The School of Architecture Fall 2019 Ethics and Leadership Panel brings the Design Team from the Lighthouse for the Blind to 601 Brannan to share their experience with our students and faculty. Chris Downey from Architecture for the Blind, Katy Hawkins from Mark Cavegnaro Associates, Shane Myrbeck, Arup Engineers and Naomi Rosenberg from Lighthouse for the Blind will be presenting this architectural design project which incorporated unique technologies to convey the design process to seeing and non-seeing clients, while developing designed spaces that respond to the needs of visually-impaired visitors and staff.

Chris Downey has been on 60 Minutes, NPR, Ted Talks and many other platforms advocating for better design for people with visual impairments. As an architect who lost his sight suddenly mid-career he has shared his disability experience and design expertise to both expand awareness and improve the experience of the built environment. Project architect, Katy Hawkins has degrees in both architecture and structural engineering and experience with non-profit institutions.

Naomi Rosenberg is trained as an architect and now Senior Designer working for Lighthouse for the Blind creating tactile graphics and accessible media MAD Lab (Media and Accessible Design Laboratory) for many stakeholders in education, the State Parks system, Apple Campus and beyond.

Shane Myrbeck from Arup brought his acoustical design background integrating music and sound engineering. Arup used their amazing Sound Lab to model the acoustical experience of the project while it was in design. There is so much territory to cover in this fascinating panel and we look forward to what they have to share!

Watch Livestream Here