The Blind and the Model of Architecture Touching

Abstract

Abstract

               This academic article is a pilot study aimed to create architectural design knowledge management for the blind having them touch the paper models to see if and  how they perceive the shape and plan. All of the volunteers, totally congenital blind, were asked to touch 3 paper models of the famous buildings representing each age like the Pyramid, Notre-Dame de Chartres and Guggenheim Museum for the ages of ancient, the middle and the modern respectively together with the processes of interview, observation, photography and note taking.

            It was found that even though all the volunteers could not perceive and experience the architectural shape and form due to their totally congenital blindness, they could understand well when they were described and narrated along with the principle of Orientation and Mobility or “O&M” since they have been trained and learned about space and movement so that they could move safely in different environments. And to get them to understand more, the buildings’ features and corridors were explained in 2D, floor by floor, from the bottom to the top, while they were learning and touching the paper models particularly prepared for them.