Observatory for the Blind and Visually Impaired
University for the Creative Arts
2020
Through research into blindness, synaesthesia, sound and colour, a proposal emerged that offers blind and visually impaired people an experience our solar systems’ planets through human senses other than sight.
This site was selected in Gravesend to form a connection with the Kent Association for the Blind (KAB). This centre specialises in rehabilitation, where they provide support services to people of all ages and at all stages of visual impairment, in addition to holding seminars for companies that want to improve accessibility.
Through research into and experimentation with Chladni plates, I was able to translate sound into light and then into a tactile form. By taking each planets frequency and using a calculation to find the equivalent colour, a multi-sensory experience of the planets is created. Further inspiration was sourced from Gustav Holst’s symphony ‘The Planets’, where each movement of the suite is named after a planet in our solar system. Therefore, with exploratory research I came to a conclusive design whereby the planets are experienced through tactile Chladni plates and specific sounds.
Guiding textures and sounds allow people to safely move throughout the building, with places to sit and experience the spatial sounds.