Possible Means of Architectural Communication with the Blind

Text: Bettina Ónodi
Model photos: © dmb muterem

In architectural design, one of the most important tasks is the dialogue and discourse about spaces. The difficulty lies in the fact that we have to talk about fictitious, imaginary spaces in a way that is understandable. In order to facilitate this process, a specific language of architectural communication has evolved, in which sketches, blueprints, models and visual plans, in addition to professional verbal expressions, are all possible means of exchanging information. Their function lies in the fact that they visualise the content of ideas, thus facilitating and inspiring communication.
The focus of the manuscript is the architectural discourse between sighted and visually impaired people. The difficulties of talking about the aforementioned spaces are magnified when consulting a person who has little or no vision. Conventional tools are not suitable for visually impaired people to analyse spatial contexts. To solve this problem, we need to look at how people who rely primarily on their non-sightedness to perceive the outside world think. How do they use their other senses and how do they mentally perceive spatial relationships? Once the characteristics of non-visual spatial perception are understood, it is possible to explore the conditions for dialogue about spaces. The aim of this research is to gather the characteristics and potential applications of tactile models that facilitate communication through understanding the spatial thinking of visually impaired people, and, by extension, to investigate the benefits of relief models for sighted people.