Intersection
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Full project title
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Project Description
This project seeks to develop a new design process for architects and designers. Our current design process is heavily focused on the visual yet this is not always the predominant sense for everyone. As humans we are all different. We are big, small, young, old, visually impaired, deaf..the list goes on. This project looks at how simulation technologies can be used to design with all the senses and therefore more inclusively. Check out my website : https://c16737605.wixsite.com/mysite
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
This project seeks to develop a new design process for architects and designers. Our current design process is heavily focused on the visual yet this is not always the predominant sense for everyone. As humans we are all different. We are big, small, young, old, visually impaired, deaf..the list goes on. Thus, this project looks at how modern technology can be used to influence improve built environment for everyone. It attempts to replicate positive lived experiences in design using simulation technology to create a more sensory inclusive environment.
The process of designing this new methodology has already begun. As part of my Masters research project I have been researching in detail how acoustics can be included in the design process. I have developed with grasshopper and Rhino a process that could allow the architect to hear the space they are designing as they are designing. This acoustic technique could benefit people with visual impairments through echolocation and removing of flatness of buildings. Designing each space to sound unique, as listening was a key navigation technique I realised from focus groups I held with service users of the National Council for the Blind. Similarly this technique could also be used to make silent problematic spaces such as Museums more accessible to those held back by their historic "Be quiet, do not touch nature".
As I said earlier we are all different and it is important to note that this technique benefits not only visually impaired people but many others. From scientific research (which can be viewed on my website - https://c16737605.wixsite.com/mysite ) , there is scope for acoustic design to improve our psychological wellbeing. Spaces can also be designed to improve or deflect acoustic activities.
Going forward with my research I plan on investigating how all the senses can be included in the design process. I also want to test my research on a 1:1 scale
Key objectives for sustainability
As for sustainability my current test project can be seen as an example of how this type of design can be created in a sustainable way. As I looked at Ireland's first sky scrapper , Liberty Hall and looked at how it could be turned into an acoustic experience. A museum as such without over emphasising the visual. This project which can be view in full on my website. Shows that simple materials and forms can be used to retrofit existing spaces into more inclusive ones. This light touch could allow older buildings to be brought back to life for the greater good and to include all of our population.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
The spaces created by this new design process will have a quality of experience that is much more than visual aesthetics. Buildings created with this new technique will be heard, smelt, touched and tasted. They will be a feast for all the senses. This technique will allow people to enjoy spaces like they have never before and will make this experience accessible to as many people as possible.
Key objectives for inclusion
This project is all about inclusivity. It aims to bring to light the multiple ways in which we as individuals experience the world. To date I have consulted with the National Council for the Blind and undertaken focus groups with its service users. This has taught me lessons about how others experience the world differently than I do. I would like to undertake similar meetings with groups of people with diverse needs and lives moving forward. I then aim to take this lived experience and see how technology can enable designers to design for the optimal experience for everyone.
Innovative character
This project is innovative as it looks to change the traditional linear design process specifically within architecture. It aims to widen the minds of architects and get them designing aspects of our lived experiences that we don't even realise we are experiencing. It uses new technologies and grasshopper scripts to simulate how we would experience spaces before we do, during the design process. This new design technique also uses technology to learn from our ancient structures and analysis what we have done right and wrong over antiquity.
