015] ....................................... 121 Scheme One [February 2015]: ................................................................. 123 Scheme Two [February 2015]: ................................................................. 124 Scheme One [March 2015]: ..................................................................... 126 Scheme Two [March 2015]: ..................................................................... 131 Scheme Three [March 2015]: ................................................................... 136 iii Process .................................................................................................... 141 Chapter 9 : Final Design ............................................. 151 Narrative + Images................................................................................... 151 Application + Analysis of Design Principles ............................................. 166 People + Experience ................................................................................ 171 Presentation + Critic Response ............................................................... 181 Conclusion ................................................................... 182 Appendices .................................................................. 183 Appendix A............................................................................................... 183 Appendix B............................................................................................... 184 Appendix C .............................................................................................. 185 Appendix D .............................................................................................. 186 Appendix E............................................................................................... 192 Appendix F ............................................................................................... 195 Bibliography ................................................................ 197 iv List of Tables Table 5.1: Program scorecard. By author. ..................................................... 96 Table 5.2: Center of Perception scorecard. By author. .................................. 97 Table 5.3: Museum of Darkness scorecard. Table by author. ....................... 98 Table 5.4: Museum of Blindness scorecard. Table by author. ....................... 99 Table 5.5: Center of Collaborative Perception scorecard. By author. .......... 100 Table 5.6: Creative Co-Lab scorecard. Table by author. ............................. 102 Table 6.1: Site scorecard. By author. .......................................................... 107 Table 6.2: Site 4 scorecard. Image by author. ............................................. 108 Table 6.3: Site 5 Scorecard. By author. ....................................................... 110 Table 6.4: Site 1 scorecard. By author. ....................................................... 112 v List of Figures Figure 1.1: Aperlae. Image by author. ............................................................. 4 Figure 1.2: Visual Field Chart. Image by author. ............................................. 5 Figure 1.3: Full visual field and 20/20 acuity. Image by author. ....................... 6 Figure 1.4: 20/40 visual acuity. Image by author. ............................................ 7 Figure 1.5: Scotoma. Image by author ............................................................ 7 Figure 1.6: 20/70 visual acuity. Image by author. ............................................ 8 Figure 1.7: 20/100 visual acuity. Image by author. .......................................... 9 Figure 1.8: Bitemporal Hemianopsia. Image by author. ................................... 9 Figure 1.9: Inferior Hemianopsia. Image by author. ....................................... 10 Figure 1.10: 40 degree cone of vision. Image by author. ............................... 10 Figure 1.11: 20/200 visual acuity. Image by author. ...................................... 11 Figure 1.12: 20 degree cone of vision. Image by author. ............................... 11 Figure 1.13: Total blindness. Image by author............................................... 12 Figure 1.14: Blindness population per state. Image by author. ...................... 16 Figure 1.15: Highest population of visually-impaired. Image by author. ........ 17 Figure 1.16: State percentage of blind individuals. Image by author. ............ 18 Figure 2.1: Debbie Brown. Image by author .................................................. 37 Figure 2.2: Bev Schmitz. Image by author. .................................................... 44 Figure 2.3: Chris Wellman. Image by author. ................................................ 45 Figure 2.4: Matthew Mescall. Image by author. ............................................. 46 Figure 2.5: Jeannette Hobbs. Image by author.............................................. 47 Figure 3.1: Conceptual diagram [school for the blind]. Image by author. ....... 56 Figure 3.2: Conceptual diagram [center for the blind]. Image by author. ....... 57 Figure 3.3: conceptual diagram [museum]. Image by author. ........................ 58 Figure 3.4: Concept for thesis design project. Image by author. ................... 59 Figure 4.1: Visual. By author ......................................................................... 62 Figure 4.2: Space. By author ......................................................................... 62 Figure 4.3: Visual. By author ......................................................................... 63 Figure 4.4: Edge. By author ........................................................................... 63 Figure 4.5: Tactile. By author. ........................................................................ 63 Figure 4.6: Acoustic. By author. ..................................................................... 63 Figure 4.7: Path. By author. ........................................................................... 64 Figure 4.8: Visual. By author. ........................................................................ 64 Figure 4.9: Acoustic. By author. ..................................................................... 64 Figure 4.10: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 64 Figure 4.11: Transition. By author. ................................................................ 65 Figure 4.12: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 65 Figure 4.13: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 65 Figure 4.14: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 65 Figure 4.15: Threshold. By author. ................................................................ 66 Figure 4.16: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 66 Figure 4.17: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 67 Figure 4.18: Landmark. By author. ................................................................ 67 vi Figure 4.19: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 67 Figure 4.20: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 67 Figure 4.21: Space. By author. ...................................................................... 68 Figure 4.22: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 68 Figure 4.23: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 68 Figure 4.24: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 69 Figure 4.25: Edge. By author. ........................................................................ 69 Figure 4.26: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 69 Figure 4.27: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 69 Figure 4.28: Path. By author. ......................................................................... 70 Figure 4.29: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 70 Figure 4.30: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 70 Figure 4.31: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 70 Figure 4.32: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 71 Figure 4.33: Transition. By author. ................................................................ 71 Figure 4.34: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 71 Figure 4.35: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 71 Figure 4.36: Threshold. By author. ................................................................ 72 Figure 4.37: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 72 Figure 4.38: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 72 Figure 4.39: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 72 Figure 4.40: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 73 Figure 4.41: Landmark. By author. ................................................................ 73 Figure 4.42: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 73 Figure 4.43: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 76 Figure 4.44: Space. By author. ...................................................................... 76 Figure 4.45: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 76 Figure 4.46: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 77 Figure 4.47: Edge. By author. ........................................................................ 77 Figure 4.48: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 77 Figure 4.49: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 77 Figure 4.50: Path. By author. ......................................................................... 78 Figure 4.51: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 78 Figure 4.52: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 78 Figure 4.53: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 78 Figure 4.54: Transition. By author. ................................................................ 79 Figure 4.55: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 79 Figure 4.56: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 79 Figure 4.57: Threshold. By author. ................................................................ 80 Figure 4.58: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 80 Figure 4.59: By author. .................................................................................. 81 Figure 4.60: Landmark. By author. ................................................................ 81 Figure 4.61: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 82 Figure 4.62: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 82 Figure 4.63: Space. By author. ...................................................................... 82 Figure 4.64: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 82 vii Figure 4.65: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 83 Figure 4.66: Edge. By author. ........................................................................ 83 Figure 4.67: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 83 Figure 4.68: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 83 Figure 4.69: Path. By author. ......................................................................... 84 Figure 4.70: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 84 Figure 4.71: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 85 Figure 4.72: Transition. By author. ................................................................ 85 Figure 4.73: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 85 Figure 4.74: Threshold. By author. ................................................................ 86 Figure 4.75: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 86 Figure 4.76: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 86 Figure 4.77: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 87 Figure 4.78: Landmark. By author. ................................................................ 87 Figure 4.79: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 87 Figure 4.80: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 87 Figure 4.81: Space. By author. ...................................................................... 89 Figure 4.82: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 89 Figure 4.83: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 89 Figure 4.84: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 90 Figure 4.85: Edge. By author. ........................................................................ 90 Figure 4.86: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 90 Figure 4.87: Path. By author. ......................................................................... 91 Figure 4.88: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 91 Figure 4.89: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 91 Figure 4.90: Transition. By author. ................................................................ 92 Figure 4.91: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 92 Figure 4.92: Tactile. By author. ...................................................................... 92 Figure 4.93: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 93 Figure 4.94: Threshold. By author. ................................................................ 93 Figure 4.95: Acoustic. By author. ................................................................... 93 Figure 4.96: Visual. By author. ...................................................................... 94 Figure 4.97: Landmark. By author. ................................................................ 94 Figure 5.1: Center of Perception diagram. Image by author. ......................... 97 Figure 5.2: Museum of Darkness diagram. Image by author. ........................ 98 Figure 5.3: Museum of Blindness diagram. Image by author. ....................... 99 Figure 5.4: Center of Collaborative Perception diagram. Image by author. . 100 Figure 6.1: Site Key [Baltimore, MD]. Image by author. ............................... 105 Figure 6.2: Site 4 Extents. Image by author................................................. 108 Figure 6.3: Land Use [site 4]. Image by author. ........................................... 109 Figure 6.4: Site 5 Extents. Image by author................................................. 110 Figure 6.5: Land Use [site 5]. Image by author. ........................................... 111 Figure 6.6: Site 1 extents. Image by author. ................................................ 112 Figure 6.7: Land Use [site 1]. Image by author. ........................................... 113 Figure 6.8: Final site selection. Image by author. ........................................ 114 Figure 6.9: Illustrative plan of site. Image by author. ................................... 114 viii