"My point is design. Not to design an environment around me, but to design an environment for all of us."
- Robert Sirvage (Hales, 2013)
- Robert Sirvage (Hales, 2013)
Perspectives
There are many pros to DeafSpace, and very few, if any, cons.
Just as Universal Design principles benefit everyone – think about sloped curbs at corners. It’s not only people in wheelchairs who make use of them, but also people with baby strollers, shoppers with buggies, cyclists, and just about everyone else – so can the principles of DeafSpace. As a member of DSP put it, “the deaf space principles would benefit everyone all over the world, not just deaf people, because humans are naturally collective and tactile" ("Deaf Space," 2007).
For example, in LLRH6, the newest building at Gallaudet, the kitchens on residence floors have appliances installed not along the walls, but in central cooking islands so that cooks don’t have to turn their backs to those around them. (Hales, 2013). Anyone, Deaf or hearing, who wants to interact with others while performing tasks, can benefit from this kind of thoughtful design.
Similarly, lighting conditions and wall colours that minimize eyestrain help everyone. At a time when more and more people are spending more and more time staring at screens, architectural and design elements that reduce eye fatigue are especially useful.
As one of the architects of LLRH6 notes, the DSP/Gallaudet community did not aim to create spaces that were of use only to Deaf people. “Rather, there is an understanding that comes from being deaf that interprets, knows and experiences space in a way that those that are hearing cannot” (Stinson, 2013).
While it’s difficult to argue with the idea of creating fully accessible spaces for Deaf people at a university dedicated to Deaf education, there are a few architects who are uncomfortable with the thought of building off-campus DeafSpace communities. To their minds, it serves to cut people off from each other, rather than integrating them into larger communities (Kazan, 2012).
That is a rather myopic attitude, though. In Washington, D.C., a new 28-unit building called Justice Park that caters to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community is being built, with open floor plans, a two-story courtyard, and visual alarms. While the Deaf community has tended to live in the northeast area of the city, close to Gallaudet, Justice Park is in a different neighbourhood, Columbia Heights. As future resident Robert McConnell says, “Justice Park will allow D.C.’s deaf to find a new enclave in a different part of the city" (Kazan, 2012).
"‘Maybe more deaf people could get integrated into other parts of D.C.,’ he said. ‘If we are out and about and socializing together, maybe the deaf and hearing community will be able to understand each other better’” (Kazan, 2012).
There are further social implications to DeafSpace. Robert Sirvage, one of the Gallaudet professors who contributed to DSP's Guidelines, asks us to imagine a public transportation system whose goal is "to promote and support visual contact and interaction between people [...] Consider the sociopolitical implications of designing the world in ways that compel people to look at each other eye-to-eye much more often" (O'Connell, 2012). Would we be more accountable to each other, more compassionate, more aware that we are members of a community? It's worth not only considering, but experimenting with. Says Sirvage: "DeafSpace really is about bringing a new perspective to the meaning of good design" (O'Connell, 2012).
Watch Robert Sirvage discuss "What We Can Learn From People With Usher's Syndrome" as it relates to architecture and design:
Just as Universal Design principles benefit everyone – think about sloped curbs at corners. It’s not only people in wheelchairs who make use of them, but also people with baby strollers, shoppers with buggies, cyclists, and just about everyone else – so can the principles of DeafSpace. As a member of DSP put it, “the deaf space principles would benefit everyone all over the world, not just deaf people, because humans are naturally collective and tactile" ("Deaf Space," 2007).
For example, in LLRH6, the newest building at Gallaudet, the kitchens on residence floors have appliances installed not along the walls, but in central cooking islands so that cooks don’t have to turn their backs to those around them. (Hales, 2013). Anyone, Deaf or hearing, who wants to interact with others while performing tasks, can benefit from this kind of thoughtful design.
Similarly, lighting conditions and wall colours that minimize eyestrain help everyone. At a time when more and more people are spending more and more time staring at screens, architectural and design elements that reduce eye fatigue are especially useful.
As one of the architects of LLRH6 notes, the DSP/Gallaudet community did not aim to create spaces that were of use only to Deaf people. “Rather, there is an understanding that comes from being deaf that interprets, knows and experiences space in a way that those that are hearing cannot” (Stinson, 2013).
While it’s difficult to argue with the idea of creating fully accessible spaces for Deaf people at a university dedicated to Deaf education, there are a few architects who are uncomfortable with the thought of building off-campus DeafSpace communities. To their minds, it serves to cut people off from each other, rather than integrating them into larger communities (Kazan, 2012).
That is a rather myopic attitude, though. In Washington, D.C., a new 28-unit building called Justice Park that caters to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community is being built, with open floor plans, a two-story courtyard, and visual alarms. While the Deaf community has tended to live in the northeast area of the city, close to Gallaudet, Justice Park is in a different neighbourhood, Columbia Heights. As future resident Robert McConnell says, “Justice Park will allow D.C.’s deaf to find a new enclave in a different part of the city" (Kazan, 2012).
"‘Maybe more deaf people could get integrated into other parts of D.C.,’ he said. ‘If we are out and about and socializing together, maybe the deaf and hearing community will be able to understand each other better’” (Kazan, 2012).
There are further social implications to DeafSpace. Robert Sirvage, one of the Gallaudet professors who contributed to DSP's Guidelines, asks us to imagine a public transportation system whose goal is "to promote and support visual contact and interaction between people [...] Consider the sociopolitical implications of designing the world in ways that compel people to look at each other eye-to-eye much more often" (O'Connell, 2012). Would we be more accountable to each other, more compassionate, more aware that we are members of a community? It's worth not only considering, but experimenting with. Says Sirvage: "DeafSpace really is about bringing a new perspective to the meaning of good design" (O'Connell, 2012).
Watch Robert Sirvage discuss "What We Can Learn From People With Usher's Syndrome" as it relates to architecture and design: