Chris Downey is an architect with over 30 years of practice, continuing without sight since 2008. He specializes in universal design for projects specifically for the blind and visually impaired, including blind rehabilitation centers, eye clinics, and schools for the blind. He also consults on projects that are critical yet challenging to them, such as museums and transit facilities. Downey teaches periodically for the University of California, Berkeley, Department of Architecture and speaks internationally about disability and design. He serves on the California Commission on Disability Access and chairs the board of Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired. He has been featured in numerous media stories, including “60 Minutes.”
Previously
Design’s intrinsic motivation is to improve a user’s experience. There has been a surge of design with and by people with a wide range of physical, cognitive, and sensory abil...