This blog post is in response to Brody Walsh’s very valid point
made in class that the mindsets of the people visiting the courthouse need to
be taken into account from a design perspective. The people here may be in a
very vulnerable state, therefore any design installations / tests done need to
be sturdy and durable. We must take this into account when designing. For our
group, we are dealing with separation and privacy dividers and there was an
idea for these to be movable and have a curtain drawn when someone wants
privacy. If someone moves these dividers and they break, they are now in a much
worse mindset and much more flustered just by the nature of the courthouse
atmosphere. We came up with a design that had a nice simple aesthetic, however
the structure was not sound, therefore, it was no longer an option.
This is the aspect of design that I really enjoy. Architecture
is about much more than simply creating something that is aesthetically
pleasing. The understanding and respect of the people using the architecture is
key. Every good architectural project begins with site analysis / the study of
the population / residents.
A short passage from the book with the subtitle Respect in Practice states that “Some
forms of research—particularly those involving less face-to-face contact—carry
a greater burden to anticipate a participant’s vulnerabilities. These cases
require additional thought and care regarding participants’ emotional
investment in the study” (pg 27). This sentence is key to the deigning that we
are testing in the courthouse and explains that architecture has a lot to do
with the thought and care that goes into the people, because at the end of the
day, the architecture is all about the people; otherwise, why would it be
created?