Architect
Christopher Laing
London
Our senses combine to allow us to interpret space, but when one of those senses isn’t present, how can that affect our experience?
The majority of our built environment is designed for people who hear, with little regard for how Deaf people navigate a space. We spoke to Christopher Laing, architect, actor and founder of the Deaf Architecture Front and Signstrokes.
We met in a corner coffee shop in London, light bursting in from two sides, the chatter of a busy coffee shop a constant in the background. Beside me was Hanah Ahmed, our BSL (British Sign Language) interpreter for today. Christopher smiled as I asked the first question about the Deaf Architecture Front, and then he glanced to Hanah as he started to sign, “DAF was set up to become a bridge between the deaf community and architecture.” It is a platform and a collective founded by Christopher with a focus on activism, consultation, open resources and research aiming to remove the barriers that have been in place for many years preventing Deaf people from engaging with architectural practice.
As well as DAF, Christopher also set up Signstrokes – a linguistic project to find and create common signs to communicate the spatial nuances discussed in the placemaking and spatial design world. Christopher said, “There wasn’t a sign for ‘gentrification’ in BSL. So it was really a beautiful process for me and the deaf community to come together and discuss the signs for words like this and others and record them onto Instagram for others to see and use.”
Both projects are championed by Christopher in his focus on ‘levelling up’ the playing field for those entering the architecture profession, and for deaf people being consulted and considered about spaces that are being designed and developed.
We talked about designing for deaf and hard-of-hearing people and Christopher mentioned an article he’d read about Gallaudet University, “Galludet University, (the global leader in education for deaf and hard of hearing) set up the Deaf Space Lab. It was an opportunity for deaf people to come together and create resources and design elements for buildings to be used in practice in their architecture.” Back in 2005 at the University, architect Hansel Bauman established the DeafSpace Project. The modern concept of deaf space has five principal concepts: sensory reach, space and proximity, mobility and proximity, light and color, and acoustics.
These principles are sound considerations for anyone in architecture, however only 1% of qualified architects are disabled and deaf people make up 0.2% of that. So the importance of Christopher’s work is key both for people coming into the industry and for people currently understanding the needs and desires of deaf and hard-of-hearing people when designing space.
Christopher said, “For deaf people, we can’t hear movement so we don’t know who’s behind us. That kind of safety is so important to us. It could be as simple as creating some kind of reflections in space to allow for full visibility to alleviate any anxiety as well as really add to the aesthetic.”
Christopher talked about some practical considerations, “If I’m stuck in a lift, how do I have a conversation over the intercom? If I’m in a toilet and the fire alarm goes off, how do I know?” A lot of these considerations can be easily missed or wrongly interpreted. This is where deaf-led consultation is really important, something DAF champions.
We talked about finding the balance when starting new projects, “Feeling calm in a space is very important to me, but I also want it to be aesthetically pleasing too. I don’t want to make sacrifices in other areas just to improve accessibility.”
This is a constant challenge and excitement in Christopher’s work but this is only part of his focus, “There are so many barriers that I want to break down, I will always have a passion for design and buildings but my focus has now changed to advocacy and access. I want to encourage deaf people to feel seen.”
