Involving blind user/experts in architectural design: conception and use of more-than-visual design artefacts

ABSTRACT

Architectural design as collaborative practice relies on using representational artefacts. However, these artefacts and their use are prone to a visual bias, which may pose problems in co-designing with vision impaired people. This article studies how we can develop representational artefacts to support a discussion between architects and blind people, and how these artefacts mediate the discussion. We performed a 3-month focussed ethnography using participant observation in an architectural design firm involved in a competition design. In agreement with the architects, we introduced two blind persons as user/expert at distinct moments. Together, we developed and tested visuo-haptic design representations. We analyse how these representations were conceived and used. We first discuss how the representations perceptually and cognitively support verbal and gestural communication. Secondly, we explain why, after having analysed their use in a design meeting, we move from the term ‘tactile model’ to ‘visuo-haptic model’. And thirdly, we discuss how the ownership of the models shifts and how that relates to the ownership of the design. To conclude, visuo-haptic design representations can support aspects of co-design with blind people, but raise further questions regarding the role of representation in co-design in general.

KEYWORDS:

• Architecture
• blindness
• inclusive design
• mediation
• visuo-haptic models
• user/experts

Acknowledgments

We want to thank the user/experts and architects for their time and participation. We want to thank Greg Nijs for his contribution to the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Originally a broader involvement of the user/experts was foreseen, yet the architects experienced the user/experts’ opinions as critiques for which they felt they had insufficient arguments to deal with in this early stage of the design. This limited the moments in which the architects participated in collaborative settings.

2. All quotes have been translated from Dutch to English by the authors, trying to convey the content of what was said.

3. Haptic perception combines both tactile and kinaesthetic perception (Loomis and Lederman 1986). The sense of touch comprises two distinct senses: the cutaneous sense provides information through receptors in the skin, the kinaesthetic sense informs about dynamic and static body posture by the relative positioning of head, torso and limbs (Loomis and Lederman 1986).

4. Translation: the original expression ‘mijn plan trekken’ asserts a positive attitude to being able to explore without help.

5. In an earlier analysis we termed this indexical practice ‘co-produced gestures’ (Vermeersch et al. 2011).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the European Research Council under the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme [Grant 201673]; and by the Research Fund KU Leuven [Grant No. C14/16/047].