As part of the being human project I focused on Visually Impaired people. Within my research from the archives, I learnt that Doctors (such as Dr John Balmanno) that worked in ‘Mad Houses’ had a lack of knowledge for people with mental illnesses by failing to comprehend them. They were treated wrong as they were placed into ‘swing chairs’ which the Doctors thought it was a cure and a way to relax them but, it was torture to these people. This shows how in the past people with disabilities were not taken into consideration in terms of their emotions due to the lack of understanding creating a microcosm for people with disabilities.
Hannah Arendt’s text on ‘Humans Conditions’ made me understand how individual expression varies within each of us and we need to learn how to adapt to others way of expressionism and take into consideration how people with disabilities should not be degraded.
The ‘What is normal’ lecture from Florian made me understand that standardised architecture should be modified for the users and should include a customisation to provide flexibility as all users should be inclusive.
All of this made me want to create a space that raises awareness and comforts people who are visually impaired making an inclusive architecture just like Kathi’s lecture explains.