ARCHITECTURE AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED: WYATA GUNA SPECIAL NEEDS SCHOOL AND STUDENT DORMITORY, BANDUNG, WEST JAVA
Bandung Special Needs School (SNS) A is the oldest SNS in Southeast Asia, established in 1908 as a school and dormitory for the blind. The SNS is located at Wyata Guna Complex, Jl. Pajajaran 50- 52. In 2019, the SNS faced eviction threats from the Social Ministry as Wyata Guna was being convert...
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| Format: | Final Project |
| Language: | Indonesia |
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| Online Access: | https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/53584 |
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| Institution: | Institut Teknologi Bandung |
| Language: | Indonesia |
| Summary: | Bandung Special Needs School (SNS) A is the oldest SNS in Southeast Asia, established in 1908
as a school and dormitory for the blind. The SNS is located at Wyata Guna Complex, Jl. Pajajaran 50-
52. In 2019, the SNS faced eviction threats from the Social Ministry as Wyata Guna was being
converted into an advanced rehabilitation facility. The West Java Government requested a land grant
from the Social Ministry of 15.000 m2 from the 45.000 m2 at Wyata Guna to remain as a school
(kindergarten-high school) and dormitory (elementary school-varsity).
The land grant opens an opportunity to redesign the school and dormitory currently in
substandard condition. There are three key design issues: Accommodating students’ disabilities while
preparing independent life; Accommodating school’s public function as blind education resource
center while maintaining students’ privacies; Responding to historical building (house of SNS founder;
C.H.F. Westhoff).
Students’ disabilities are accommodated through flexibility of class size based on disability
type: blind and multiple disabilities; nonvisual cues (sound, wind, smell); tactile mobility guides;
simple/perpendicular circulation for orientation; avoiding glare (low-vision) and echo (blind). The
design accommodates independent life curriculum: activities of daily living through independence-
based dormitory; and orientation-mobility through difficulty variety of horizontal and vertical
circulation.
Public function is accommodated through clear private-public zone division, with the site’s
eastern part allocated as a public park and repurposing of Westhoff’s house as a history museum.
Responding to the historical building, roof shape and distance between building masses are made to
create a visual continuity with Westhoff’s house. |
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