Garden for the Blind :: Architecture Design Essays

Garden for the Blind In Sensory Design by Joy Malnar and Frank Vodvarka, a great garden is said to unfold like a narrative, a journey or a piece of music. My hope is that the Garden for the Blind located on the land south of Hume Hall will be such a garden. I think the Garden should be entered through the parking lot, since the ground there is the most level. I think there should be a wooden path with railings on both sides until the garden reaches it’s full width. The path should then change to asphalt or rock, but the wood railing should be continued for a few more feet. There could be an archway over the wooden path, wrapped in Jasmine vines, so that the entrance to the garden can be marked by such a smell. The unrailed but broad path should then travel through the garden. Although unrailed, a system, such as raised edges, should be set in place on both sides of the path, to indicate where it ends and the grass begins. The path will eventually lead to a substantially large fountain in the middle of the Garden. One will know when he or she is in the heart of the Garden when one hears the water, or even feels the mist on his or her face. The fountain should have a ledge wide enough to sit on, with railings to keep one from falling in. The fountain will be in the middle of a paved circle. The circle will have railings around it, except for when it is met up by one of the three main paths: the path from the entrance, the path to the gazebo, and the path to the exit. On the right side of the fountain (when facing it from the entrance) there will be a Gazebo. There will be steps leading up to the Gazebo, since it will be situated on the steep side of the hill. The Gazebo can be a center for