2024-05-01T23:00:04-04:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/138210382/building-voice-visually-impaired-architect-christopher-downey-lectures-in-downtown-miami Joachim Perez 2015-10-05T12:53:00-04:00 >2015-10-08T22:47:38-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/a8/a8ihdwdglny5ra2p.JPG?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>Architect Christopher Downey came to Miami to present a lecture as part of a local exhibit called Listen to This Building.&nbsp; The exhibit is organized Exile Books, a pop-up artist&rsquo;s book store, and is meant to show the architecture of downtown Miami through the senses of touch and as stated in the title of the show, through hearing.&nbsp; It is believed to be the first architectural exhibit designed to address accessibility for persons with visual impairments. Downey is an architect who is visually impaired having lost his eyesight in 2008 yet continues to practice architecture in the Bay Area.&nbsp; His lecture, &ldquo;Building Voice&rdquo; is a play on words, as it can be interpreted as the acoustic characteristics of an edifice or the creation of an individual&rsquo;s style.&nbsp;</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/b9/b92wxlevrnoufwih.jpg"><br><br>&ldquo;If you&rsquo;re going to lose your eye sight, start training yourself to be an architect&rdquo;, says Downey, who believes his training and the 20 years of practicing architecture before the loss has given him a set of skills (problem solving, criti...</p>