Vision Impairment Exercise

Understanding each individual client’s needs is a crucial part in being able to design a space that is the most suitable for them. Recently, I had the opportunity to experience what it would be like to be visually impaired. After completing this exercise I have a new understanding of how living with some sort of vision impairment affects a person’s experience in a space.

To mimic how it would be to be blind I did a few different things to try and get the best possible representation of what it would be like to be visually impaired. The first thing that I did was put a plastic bad in front of my face and attempted to read a newspaper, which proved to be very challenging. Everything appeared to be very blurred and difficult to read without getting extremely close to the paper. However, the larger the text the easier it was to read. Then, using the same plastic bag, I folded it in half and attempted to look through it. This exercise represented being legally blind. When looking through the folded plastic bag it was hard to see anything at all. I could make out the general shapes of things and some colors, but trying to read the newspaper was virtually impossible. The room I was sitting in was very well lit, which I noticed was very helpful as it made way finding and seeing larger shapes much more manageable.

Another exercise that I completed to simulate visual impairment was looking through a vision simulator, which had four different circles of vision loss to look through.  The first vision simulation was central vision loss. In this example the center of my vision was lost which required me to turn my head from side to side in order to get a full circumference of vision. The next example was loss of parts of vision. This type of vision loss made everything seem fuzzy and made things in the room seem very distorted. Tunnel vision was the next simulation. With this type of vision loss it required me to move my head a lot more than was comfortable in order to see everything, much like the central vision loss example. Finally, the last example of vision impairment was complete blindness. With this example I could not see anything.

The final exercise I participated in was wearing a pair of sunglasses smeared with petroleum jelly, which created a type of homemade vision impairment glasses. Wearing these glasses made my vision appear very blurry, but I was still able to see outlines, shapes, colors, light and if I got close enough, I could read some words. While wearing these glasses I walked around campus and tried to complete basic tasks. I rode an elevator and had to make sure I was punching in the right buttons to get to the right floor, I tried to use an ATM which proved to be very challenging because I had to get very close to the buttons to use them, and I also climbed stairs which proved to not be quite as difficult as I would have imagined. The stairs were white, but they had black no-slip strips on the edges of them, which helped me decipher one step from the next.    

Doing these exercises gave me a much more comprehensive understanding of the challenges associated with being visually impaired, and will help me when designing spaces for someone with this type of disability.  I learned that using contrasting colors between different levels of floor is extremely helpful, along with handrails to give people something to hold on to for extra support. Using no-slip strips on stairs is also a necessity on stairs to prevent injury on stairs. The use of natural and artificial light in spaces is also very important because it helps to better be able to see outlines and colors of objects within the space. Finally, using text that is bright or contrasting in color to it’s background is important, especially when the text is trying to convey an important message such as exit signs. Also, the larger the size of the text the easier it is to see. Overall, participating in these exercises was a beneficial experience from me and will help me in future design projects.

                                         Me looking through a plastic bag on campus. 

Spring Break visit to the Frye Art Museum

Spring Break visit to the Frye Art Museum

The Frye Art Museum at 704 Terry Avenue in Seattle Washington opened in 1952 and is the legacy of Charles and Emma Frye who were early-twentieth century Seattle business leaders and art collectors. On display in this 18,000 square foot space are pieces from the Frye Founding Collection of late nineteenth and earl-twentieth century European paintings and also exhibitions that the museum hosts for extended periods of time. When I visited the museum over break the exhibit that I focused on was called 36 Chambers, which is the title of James Joyce’s first series of poems. This exhibit helps to continue the museum’s commitment to the “citizen curator” by inviting the staff of the Frye Art Museum to choose works of art from the Founding Collection based on James Joyce’s poems in 36 Chambers. From this collection I chose one piece of art to focus on that I liked the best. The piece I selected is titled Summer Night, by German painter Hans Thoma, and is oil painted on paper on fabric.

                                                                                                                       

 

Hans Thoma

German, 1839-1924

Summer Night, 1882

Oil on paper on fabric

Frye Art Museum, Charles and Emma Frye Collection, 1952.171

XXIV                                                   

Sleep now, O sleep now,                  

O you unquiet heart!

A voice crying “Sleep now”

Is heard now in my heart

The voice if the winter

Is heard at the door.

O sleep, for the winter

Is crying “Sleep no more.”

My kiss will give peace now

And quiet to your heart –

Sleep on in peace now,

O you unquiet heart! 

Summer Night is a painting of a young boy sleeping in a woman’s arms. The little boy looks tired from what was probably a long, hot summer day and the woman, who I imagine is his mother, looks down lovingly at the boy as the day turns into night. The landscape in the background of trees and a full moon add to the peaceful theme of the painting. The poem paired with this painting makes the painting even more meaningful. The words of the poem speak of love and peacefulness. “My kiss will give peace now and quiet to your heart…” I think this part of the poem is beautiful because it represents the woman’s love for the boy as he is sleeping in her arms.

The design of this museum is simple. When you walk into the museum through the lobby you immediately pass a gift store and then enter into the gallery portion of the space, which is divided into massive rooms with very tall ceilings. The expansiveness of the rooms allows viewers to enjoy the artwork from different angles and distances. In the middle of these rooms were benches with seating for about four to eight people. This was the only seating offered throughout the entire space, which helps encourage the viewer to continue to move through the rooms in the museum. The way the rooms are arranged seems very arbitrary and encourages guests to wander through the museum however they feel. The different exhibits that are being shown in the museum usually have a description of what the exhibit is to help the guests understand what they will be looking at in the separate rooms. The paintings are spaced far enough apart so that the guests viewing the different works will not disturb one another while they are enjoying the art. The paintings are hung at the average eye level for the normal person who will be viewing the art.

The design of this space encourages the best possible viewing experience of the artwork. The walls on which the art is displayed were mostly white/off-white throughout the museum, however in the 36 Chambers exhibit, the walls were painted lilac and the lighting was dimmer than in the rest of the spaces. In the spaces with the white walls there was track lighting on the ceiling, which was the only source of light in the space. The lights were placed so that they did not create a glare, but rather made the viewing experience very pleasant. The combination of the white walls, light hardwood floors and soft light made the space calming and created a neutral slate for the art to be displayed. In the exhibit with the lilac walls, the paintings all had thick frames to separate them from the color of the walls, which helped to frame and emphasize the artwork. The dimmer track lighting made the spaces darker, but did not take away from the viewing of the art.

My visit to the Frye Art Museum was not only enjoyable because I got to view beautiful artwork, but also because I learned a lot about the layout of gallery spaces that I will hopefully be able to apply to my own design work.