DESIGN RESEARCH RATIONALE
INSPIRATION:
Braille language for people with a vision impairment, as well as the strong contextual and historical impact of the storytelling as a form of word of mouth.
UNIQUE PROPERTIES:
Starting from common associations of eyes with visionary perceptions of the surrounding environment and respective associations of mouth to oral communication, both shapes are reflected on the shape and openings of the design. Mouth is brought forward to emphasize storytelling or worth of mouth, while the eye opening is placed at the back hinting a more secondary or less prominent attribute of communication. Word of mouth remains the most powerful method of human communication, while its power is recognized as a promotional and marketing tool since it can spread communication quickly. Word of mouth street bench is unique in its inception since apart from offering sitting and reclining ergonomics to the urban setting, it can convert the landscape to an open educational library to visually impaired people. New channels of knowledge dissemination and communication among visually impaired and other end users can open, empowering the design of research informed, just and beautiful cities.
RESEARCH ABSTRACT:
Research has been contacted, fieldwork and international bibliographic literature, in the impact storytelling and touch hold in constructing images of the surrounding environment. People that are partially or permanently visually impaired place an important and vital emphasis on textures and materials in order to perceive the world around them. Their written language is in Braille imposed dots, which help develop reading materials and widespread knowledge while empowering equal opportunities to education. Therefore, touch and dissemination of information verbally become a strong communication and educational tools.
The creative part was to design a street bench that utilizes contemporary ergonomics and aesthetic demands for the creative adaptation of urban typology. Eye and mouth, have both allegorical and literary contributions as words and shapes. Moreover, applied reinforced concrete and manufacturing technology have enabled the realization of a design that has both functional use as a bench and secondary use an urban book.
