Blindness & the Multi-Sensorial City

Edited by Patrick Devlieger, et al.
November 2006
Garant Publishers
Distributed by
ISBN: 9044117394
372 pages, Illustrated, 6 1/4 x 9 1/2"
$89.50 Paper Original


What is the result of developing a very specific dialogue, between people with a visual impairment and non-disabled people, in a very specific environment, the historic environment of a city? This dialogue process, which defines a cultural model of disability, is the central theme in this book. It builds on the need for adapting and modifying the environment rather than the person. This book envisions the making of a multi-sensorial city, one in which a visual esthetics is questioned by the need for functionality, other forms of perception such as tactile and auditory, and considering the co-existence of the historical and the supermodern, including the impact of new technologies.

By taking visual limitations as a starting point, fresh departures are taken with questions on the development of a local accessibility policy, the design of multi-sensorial environments, and possible applications in tourism and education. At a more fundamental theoretical level, this book inquires about the nature of disability, the city and their dialectics.

Contents:
Chapter 1. Building Bridges
Chapter 2. Disability, the Individual and the City
Chapter 3. Mobility and Orientation
Chapter 4. Multi-Sensory Design
Chapter 5. Tactility and Aesthetics
Chapter 6. Enhancing Tourism Through Non-Visual Competence
Chapter 7. Education and Experimentation
Chapter 8. Towards a Method of Analyzing and Designing Space About the editors:
Patrick Devlieger is associate professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Leuven (Belgium) and research assistant professor at the Department of Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago.
Frank Renders is a graduate student researcher in anthropology at the University of Leuven.
Hubert Froyen is professor in architecture at the Provinciale Hogeschool Limburg.
Kristel Wildiers is equal chances consultant at the City of Leuven.


Urban Planning
Diasbility Studies


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