Our Blind experience museum is known as “Divya Anubhuti”.
The word literally translates to “divine experience”, but in the context of our country since the hindi transliteration for ‘specially abled’ is ‘Divyaang’ , it actually refers to experience as specially abled, in this case as blind. The locals can understand this.
What we could infer from the brief was immersive, interactive, and inclusive...and have attempted to create that environment in our blind experience museum, called
CONCEPT
The concept we arrived at was ‘LOSING YOUR SIGHT TO SEE ANEW’. Our concept illustrations convey the experience we have attempted to create in our museum... the experience of slowly, almost stealthily losing one’s sense of visual perception completely... until the point is reached where all other sensory experiences presume the paramount importance.
The senses other than sight become vivid and vibrant.....allowing one to truly feel the superpowers of the blind, breaking all former misconceptions and pitiful mindset towards them. Since it will be the first time for the visitor ‘peeking’ into the world of the blind and ‘seeing’ the challenges faced by them, they will hopefully develop a newfound empathy towards the blind....they ‘see’ a new world... hence our concept is.................... LOSING YOUR SIGHT TO SEE ANEW
THE CHANGE WE HOPE TO SEE IS ONE IN PERCEPTION, ABOUT BLIND PEOPLE AND THEIR BLINDNESS. FOR ONE WHO VISITS THE MUSEUM, WE HOPE THEY EMBARK ON AN INTERNAL JOURNEY OF CHANGE, AND OUR AIM WHILE DESIGNING WAS TO EXTERNALISE THE SUITABLE PATH FOR THE INTERNAL JOURNEY. THIS PRINCIPLE WAS USED TO INFORM ALL OUR DESIGN DECESIONS.
SITE
The site chosen was in Le Corbusier’s Chandigarh, Sector 26, near Institute for the blind Boys and Blind Girls hostel. Our site shares the same approach road with the aforementioned Institutes. Another advantage is easy approach from major tourist movement road Sukhna Path.
It is also Environmentally responsible and sustainable choice of land parcel because there is an old empty underground water tank on site. It many years ago served Chandigarh water works department that has shifted. We propose basement parking on site, which in the scope of work has not been detailed.
THREE LEVELS OF INTERACTION
In order to incorporate the idea of inclusivity we wanted to make the museum accessible and comfortable for a variety of users. Some visitors may want to only learn a little bit about blindness, some may be inclined to dine at a dark restaurant, and the most adventurous ones, would want to try out the experience of being blind.
This informed our design in a way to include three kinds of spaces.
The first being the Gallery or exhibition space, through which someone can walk as part spectator part experiencer, and know about common phenomena like colour blindness, and the varying degrees of blindness. The other areas in the gallery would include aid and tools used by blind persons, Braille books and various Braille writers, a tactile map of their own City Chandigarh, and of course, the special bit, artifacts made by the blind school children which is located at a 2-minute walk from our museum. The gallery thus becomes the first level of interaction with blindness and its effects, while simultaneously revealing through creations of blind people to their immense potential, hitherto 'unseen' by most of us.
The next level of interaction is the dining experience in the dark. This idea has been experimented with in many parts of the world and proved its wide public appeal magnet - for good - the experience is unmatched. On our site, we have chosen to locate the restaurant’s entrance separately for ease of access. By doing this, we envisioned it can function as an independent entity even when the museum itself is closed.
The most intimate level of interaction, the Third level of interaction that we have offered to the visitor at our BLIND EXPERIENCE MUSEUM is the journey through the 'EXPERIENCE' spaces themselves. The experience spaces are the heart of the museum. If the other two can agitate the surface of a person's conceptions about the blind, then the experience spaces are one that can truly transform one's perceptions...
Here, externally the visitor walks through some challenges faced on a day-to-day basis by someone who is blind...and internally, he journeys from being sympathetic or apathetic or even indifferent, to the state of being empathetic.


FROM THE ‘EYES’ OF THE VISITOR
From afar, the only thing visible to the visitor is a cuboidal volume, cut within abstract eye like void to reveal the metal statue of an old blind man walking with a cane. This helps to provide high Imageability to our project.
On conceptual level it shows that the experience inside the world of blind people cannot ever be felt from a distance, one has to enter into it to know about it...hence an organic form clad in cuboidal curtain second skin.
Approaching closer, they see grand steps approaching a 3m high Plinth where the main entry is located. Neatly placed on the opposite side is the restaurant entry that allows for it to operate separately from the museum.
Our restaurant is named “THE SIXTH TASTE”
There is a void directly across central axis of stairs whereas the two side walls are totally blank, it is a metaphorical view represented of loss of peripheral vision.
Upon entering into the main lobby from a door at the end of the stairs, the visitor can go through The first level of interaction being the Gallery or exhibition space.
At the end of the Gallery Exhibition is a doorway leading to the second lobby. The second lobby is dedicated to the interested participants for experience museum. Here they are introduced to their blind guide who takes them through the journey.

They go through a series of 5 space:
• TACTILE LABYRINTH: The visitor uses his hands and hearing sense to find way in a narrow snaking path.
• BLIND CRICKET ITH AUGMENTED REALITY: The augmented reality helps to safely introduce visitor to sport for the blind, when cricket ball is filled with bells, and he attempts to hit
• AUDIO ENABLED INTERACTIVE TACTILE INSTALLATION: In circulate and curvilinear patterns, each section is finished with common materials and textures, that we know well by sight but little by touch
• OLFACTORY SENSE EXPERIENCE ZONE: In a circular enclosure multiple objects are placed with both synthetic and natural fragrance
• STAIRS AND ROAD CROSSING SIMULATION: The sensitization is incomplete without knowing the difficulty blind have with stairs and traffic...this is safe owing to flooring and no real cars but they get an idea how dangerous in the real world this would be....
Above experiences need to be internalised and absorbed, so the visitor walks down a gently sloping ramp with diffused lighting (wall lined with frosted glass bricks) and comes to a monolithic concrete volume only lit by skylight above. This powerful Double height volume serves as the introspection space...where the change in perception can happen.
Thereon, he can enter the small auditorium. The auditorium is provided to allow for screening of the movies about daily life of blind persons, about the blind person deftly manoeuvring the दिव्य अनुभूति museum itself and also to intermittently host blind magician/ comedian/ singing shows.
Since the students of nearby institute for the blind a highly skilled in various activities they can share their knowledge with the visitors in the workshop area provided on the ground floor, which can be accessed upon entering from the ground level entry.
The space is large enough to hold occasional exhibitions bringing more people to the facility and creating a positive public image and spreading name of the museum amongst the local people.
And from the door on the ground floor the visitor walks out,
having seen another dimension,
having known a sixth sense,
having had a change in perception,
that’s what we hope...........