Deaf agency through architectural design: Olof Hanson’s US legacy

This article analyses the life and career of Olof Hanson (1862-1933), the earliest known deaf architect to practice in the United States. Drawing on Hanson’s unpublished papers in Gallaudet University Archives, the article provides the first comprehensive account of his innovative architectural design for deaf people and communities, intended to optimise manual communication, such as American Sign Language (ASL), in residences, schools, dormitories, and community buildings. These innovations included maximising natural light, designing electric light systems to highlight the hands and faces of speakers, and optimising sight lines to optimise manual communication. Hanson explicitly used this approach in his designs, notably for Kendall Hall at Gallaudet University, which used beveled windowsills in the basement, and at Charles Thompson Memorial Hall in Saint Paul, MN, which included numerous full to over-sized windows from the basement to the top floor. The hall also included a widened staircase and entryway designs that emphasised an open view between floor levels, allowing unimpeded manual communication as deaf people moved between floors and rooms. Hanson provided previews of space using interior glass partitions in community buildings and spindlework in residences. Three decades of architectural practice in Minnesota, Washington State, and elsewhere, along with a lifetime of personal experience, offered Hanson numerous opportunities to centre deaf people in his architectural designs. His design innovations were built upon and advanced by other deaf and hard-of-hearing architects who modified standard building plans to meet the needs of deaf clients. In turn, Hanson’s designs foreshadowed the late twentieth-century concept of DeafSpace. This article is accompanied by ‘Olof Hanson’s Architectural Legacy’, ArcGIS StoryMap that traces Hanson’s life and career.