Blind by sight : architecture as a communication device through sensory experience

Abstract

Architecture can be described as a medium of communication; it is a physical, malleable fabric that can be manipulated and adjusted to convey meaning or an idea. According to theories by Fredrich Kitler, communication is the transferal of a digital signal (in our minds) to an analogue transmitter (our mouths). This analogue signal propagates through our environment and is received by an analogue receptor (our ears) which is then transferred back into a digital signal (or thought) wtthin the other party's mind. Kitler, 1996 p722 [2] Using the theories of communication to explicate architecture through human experience will form the basis of this dissertation. This particular application will take place at a school for the blind located in Silverton, Pretoria. The programme will include the necessary facilities required to educate and develop the blind people of Pretoria in a manner where they can become independent. as well as engaging members of society. Design and architecture should understand the following concepts more than that of any other profession; yet the current paradigm of architecture is geared towards the consumption of seductive images. This is possibly one of the greatest threats facing architecture in the continuum of the discourse. This project proposes a transformation in perception of interpretation. The way we experience potential spaces is biased towards visual elements; without ever fully understanding or realising acoustic properties or navigation devoid of sight. This deeper understanding of a body in space is best described by a German term 'umwelt'. The word denves from a biological field of examining an organism's immediate environment. Through evolutionary understanding the organism is a product of the context around it, and it in turn influences the surrounds. Each organism in question has its own perceptible world through the tools it evolved to make sense of its surrounds. Umwelt is a noun and in ethological terms refers to the world as expertenced by a particular organism