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| Model of Stillwater Lift Bridge  Minneapolis architectural model builder, Feyereisen Studios, completed a project for the Stillwater Lift Bridge. Unlike most architectural models, the model of the Stillwater Lift Bridge was designed so that the visually impaired could feel and better visualize the model. The idea to build a physical model of the Stillwater Lift Bridge was undertaken in an effort to enlist the assistance of the disabled community to make it easier for everyone to visualize and clearly understand the project. Throughout the five-week building phase, a number of blind and visually impaired individuals visited Feyereisen Studios to provide insight and advice on how to best represent the bridge's features, in order for the visually impaired to gain a better understanding of what they were feeling when they touched the model. The architectural model builders utilized various unconventional materials, including magnets to make breakaway lamp posts, sandpaper to indicate detectable warnings, raised crosswalk markings to indicate the crosswalk, fuzzy grass, and everything on the model was labeled with both a large text size and Braille for low vision people to understand the plans for the bridge. "This project really helped me better understand the issues of the blind," said Robert Feyereisen, Feyereisen Studios. "Providing citizens with the ability to actually 'see' and 'feel' all the aspects of the project three dimensionally, provides a greater understanding of the project that seems to make people more comfortable in offering their support for the project." write your comments about the article :: © 2009 Construction News :: home page |