Mediating Artifacts in Architectural Design: A non-Visual Exploration

摘要

This paper reports on a study of a design meeting between two architects and a blind user/expert. To make the design process more inclusive, and not have to rely solely on verbal descriptions, we created some visuo-haptic representational artifacts of the proposed design. The design process is studied in real time through an ethnography in combination with the use of video. Our analysis, following Interaction Analysis, focuses on the mediating aspects of objects in the actions, related interests mainly pay attention to sight and visually discernable interactions. However, similar processes occur in haptic explorations of a design proposal. The detailed analysis of the minute interactions between the actors in the situation reveals practices such as knowing and indicating to others where design elements are on the site, knowing what design element is being talked about, and holding the element and its environment "in place". They could be said to be the haptic equivalents to visual cognitive actions like deictic gestures and different practices of highlighting. The analysis further shows that the presence of visuo-haptic representations allows the blind user/expert to explore the spatial configuration of the design, designating with her hands her own parcours. A shift in agency from the architects and a verbal description towards the blind user/expert and a visuo-haptic representation enable the latter to enact a more autonomous participation in the design meeting. As such, our study shows that exploring inclusivity "upstream", i.e. in the design process, may contribute not only to inclusive design, but also to a more articulate understanding of the working of mediating objects and their use in architects' design processes in general, e.g. a better understanding of non-visual processes of action, perception and cognition.