Blind Museum: the Sensory Institution

No one can deny the usefulness of sight in collection of spatial information. Any impairment of vision has an adverse impact on the reception of information from environment and prevent individual from learning about that environment, making his/her connection with the surrounding space defective. So, how can a blind person experience space? How can one understand architecture without seeing?

Self Assignments:

1. I have made an appointment to visit the American Foundation for the Blind around Penn Station area in Manhattan. On the phone they have told me briefly about the studies they have done on various topics in helping people who are blind to live independently and productively. I do not want to underestimate their capability and therefore I feel the need to really understand how blind people live their everyday lives. Hopefully I can set up some sort of an interview with them. So far, I know that people who are blind often create a cognitive map in order to feel connected to a particular space. They certainly make more use of sound and touch cues than do those of sighted people. The auditory and tactile information are important to the blind in producing those internal maps as well as wind direction, change in air pressure and temperature gradients. Recollecting information/data and reworking on my mapping notations are necessary.

2. Can architecture be heard?
Architecture does produce sound. We can definitely hear the sounds it reflects and they, too, give us an impression of form and material. I would like to investigate further in the relationship between space and sound; how the differently shaped rooms and different materials reverberate differently.

3. A mini project
I am thinking of creating a museum within a museum. I have this idea of reorganizing a path particularly for blind people based on the existing art work (selective only few pieces?) in either the MoMA or the MET (I have not yet decided on the location). I want to rethink the activities of “viewing” within the museum, hopefully I can suggest a new way of seeing and knowing to all viewers, to perceive via other senses. I will probably have to make some kind of model to further explain my idea.

4. Reformat my booklet and definitely write more.