Week 4

In week 4 we finished off our powerpoint slides and fixed up any errors in the speech, we also then practiced to make sure our speech was on time and they matched up with our slides. In the Studio we presented our slides, I have added our speech below along with the link for our presentation recording.

SPEECH:

TAYLA
Slide 1:

Today we are going to be investigating architecture and sensory design. Our team members consist of Amy, Luciana, Marie and I’m Tayla. We are going to go into a summary of the lectures, reading, and a case study example. We will also be discussing our own research conducted, our personal experience and possible future considerations. (20 sec)

TAYLA
Slide 2:
Lecture 1
In lecture 1 we looked at developing an “Empathetic imagination” with the aim of digging deeper into the human experience and senses such as hearing, to gain a better understanding on how and why we feel a certain way through our embodied experiences. We used this tool to help guide our research further within a space throughout this assessment. (20 sec). - 40 seconds

TAYLA
Slide 3 & 4:
Lecture 2
The second lecture involved the senses, space and the social order - for us it was about asking the bigger question on how senses in particular, hearing, can have an impact on the ‘feeling at home’ and ‘feeling out of home’ within a public space. We did this by focusing on an individuals habitus, they way they feel about certain things and how these judgments have been formed by possibly their upbringing, culture and/or past experiences. We used the concept of ones habitus throughout our process and it became largely evident during our research and interview stages of the design process. (40sec) - 1:20min

TAYLA
Slide 5 & 6:
READING
The Eyes of the Skin, is a reading that has developed into a classic architectural theory consisting of two extended essays.The first part involved historical and developmental surveys on visual or ocular metaphors within the western culture and its impact on the nature of architecture and one’s experience of the world.
The second part of the reading was most influential for this project as it examined the role of the other senses within architectural experiences. The synopsis was Architecture has been primarily focused on vision and aesthetic but is lacking in feeling. The reading guided the way towards a multi-sensory architecture, facilitating a sense of belonging and integration. (40sec) 2min

LUCI
Slide 7, 8, 9 & 10:
INTERVIEW

Tayla and I interviewed Jeffery Langford who has been deaf since birth. Conducting the interview was very difficult as tayla and I did not know sign language however his wife helped helped translate, creating a two step process to receive answers.

· We went into communicating questions and he stated that it can get very confusing and frustrating. He also mentioned that it’s hard to connect on an emotional level.

· Throughout the interview, he readily regraded his home as his ‘safe haven’. It was clear that his daily life in public is more difficult than at home. In public, he formed new habits of constantly having his phone ready for communication, avoiding situations that may seem difficult or confronting and direct staring. This intern relates back to lecture two, Jeffery having a safe haven habitus toward his home because of uncomfortable past experiences.

· He attended a special needs school in primary and secondary education and growing up joined different deaf community groups. These organisations also helped him form a similar habitus of ‘safe haven’ where he felt emotions of involvement and acceptance. Out of his habitus he feels less comfortable, for example when communicating in public with others who aren't aware of his sensory loss. Overall it is implied that Jeffery habitus includes a welcoming environment.

MARIE
Slide 11, 12 & 13:
VIDEO + EXPLANATION

To try and understand how deaf people experience everyday life tasks, we decided to try and order a coffee from one of the coffee shops at uni while wearing headphones. I was the one wearing the headphones and I had load music so I could not hear anything else.

When I was ordering the coffee, this one staff was very helpful by pointed out the different options for me, like what cup size and stuff I wanted. When she confirmed my order, she spoke clearly and I could recognise the words because I had already been using them.

Although this staff was very helpful, the other staff who I got my coffee from was a bit hard to communicate with and he had been calling my name without me noticing, which I thought was a bit embarrassing. So in general I think there should be more signs to help understand the process of ordering in the cafe’.

AMY

Slide 14 & 15:

Comparison with difference:

Marie’s and Jeffery’s Experience is completely opposite, Marie has had her hearing her whole life and suddenly being deaf was a shock for her and she had no idea what to do. Whereas Jeffery was born deaf and has known no different and has been taught how to live without the hearing sense. From Marie’s experience she mentioned that it would have been better to have more signs so she new where to wait for her coffee and how to order, which is a good point as Jeffery mentioned his daily life in Public was hard because of that. Jeffery has learnt to create a safe haven as he avoids difficult situations where as Marie doesn’t know how to do that and finds it confronting in public not knowing how to use sign language and communicate with people.

As you can see on the image behind me The Barista is trying to call out Marie’s name to let her know her coffee is ready but as Marie is not used to the concept of having to look around more rather than relying on her other sense she had no idea her coffee was ready. When we interviewed Jeffery he was standing quite close to us and really looking at us to try and communicate easier knowing that he needed to use his other senses more.

AMY
Slide 16 & 17:
RESEARCH
From our research, we found that deaf people can preserve spaces and objects by sound waves and echoes. If you are born deaf, your other senses are “heightened”.

An example of this is that their peripheral vision improves and they enhance their sensor

function in touch.

People that are deaf from birth have difficulties speaking properly and are more sensitive to light

and motion. We also found that people who have lost or never had one or more senses are twice

as likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.

MARIE

Slide 18:
CASE STUDY- Mercure Hobart hotel

Mercure Hobart Hotel was our case study example, and in 2012 it launched Australia’s first hearing and vision impairment hotel rooms, which included specialised equipment such as vibrating pillow pads, alarm clocks

with a stroke light and door signing. The downstairs lobby played welcome videos, displayed in sign language.

Slide 19 & 20
Design future suggestions
In conclusion we have found that sensory design can have an impact on how an individual connects emotionally within a space. Research showed that current public spaces are having negative impacts on someone like Jeffery by creating a sense of being ‘out of home’. We believe that this correlates to the concept of accessible or universal design. We suggest for future design process’ the concept of accessible design for all senses should be considered such as the tactile cues evident within the Mercure Hotel case study

ATTACHMENT FOR PRESENTATION RECORDING