Blindness and multi-sensoriality in architecture. The case of Carlos Mourão Pereira

Abstract

The buildings architects design are multi-sensory in nature and much richer than the visual aspects that get most attention during the design process and discussions afterwards. There have been some reactions against this visual bias both from within the architectural discipline as well as from the field of disability studies. Persons who are visually impaired perceive the built environment very differently and pay more attention to tactile, haptic, auditory and olfactory aspects. A cultural model of disability can help in understanding how disability can critique this visual bias in architecture. It can even help in overcoming this bias. A dialogue between architects and people with a visual impairment can therefore contribute to a more multi-sensory design approach to architecture. In this paper we discuss the sea bathing facility designed by Carlos Mourão Pereira and especially the relation between its multi-sensory aspects and the process of becoming blind. Pereira lost his sight in 2006—after an extensive career in architecture—and develops his architecture from the new insights he gains. His blindness challenges his understanding of aesthetics in architecture, but also his sense of architectural space. Even in the way he explains this project, he searches for more-than-visual representations to shift the attention of the ‘spectator’ towards a more profound sensory awareness.status: publishe