All the Light We Cannot See | Berlin, Germany | Unit 21 | 2025

Germany has a long history with disability, particularly among war veterans post World War II. This project draws from that legacy and the unit’s theme of multimodality, addressing senses beyond sight, which architecture often privileges. Sited at Charité University Hospital in Berlin, the building is an educational and recreational Center for the blind. It responds to the hospital’s role in rehabilitating veterans and the site’s dynamic lighting conditions. Light and tactility guide the architectural strategy: spatial shifts are signaled through textured surfaces, lightwells, and windows. The program centres on activities often assumed inaccessible to blind individuals: cooking, reading, making art, reframing them as vital and fully navigable with the right design. All signage, safety, and spatial detailing were developed with accessibility as a primary focus. While the project is designed by a sighted individual without direct consultation from the blind community, it acknowledges this gap and advocates for greater inclusion. True accessibility requires centring those historically excluded from the design table, rather than interpreting for them.

Plans Iteration Methodology The design proposal derives from the use of natural sunlight along with material formations of the building’s spaces.

The Blind Kitchen: Sighted versus Non-Sighted Views The kitchen is used as a space for connection, conversational and experiential exchanges between the sighted and non-sighted users. The renders are shown in perspectives of how sighted and non-sighted individuals each perceive the same space.

Final Long Section

Building Exploded Axonometric View

1:100 Tactile Plan