Spatial Fragments, Visual Distortions and Processes of Sense Making

A series of conversations between a group of blind and visually impaired participants and myself about nonvisual and multi-sensory spatial encounters is used as the ground for discussion in this design research paper. Specific issues examined include the role of the visual, the auditory and the tactile in relation to the human body, movement, memory, sensory landmarks and processes of sense making. Within the participants’ stories of their experiences, spatial and temporal interiors emerge that are mostly based on non-visual encounters with architectural environments, yet may evoke visual imagery in the reader. Their accounts inspire a consideration of new ways of thinking about interior architectural practice and the tools and techniques used in the design process. Writing and drawing are positioned as important methods for exploring, presenting and designing multi-sensory interiors. The main questions investigated are how to communicate qualities of spatial environments that are encountered and remembered in non-visual ways in the context of interior architecture and how such accounts are capable of inspiring interior architects to think about their practice differently and therefore create new knowledge for the discipline. Spatial Fragments, Visual Distortions and Processes of Sense Making