THE SEER ACADEMY HIGH SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND & VISUALLY IMPAIRED A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of The NewSchool of Architecture & Design
BY RALPH ANCHETA JUNE 2021 SAN DIEGO, CA
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The image in the mind of a blind person is no less real or less vivid than it is for a sighted person.
”
Lofti Merabet
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
There are not enough words to express my gratitude and gratefulness for my parents, family, friends; for all the love, guidance, and support I have recieved all throughout unto this day. Special thanks to my instructor/advisor Jorge Ozorno, and to all my former teachers, professors, and instructors that made an impact in my life. Each one of you have always pushed me to be better as a student, a designer, and as a better person. Thank you!
“
Behind eyes that don’t see, is a brain that does see, And a mind that thinks, and a mind that dreams, And a heart full of courage that wants to succeed And live independently But at the same time feel like they’re part of the community, Just like everybody else.
”
Christopher Downey
THESIS ABSTRACT There are groups of people in our society who are neglected in terms of services and support from the government and the rest of scoiety. One of these groups is the visually impaired people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), visually impairment is one of the high ranking disability today. There are infrastructures and buildings that are not accessible for everyone such as schools. Visually impaired students should not only have a small center but an actual school for them to train and study to be ready to be part of the society as their sighted peers have the privilege of. Designing a building customized and specialized for the visually impaired would help them develop set of skills that only they can use to perform their chosen careers, and act independently out in the workforce and the rest of a community. To be able to get the same opportunities as their sighted peers do is one of the main reason such school should be designed.
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Acknowledgement Thesis Abstract
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INTRODUCTION
02 RESEARCH
03 SITE
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DESIGN/PROGRAM
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CONCLUSION
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01 INTRODUCTION The Problem Thesis Statement
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285 Million people around the globe has visually impairment
INTRODUCTION The Problem
246 million are visually impaired 39 million are blind
Within this data, are students who are visually impaired and are not given the same opportunities as a sighted/abled students have in terms of education and other services. In big cities and/or counties, such as San Diego and San Francisco, the enrollment percentage of students with visually impairment is so low; with 0.5% for San Francisco and 0.3% in San Diego.
By 2050, blindness and visually impairment in US is expected to:
double by eight million
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INTRODUCTION Thesis Statement
The lack of accesibility such as the elements of wayfinding for blind people is just one of the problem that our buildings and infrastructures have, which deprives a lot of group of people in accessing and getting certain services from certain buildings. Overall, the lack of institutions or schools for the visually impaired students shows neglect to certain group of people in the society and takes away the opportunity of each students to show what they are passionate about and enjoy doing. This keeps the visually impaired students from acquiring a higher education and do the career they want despite their disability. Designing a well-structured, simple, yet a safe space where they could learn to be more independent using the newest technology there is to help them navigate and learn to develop new skills using their other senses. With the help of the materiality of walls and floors, and spatial organization of the programs. 8
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RESEARCH Users Case Studies
More than 760,000 people report blindness or severe difficulty seeing even with glasses in California
RESEARCH Users
Since there are 71% of visually impaired who enter college within 8 years of completing high school. The users are mainly high school students within the age of 14 to 22 years old with visually impairment, from no vision (legally blind) to low vision. Causes of visual impairment such as: • refractive error • cataract • glaucoma • corneal opacity, etc
29.5% 70.5%
Full-time Employment
NO/Non-Full-time Employment
In the US, ages 21 to 64, among blind and visually impaired: •15.7% Bachelors Degree or Higher •22.3% Did not graduate from High School
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RESEARCH Case Studies #1
Title: Through The Light (Blind And Visually Impaired Edutainment Center Architect (student): Amani Salah Muhammad Location: Jordan This project focused on the integration of the interior and exterior spaces providing the users the services they need, in terms of education and entertainment. The designer implented wayfinding elements, such as the scented flowers. Also, the designer made sure the spaces and circulation are simple for the users have an easy cognitive mapping.
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RESEARCH Case Studies
Title: South Dakota School for the Blind & Visually Impaired Architect: TSP with Chris Downey as speical consultant Location: Aberdeen, South Dakota This is a two storey building that provides education, recreational needs and more for the deaf and/or visually impaired students. The building has tactile elments throughout the building whether that can be touched or just for its aesthetic purposes. They made sure, the interior spaces does not create unnecessary noises since some of these students rely on they hearing senses.
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03 SITE Site Location Site Analysis
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SITE
Location
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SITE
Analysis San Francisco is considered one of the highest income county in the US. With over 44 percent of adult with Bachelor’s degree or higher. One downside of San Francisco is the crime rate is higher than 94.1 percent of any US city. But since this city has started implementing policies to turn it into walkable city, with accessible pedestrian signals, this location is an ideal for the school for the visually impaired. The site is located in the intersection of Van Ness Ave and Golden Gate Ave, with approximately 23,000 square footage. This area has various bus stops, pedestrian lanes with signals, close to a lot of civic buildings and a couple of blocks away from the Civic Center Station and the LightHouse for the Blind.
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04 DESIGN/PROGRAM Design Concept Intention/Design Goals
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DESIGN/PROGRAM Concept
From a simple volume, cutting and/or splitting the mass would create cracks or openings for better air flow and natural ventilation. From there, elevating one of the two separated volumes can create spaces for outdoor green areas, where the users can use, since the site is only 23,000 square footage. Extracting or subtracting from the building and using the roof tops, are another ways to create outdoor spaces. The roof on the higher building is pulled to create a sloped plane, in order to have a better orientaion for the solar panels. Adding another layer of a facade helps the building with shading and ventilation. Also, using a kinetic facade where it is made of rotating panels which also collects solar energy, to help power the building. Initially, the idea is to have a buidling that is separated into two but connected by floors and programs using tunnels. But this idea is still integrated in the dsign in a different way.
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VOLUME
SPLIT/CUT
AIR FLOW
SITE 27
PULL / OUTDOOOR
DOUBLE FACADE
ELEVATE
DOUBLE FACADE 28
DESIGN/PROGRAM Intentions / Design Goals
The main focus in designing the seer is to create asafe environment for teh blind and visually impaired without sacrficing the overall building performance. also, this building would help students to develop skills not just academically, but in way finding, and newly found skills as they explore adn use the building. Incorporating elements where all the other senses such as touch, sound, smell, movement, and bodily awareness, can help the users develop their wayfinidng skills and would mak sure they are always safety and independently confident on what they do. Technology is also a big part of the school. From the automated parking lot area, to GPS app that the students can use, to audio-automated doors and emergency exits.
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SOLAR PANELS ROOF
STAIRS/ EMERGENCY EXITS
ELEVATORS
TUNNELS/ TUNNEL ROOMS ROTATING SOLAR PANELS /DOUBLE FACADE STRUCTURAL ELEMENT 2X2 STEEL COLUMNS
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East Elevation
North Elevation
West Elevation
South Elevation
3D Section 31
The rotating solar panel facade acts as a shade and at the same time collects solar energy. It rotates and opens up depending on the sun. When the panels are shut close, it can be compared to the eyes closing or in this case, metaphorically being blind.
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05 CONCLUSION Final Design/ Renderings Reference Page Figures
CONCLUSION
Final Design/Renderings The parking in the basement, is accessed by a face recognition machine or an ID card. The mechanical and electrical rooms can be found in the basement. From there, an elevator or stairs can be used to get from the ground floor to the tenth floor, including the in-between floors for the tunnels. The elevators are the main service for vertical circulation. The ground floor has the plaza which can be seen before entering the vicinity. The plaza has wayfinding elements such as scented flowers/plants, and the waterfall. The ground floor has the front desk, auditorium, clinic, gallery, and restrooms. During an emergency, the building has audio guiding devices to guide students to exits from the stairs to the ground. With the help of tactile pavings and textured walls, and the usage of gps app, the students can easily go from floor to floor, and rooms to rooms. On the third floor, the cafeteria and the kitchen can be found with a huge space for lounging. The two storey library can also be entered from the third floor. The fourth floor to the seventh floor are for the classrooms, science and computer labs. Some classrooms are set up traditionally, and some are free floor planned, for learning exploration. This includes the tunnels and tunnel rooms, where it has wonderspaces art installations. This tunnel idea is a good experiential spaces for the students to use their other senses such as touching and hearing. Students will also be able to use gadgets which can help them see such as the eSight and other new gadgets being invented today. The building also has sports complex and outdoor field, which can also be used for the service dogs. The sport complex includes, basketball court, indoor pool area, and outdoor grassfield. Designing a school catered to users such as visually impaired students can increase their number of enrollees in high school. This can be their training ground to navigate the world independently,will that may be in workforce or life in general.
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Roses
Honeysuckle
Chocolate Cosmos
Ground Floor 39
Lavenders
Tactile Pavings
BASEMENT
SECOND FLOOR
THIRD FLOOR
FOURTH FLOOR
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FIFTH FLOOR
1ST TUNNEL (5.5) FLOOR
SIXTH FLOOR
2ND TUNNEL (6.5)
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SEVENTH FLOOR
3RD TUNNEL (7.5) FLOOR
EIGHTH FLOOR
NINTH FLOOR
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TENTH FLOOR
ELEVENTH FLOOR
ROOF
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GUIDING WALL
REFERENCES
Mulliken, A. (2017). There is Nothing Inherently Mysterious about Assistive Technology: A Qualitative Study about Blind User Experiences in US Academic Libraries. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 57(2), 115–126. https://doi.org/10.5860/rusq.57.2.6528. Periša, M., Peraković, D., & Vaculík, J. (2015). Adaptive technologies for the blind and visual impaired persons in the traffic network. Transport (16484142), 30(3), 247–252. https://doi.org/10.3846/16484142.2014.100 3405. Perkins School for the Blind. (2015, April 27). Developing Standards for Orientation an Mobility Instruction [Video]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/ KK-CDR4uEVg Rokiah Omar, Wee Siew Peng, Wan Syafira Ishak, Nur Zakiah Mohd Saat, & Victor Feizal Knight. (2019). Profile and Quality of Life of Children with Dual Sensory Impairment or Deafblindness in Visually Impaired Special Centres. Malaysian Journal of Health Sciences / Jurnal Sains Kesihatan Malaysia, 17(2), 157–163. https://doi.org/10.17576/JSKM-2019-1702-18. San Diego Center for the Blind - About. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www. sdcb.org/about-sdcb U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: San Francisco city, California. (n.d.). Www. census.gov. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/sanfranciscocitycalifornia Venugopal, V. K., Naveen, A., Rajkumar.R, Govinda, K., & Masih, J. (2020). Low cost audio based intelligent guidance system for visually impaired people. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 24(3), 515–520. https://doi.org/10.37200/ijpr/v24i3/pr200809.
Abdurrasyid Abdurrasyid, Indrianto Indrianto, & Rakhmat Arianto. (2019). Detection of immovable objects on visually impaired people walking aids. Telkomnika, 17(2), 580–585. https://doi.org/10.12928/TELKOMNIKA. v17i2.9933. Bell, Edward C., and Silverman, Arielle M.. (2018). “Rehabilitation and Employment Outcomes for Adults Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired: An Updated Report Abstract.” Homepage, 1 Jan. 1970, www.nfb.org/images/ nfb/publications/jbir/jbir18/jbir080101.html. “Blindness Statistics.” Blindness Statistics | National Federation of the Blind, www.nfb.org/resources/blindness-statistics. Bruce, c., Mbari-Kirika, I., Okeyo, P., Ngondi, C., & Walker, B. (2014). A Computer Training Program for the Schools for the Blind in Kenya. Journal of Blindness Innovation and Research, 4(2). Retrieved from https://nfb.org/ images/nfb/publications/jbir/jbir14/jbir040203.html Dr. Andrew Schiller. (2019, September 24). San Francisco, CA Crime Rates. Neighborhoodscout.com; NeighborhoodScout. https://www. neighborhoodscout.com/ca/san-francisco/crime Erickson, W., Lee, C., von Schrader, S. (2017). Disability Statistics from the American Community Survey (ACS). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University YangTan Institute (YTI). Retrieved from Cornell University Disability Statistics website: www.disabilitystatistics.org. Kim, S., Ryu, Y., Cho, J., & Ryu, E.-S. (2019). Towards Tangible Vision for the Visually Impaired through 2D Multiarray Braille Display. Sensors (14248220), 19(23), 5319. https://doi.org/10.3390/s19235319.
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FIGURES FIG 1.1 SIDEWALK VISION IMPAIRED GOOGLE IMAGES FIG 1.2 BLINDNESS CAN CREEP SLOWLY GOOGLE IMAGES FIG 1.3 DATA ON BLIND PEOPLE ILLUSTRATED BY AUTHOR FIG 1.4 THESE TACTILE BLOCKS TEACH BLIND KIDS TO CODE GOOGLE IMAGES FIG 2.1 REHABILITATION OF THE BLIND GOOGLE IMAGES FIG 2.2 USERS DATA ILLUSTRATED BY AUTHOR FIG 2.3 Through the Light. Retrieved from https://worldarchitecture.org/architecture-projects/hhmvp/throughthelightblindandvisuallyimpairededutainmentcenter-project-pages.html FIG 2.4 SOUTH DAKOTA SCHOOL FOR THE BLIND & VISUALLY IMPAIRED. Retrieved from https://teamtsp.com/portfolio-items/southdakota-school-for-the-blind-visually-impaired/ FIG 3.1 WORLD MAP GOOGLE IMAGES FIG 3.2 ZOOM OUT SITE ANALYSIS ILLUSTRATED BY AUTHOR FIG 3.3 ZOOM IN SITE ANALYSIS ILLUSTRATED BY AUTHOR FIG 4.1 PROGRAM ADJACENCY ILLUSTRATED BY AUTHOR FIG 4.2 CONCEPT DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATED BY AUTHOR FIG 4.3 EXPLODED AXON ILLUSTRATED BY AUTHOR FIG 4.4 ELEVATIONS/SECTIONS ILLUSTRATED BY AUTHOR FIG 5.1 SITE/VICINITY MAP ILLUSTRATED BY AUTHOR
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