Designing in others: Lessons from a Deaf architecture student

Othering marks perceived differences so as to establish a divide between ‘us’ and ‘them’, which is materialised in and by built space. Our study expands prevailing understandings of this materialisation by highlighting how architectural design can counter othering. To this end, we introduce Danielle Koplitz, an American young woman who was born deaf and, at the time of the study, was studying architecture. The design approach of an architecture student who is deaf represents a unique combination of (deaf) experiences and (architectural) knowledge. Based on interviews with Danielle and design documents, we analyse how and what she designed during her architecture studies. Our analysis highlights how Danielle seeks to design-out othering while designing in difference without negative connotation. We show how personal experiences with othering motivate her to design spaces that avoid environmental barriers and convey positive messages to make people thrive and accept their identity. It is in this way that she believes architectural design can promote equity, diversity, and inclusion. Moreover, on top of designing out othering, she designs in others, by involving different people’s input as a resource in her designs. Danielle’s approach and designs are inspiring in several ways: from their spatial qualities to her capacity to build on and go beyond DeafSpace in architectural terms, already from her twenties. As such, her lived experiences and the way she captures and expresses her own connection with her sociospatial context are profoundly significant in pedagogical terms. At the same time, her trajectory, like that of other architects with disability experience, points to another process of othering: the cycle that architectural education fosters towards able-bodied and privileged mindsets. It is high time that educators not only teach students about the importance of designing in others, but also start learning from their students how to do so.