Out of Focus

A Speculative Guide to Non-Visual Architecture

Gabriella Poncet

Blair Satterfield    Dr. Allison Earl    Katy Young    Roy Cloutier

Contemporary cities are increasingly dedicated to the eye, detached from the body. Architecture has become an art of the printed image with little to no exploration past sight and aesthetics. While the visual qualities of architectural spaces are important, not everyone is able to enjoy its visual manifestation. Current standards of design for the blind reinforce spatial biases that favour the normative body. My project argues that architecture as a non-visual experience can reveal inclusive environments that go beyond code requirements and generate experiential movement through space. 

This project imagines a speculative future for public transit infrastructure through a system that fosters a more direct relationship between our senses and architecture. The Broadway city-hall train station undergoes a redesign through various interventions that seek to not only privilege how the blind engage with architecture but enhance how we all experience architecture.

FUTURE CITY | DIAGRAM

FUture City | Diagram

TRAIN STATION | SECTION

Train Station | Section

CORNER BAKERY | PLAN

Corner Bakery | Plan

INTO THE BAKERY | MODEL

Into the Bakery | Model

Site Model

Site Model