RationaleSight dominates the way we "see" the world. Thinkers such asAristotle have emphasized this fact. He said, "Of all the senses, trustonly the sense of sight." There existed and still exists a bias towardsvision.Buildings too, are judged largely by their external appearance.However, we need to look beyond the façade. A building has much more tooffer than mere visual appeal. The tactile engravings of the Puritemples in Khajuraho and the Forts of Fatehpur Sikri1 demonstrate this.Courtyards, which played an important role in Indian architecture, wereplanned with an understanding of wind and sun, so that the transitionfrom the `inside` to `outside` could be felt and not just seen.Growing up and studying architecture in India one is never reallyexposed to disability laws and their role in molding the lives of somany people. For instance, disability laws between Delhi, India and NewYork vary in terms of how refined the relevant laws are in New York andhow strictly they are imposed here. However, upon pondering the issue alittle more deeply one begins to wonder what the ultimate aim of theselaws is? Is it merely to provide access to buildings? It seems asthough most buildings are designed and these special requirements aremerely pasted on. Different people have different kinds ofrequirements. So in order for the design to be universal it shouldconsciously keep all the requirements in mind. These requirements couldbe physical disabilities, blindness etc.Vision as a mode of experiencing architecture has come to beoveremphasized to the virtual exclusion of all other senses. Asstudents, we tend to design mainly for what is most pleasing to theeye. All studies of buildings are done through pictures and all designideas are communicated primarily through the visual medium. There isalso a tendency to limit our design conceptions to static views such aselevations, sections and perspectives. The other senses tend to besidelined.To attribute an experiential value to a building that transcends itsfunctional value, a building would need to provide sensory experiences.Sensory categories that form our reactions to space are the visual, thetactile, the aural and the kinesthetic. The olfactory sense thoughimportant, cannot always be considered in building design. Thermalsensibility is also of relevance.A building conditions our behavior and the way we function. Studiesshow that staying in an environment devoid of sensory stimulus leads toboredom, restlessness and lack of concentration. As students ofarchitecture, we will be benefited by a critical analysis of theinterplay of our senses and its consequent impact on architecturaldesign.ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to try to understand the interplay ofthe visual sense with the other senses in the context of encouragingone`s architectural skill set in universal design techniques. The paperfirst constructs a methodology that might permit such learning andtests it by experimentation. This is seen as an important attempt in the author`s personalhistory to design outside of the box, where learning so far has beenvisually dominated, as a way of enhancing one`s capabilities ofarchitectural design.MethodologyArchitectural illusion is transformed into a fact when we physicallyexperience a place, which is when our senses are activated. It is thenthat the preconceived image begins to fade away and we obtain a morereal and complete appreciation of the building.In order to clarify this process, as a first step in the methodologyfor inquiring into the subject of this paper, a discussion is carvedunder the following heads:The sensesSensory deprivationPhysical experienceWhat influences experience?This is followed by an investigative technique. It was the author`sopinion that she should personally visit a place and experience it with
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