Perceptual Mobility: The School for the Newly Blind by Zachary Farrell

Perceptual Mobility: A School for the Newly Blind

Contents 1.0

Site Analysis

2.0

Design Charette

3.0

Site and Concept

4.0

Schematic Design

Site Analysis

1.0

1.01

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1.02

1.04

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Design Charette

2.0

Cognitive Science

Cognitive Mapping

Program Issues

Internal Info

Memory

External Info

Attention

Tasks to be done

Current State of Things

Sensual Experience

Receiving Information

Doing Something Hearing

Touch Changing Physical State

Door handle Handrails Chairs Tables Floor Patterns

2.01

Makings things go

Faucets Flushers Light switch Thermostat Buttons

People

Footsteps Stair Steps Eating Talking Working

Smell

Components

Natural

Restroom Doors Elevators Mechanical

Restroom Food

Stale air Fresh Air

Touch Coming in contact with the building is only a minimal interaction. Opening door handles, leaning on handrails, moving furniture, feeling textures and consistencies are interactions with buildings that change the physical state of the buildings, or make things go.

Hearing The atmosphere of a building is established by hearing the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;sound of spaceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. The two things heard within a building are noises created by people, and components of a building.

Smell The smells created by buildings are nt necessarily the most pleasant, but are crucial for distinguishing one space from another. A restroom smells different than a classroom, and a cafe from a workshop.

2.02

Site

Program

The floor-area ratio of the site is 1.4. The building requires at least two floors.

The program split into a teacher/student mass and a service mass. Separating the program creates an acoustic separation between program massing.

Aft into ord

2.03

Parti

ter separating the program, circulation is introduced o the design and moved to the edges of the site in der to separate the program from the street.

Design The parti is then enclosed with a glass facade to visually show te textures within the building, but to keep them out of reach.w

2.04

Program Separation Student spaces are lifted and separated from the street in order to create an enclosed learning envrionment within the class rooms. The spaces are physically separted from the street by the stairs, and are acoustically separted from the street by the book wall.

The Book Wall The book wall has an acoustic quality that absorbs sound, decreasing the amount of reverberation within a space.

2.05

Instructive Pathway The River Market District serves as the ideal learning environment for orientation and mobility instruction. The pathway is well-structured and layed out within the district.

Noisy Pipes The pathway is lined with a recess that has textural and acoustic qualities. The recess is lined with pipes with different diameters and guages in order to serves as the acoustic instructive pathway through an urban environment. The blind will be able to run their canes across the pipes to feel the texture and to hear the tones created.

2.06

2.07

2.08

2.09

2.10

Site and Concept

3.0

â&#x20AC;&#x153;As buildings are increasingly conceived and confronted through the eye rather than the entire body - as the camera becomes the ultimate witness to and mediator of architecture - the actual experience of a building, of its spaces and materials, is neglected.â&#x20AC;? Juhani Pallasmaa, Encounters

3.01

How can architecture have a presence without being seen?

3.02

The School for the Newly Blind An Internal+External Instructive Learning Environment

3.03

Perceptual Mobility: A School for the Newly Blind Space List Classroom (3) Laboratory (2, kitchen and computer) Teacher Workroom Library Office Office Space (5) Cafeteria Kitchen Restroom Elevator Elevator Mech Mechanical Room Stairs Janitor Closet

Area (SF) 2,250 2,000 775 500 100 700 500 300 400 100 100 200 110 50

Circulation 20% Total

1,837 11,907

Site area Floor area ratio

8,557 1.4

3.04

Program School Program

Design Issues

Project Issues Cognitive Map

Internal Info External Info

Attention Memory Sound Touch

Navigation

Light

Learning Environment

Internal

Internal + External Instructive Invisible Pathway

External Site

Building

City Market 103 N 3rd St River Market District Kansas City, MO

District

Accessibility Circulation

Program Analysis The main issues of a School for the Newly Blind are the cognitive map of a blind person, and navigation. The key parts to a cogntive map of an individual depends on internal information, the ability to recognize information, analyze it, and store it, and external information, the current state of things and tasks to be accomplished. Navigation is broken down into how a blind person moves within a spatial environmen. These key factors aid the blind in creating an invisible map of spatial envrionments, and inform the design of how to enhance the experience. 3.05

Process Application

Research

Schematic

Building Internal Instruction Report on blind navigation

Design Development

Site Entry Circulation

Sound

Diagraming

Design

Program

Light External

Enclosure Structure

Touch

Sound District

Light Touch

3.06

Cognitive Mapping: How do the blind learn? Attention Individuals receive information by paying attention to the information interpretted by the senses of the human body. An attention span determinies the length of time one can focus on a particular subject. Memory Information received by an individual is analyzed and stored with the memory portion of the brain. Memory deals with the image an individual assigns to certain information in order to â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;rememberâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; it. Use: orientation and mobility The blind use cognitive mapping to create images of their environment by paying attention to their surroundings, receiving, analyzing, and making sense of the information received through their senses.

School

Project Issues Cognitive Map

Program

3.07

Design Criteria Internal Info External Info

School

Project Issues

Attention Memory

Navigation

Sound Touch Light

Learning Environment

Internal External

Building Site District

http://jdl1214.edublogs.org/2011/04/18/robotic-human-brain/

Design Criteria City Market 103 N 3rd St River Market District Kansas City, MO

Accessibility

Circulation

Internal + External Instructive Invisible Pathway 3.08

Navigation: Perceptual Mobility Using the senses to move around Hearing Blind people are able to use reflective surfaces to determine general directions and navigate through urban landscapes. Similar to using echo-location, the blind can â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;clickâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to create a noise and to receive, analyze and store the information.

Touch Textural surfaces establish a general direction or a change in surface pattern can distisguish spacial differences.

Sight (Visually impaired) Tonal light qualities can be interpreted as light sources and can be used for alignment and general direction.

School

Project Issues Cognitive Map

Program

3.09

Design Criteria Internal Info External Info

School

Project Issues

Attention Memory

Navigation

Sound Touch Light

Learning Environment

Internal External

Building Site District

Design Criteria City Market 103 N 3rd St River Market District Kansas City, MO

Accessibility

Internal + External Instructive Invisible Pathway

Circulation 3.10

Navigation: Sound Flash Sonar (like echo location) Similar to echo-location, flash sonar detects specidifc types of information regarding location. Certain objects can reflect their dimension, form factor and depth of structure, of the density of the material. “It’s like turning on and off a flashlight, but with sound” -Daniel Kish

Wave

Transmission

Reflection

Absorption

School

Project Issues Cognitive Map

Design Criteria Internal Info External Info

School

Project Issues

Attention Memory

Program

Navigation

Sound Touch Light

3.11

Learning Environment

Internal External

Building Site District

Building Features

Topography

Reflection Pattern

Barriers

Surface Shapes Natural Barrier

Diffuse Surface

Building Orientation Soundspace, Peter Grueneisen

Design Criteria City Market 103 N 3rd St River Market District Kansas City, MO

Accessibility

Circulation

Internal + External Instructive Invisible Pathway 3.12

Navigation: Touch

Texture Change

Pattern

Form

School

Project Issues Cognitive Map

Program

3.13

Design Criteria Internal Info External Info

School

Project Issues

Attention Memory

Navigation

Sound Touch Light

Learning Environment

Internal External

Building Site District

Slope

Gradient

Design Criteria City Market 103 N 3rd St River Market District Kansas City, MO

Accessibility

Internal + External Instructive Invisible Pathway

Circulation 3.14

Navigation: Light Detection of light Light Study

School

Project Issues Cognitive Map

Program

3.15

Design Criteria Internal Info External Info

School

Project Issues

Attention Memory

Navigation

Sound Touch Light

Learning Environment

Internal External

Building Site District

Pathway

Node

Destination

Design Criteria City Market 103 N 3rd St River Market District Kansas City, MO

Accessibility

Internal + External Instructive Invisible Pathway

Circulation 3.16

Learning Environments: Juan Ruiz Juan Ruiz, a perceptual mobility coach with World Access for the Blind, takes his students to all types of environments including interior, exterior, and complex environments. Interior environments provide opportunities to teach about specific conditions, such as stairs. Universities are typically very good learning environments due to the wide variety of interior conditions. Universities have large spaces, small spaces, elevators, stairs, offices, studios, classrooms, computer labs, etc. Exterior environments serve the notion of orientation and mobility. In order to be fully independent, the blind must be able to navigate the world through all types of environments: suburban areas, urban areas, concrete areas, grassy areas. External environments are the prime mode of cane instruction and is vital for independence. Much of the instruction given to the blind in external environments is to keep them safe from hazardous areas and objects, primarily cars. Complex environments provide tests for navigation and mobility. All senses are receiving contrasting information, and must be analyzed quickly, and efficiently.

Interior

Misty Boe www. flickr.com

School

Project Issues Cognitive Map

Program

3.17

Design Criteria Internal Info External Info

School

Project Issues

Attention Memory

Navigation

Sound Touch Light

Learning Environment

Internal External

Building Site District

Exterior Google Earth

Complex

Roger Clusella www. flickr.com

Design Criteria City Market 103 N 3rd St River Market District Kansas City, MO

Accessibility

Internal + External Instructive Invisible Pathway

Circulation 3.18

Site: The Classrooms

External

http://www.blindandlowvision.org/Newsletters/blindfold_jan_2010.html

School

Project Issues Cognitive Map

Program

3.19

Design Criteria Internal Info External Info

School

Project Issues

Attention Memory

Navigation

Sound Touch Light

Learning Environment

Internal External

Building Site District

Internal

www.flickr.com

Design Criteria City Market 103 N 3rd St River Market District Kansas City, MO

Accessibility

Internal + External Instructive Invisible Pathway

Circulation 3.20

The External Classroom

1 Folie | Sound | Railroad

2 Folie | Sight | Skyline

6 Folie | Spatial Awreness | City Market

7 Folie | Time | Bus Stop The external classroom, the River Market District, provides many different learning opportunites for orientation and mobility exercises. Folies are located at specific locations in order to teach about a certain sense. The folies are teaching devices for not only the blind, but also the general public. They are landmarks within the district to establish walking distances and to distinguish between routes. 3.21

Instruction Pathway

3.22

The External Classroom

1 Folie | Sound | Railroad

3.23

3 Folie | Smell | Park

2 Folie | Sight | Skyline

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4 Folie | Touch | Corner

3.24

The External Classroom

5 Folie | Taste | City Market

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3.25

7 Folie | Time | Bus Stop

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6 Folie | Spatial Awreness | City Market

3.26

Entry and Alley

Acoustic Qualities

Program Separation

Structure 3.27

Circulation

Enclosure

Textures and Materials

Roof Drainage

3.28

Transverse Section - Sound

Transverse Section - Touch

3.29

Longitudinal Section - Sound

Longitudinal Section - Touch

3.30

South Elevation - Sound

South Elevation - Touch

3.31

West Elevation - Sound

West Elevation - Touch

3.32

Ground Floor Plan 1:64â&#x20AC;?

3.33

Second Floor Plan 1”:64’

3.34

3.35

3.36

Schematic Design

4.0

Internal

Circulation 20% Total Site area Floor area ratio

4.01

1,837 11,907 8,557 1.4

Student

2,250 2,000 500 300 775 100 700 500 400 100 100 200 110 50

Teacher

Classroom (2) Laboratory (2, kitchen and computer) Library Cafeteria Teacher Workroom Office Office Space (5) Kitchen Restroom Elevator Elevator Mech Mechanical Room Stairs Janitor Closet

Area (SF)

Service

Space List

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Necessity drives developmentâ&#x20AC;? -Juan Ruiz, Perceptual Mobility Coach, World Access for the Blind Internal

External Well-Structured

Problem Solving

Ill-Structured

Algorithms

Understanding Problem

Heuristics

Easily defined, focused, classification of type

Representation

Unclear Description and goals, multiple understandings

Single correct set of logical operations

Solution

An arguement supported by sufficient and consistent evidence

Implements strategies and evaluate result

Monitoring Evaluation

Justifying selections, and must support decisions and defend it

The best way an individual learns is through problem solving exercises. Problem solving, as defined by Natalie Mino, is split into two groups: well and ill structured situations. Wellstructured situations have a formula to find a correct answer, linear thinking. Ill-structured situations require adaptive thinking, the ability to find multiple solutions, and deduce which one is best.

4.02

The schematic design began with parti perspectives, working on program organization, structure alignment, circulation, entry, and enclosure.

4.03

The plan parti defined a major circular axis throughout the building and a large entrance space. The circulation axis separates the program, service from teacher and student, and teacher spaces from student spaces.

4.04

A proportioning system emerged from the study of a blind person with a walking cane. There is an overlay of an equilateral triangle on a golden rectangle. The triangle stems from the triangulation of the cane sweep in front and side elevation. The ratio of the triangle to the rectangle comes out to about 1.2. The rectangle/triangle overlay works within the structural grid of the building, but the triangle must rotate to fit within the footprint, creating the public space outside, and entrance into the building.

4.05

4.06

Interior Wall Analysis 4.07

Site Plan

Atrium Perspective

4.08

First Floor Plan

4.09

Second Floor Plan

4.10

4.11

Atrium Light Study

Atrium

4.12

4.13

4.14