Common Sense
All Access: Museum of the Senses
This thesis focuses on a Museum of the Senses to explore senses as a tool to design for all and to explore and question the use or dismissal of senses in architecture. This exploration takes place through spaces which emphasize or repress certain senses, meant to speak to both the increased amount of experience which can occur and the lack of sense creation within architecture.
By designing for all senses, the architecture becomes inherently accessible, in the way that access can be defined as being able to intake knowledge. By focusing on senses, this thesis focuses on user experience with the inherent quality of accessibility in terms of both communication and physical access.
Phenomenological perception can be enhanced through targeted sensory moments. Some of these moments can be used to communicate to a disabled user, or even just enhance the experience for an able bodied user. Through this analytical framework, this project hopes to address similar issues of overused visual content and hopes to expose the comfortably of the use of senses to all users. Some users will be more comfortable with certain sensory experiences than others. For instance, if visual information is taken away, it will affect an able bodied user more than a visually impaired user. This is explored through experiential qualities of spaces in the hope of exposing the overlooked reliance of visual content.
DC
Located in Washington DC, this museum places itself within the context of monuments and other museums who receive over 20 million visitors a year. DC is a place where families and tourists flock to see art, history, government, and memorials but there is little done to address accessible spaces and the exposure of its history and sensory experience. This context allows for a conversation of accessibility past and future, questioning the policy of accessibility within museums . Due to its location on the mall, the siting allows for visitors from all walks of life, many of whom may not realize they are in an accessible museum until they venture inside. This location allows the museum to have a public front and situate itself within other museum contexts simultaneously.
Due to the public nature of a museum and Washington DC this museum must extend to include all users. The idea of designing for all users has pushed this project to include even more chances for accessible conversations as it is not simply about physical accessibility, but rather focuses on the complexities of sensory tools used for navigating intellectually and physically.
senses
This is a museum of experiences, a place for exploration of sensory conditions. Each sense is explored in 2 ways, based on its content and based on its interaction. I have asked myself, “How can one perceive visual, sound, tactile, proprioceptive, scent, exhibits? How does a user who cannot see access information from visual content?”
Content is layered spatially, as there are spaces given to experiential moments based in certain mediums. These spaces are then cross grained through interactions. The idea is to provide opportunities for each type of content to be accessed by all the senses while also allowing for exploration of different senses within the building.
Each of the senses was then broken down into spatial conditions and limits along with its qualities to be explored through the exhibits.
The goal is to embed each exhibition space with details and experiences for all users and sensory experiences.
exhibits
These exhibits focus on sensory content allowing for interaction of all disabilities. They are placeholders for future experimentation of the collaboration of artists and activists. The hope is to allow for all forms of content to be addressed by all forms of disabilities.
