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To kick off the inaugural Master Lecture Series put on by the Florida State University College of Fine Arts in collaboration with Florida A&M University School of Architecture and Engineering and the Tallahassee chapter of the AIA, Chris Downey will be speaking. Downey is a San... View full entry
For many architects, much of one's work depends upon the visual possibilities where space can transform. Often overlooked, many designers forget what it is like to design buildings and structures for the blind or hearing impaired. Universal accessibility and inclusive design methods are being... View full entry
Architect Christopher Downey came to Miami to present a lecture as part of a local exhibit called Listen to This Building. The exhibit is organized Exile Books, a pop-up artist’s book store, and is meant to show the architecture of downtown Miami through the senses of touch and as stated in... View full entry
Many people view GPS and similar emerging interior-wayfnding technologies as a way to 'solve the blind wayfnding challenge.'...Architects still need to be better multisensory placemakers to design and create effective environments for the blind and visually impaired. — Dwell
Chris Downey, whose story as a blind practicing architect was recently documented in the AIA's "Look Up" campaign this past May, dishes in on his own experiences with embossing printers, wayfinding devices, and graphic input tools, and other emerging technologies that have the potential to vastly... View full entry
Entitled "An Architect's Story", the video features Chris Downey, a blind architect and founder of "Architecture for the Blind" in San Francisco. The piece, which debuted at the AIA National Convention last week, focuses on Downey's approach to architecture before and after unexpectedly becoming... View full entry
Downey needed something tactile to work with, and he found it in a kids' toy. Spread out before him on the table are stacks of embossed plans ... marked up with brightly colored wax sticks. [...]
The sticks warm to the touch and bend easily; they can make precise angles, and—crucially for Downey—their tackiness makes them stick to paper. "Once I realized that, I thought, 'Oh, I could use that to draw on top of an embossed drawing.'" Suddenly, he had a way not just to read, but to make.
— sf.curbed.com
Previously, the LA Times profiled Downey and his firm: Blind architect sports an upbeat vision View full entry
Blind architect Chris Downey says that city planners and property owners should view future construction projects through a different set of eyes. [...]
Downey, 51, of Piedmont, Calif., lost his eyesight six years ago after undergoing surgery for a non-cancerous brain tumor. Since then, he has maintained his San Francisco architectural practice.
"I have a career without sight. But as an architect, I still have vision," he said with a grin. "The creative process is a mental process."
— latimes.com
After Chris Downey, of Piedmont, lost his sight, rather than change careers, he stayed with architecture. Now, with the help of a white cane and drawings that have raised figures, Downey plans buildings for the blind. -- SF Gate View full entry
