Second Place Winner
The Hidden Sensorium – An Underground Sensory Museum in Mendoza
Design by
Giuliana Pons & Renata Galeazzi
Jury Critique
“A highly imaginative underground museum that transforms sensory perception into a rich, immersive journey, skilfully combining architecture, landscape, and sustainability to create an inclusive and memorable experience.”
Giuliana Pons & Renata Galeazzi
Giuliana Pons and Renata Galeazzi form an architecture team that has collaborated since the very beginning of their studies at the School of Architecture of the National University of Cuyo (Argentina). Throughout their academic journey, they have developed a strong and intuitive collaborative dynamic, shaped by shared curiosity, complementary strengths, and a commitment to thoughtful design.
Now nearing the completion of their architecture degrees, they continue to explore new ideas through academic work, competitions, and independent projects. Working together has allowed them to cultivate a unified design voice while still valuing individual perspectives, experimentation, and critical thinking.
As they transition into their professional careers, Giuliana and Renata aim to expand their creative approach further, taking on projects that challenge and inspire them, while making positive contributions to the field of architecture.
Celebrating Creativity & Vision
Winner’s Spotlight: An Exclusive Interview
Discover the story behind the victory — from concept to creation.
1. Concept & Inspiration
What inspired your concept for “Beyond Sight,” and how did you approach the challenge of designing for non-visual sensory experiences?
Our main source of inspiration was nature itself, specifically the mole, an animal that, in the absence of sight, has hyper-developed its other senses to an extraordinary degree. We found this deeply poetic: blindness is not a limitation but an evolutionary opportunity, a different (and in many ways richer) way of inhabiting the world. The mole doesn't suffer the darkness; it thrives in it. That idea completely shifted our perspective. We stopped seeing the lack of vision as a disability and began to understand it as a radical invitation to experience reality through touch, spatial intuition, sound, and even smell. The entire museum became a contemporary reinterpretation of the mole's burrow: a subterranean universe of tunnels, chambers that compress and expand, and pathways that are felt rather than seen.
2. Empathy in Design
How did you immerse yourself in the perspective of the blind and visually impaired while developing your design?
We knew from the beginning that we could not design this project from our sighted privilege. So we conducted in-depth interviews with blind and visually impaired people, asking them how they experience museums, what frustrates them, what moves them, and especially what they value in architecture when they cannot see it. Their answers were revelations: the beauty of reverberation in a space, the emotional safety of a clear tactile path, the pleasure of recognizing a change in temperature or material underfoot, the intimacy created by acoustic proximity. Every decision in the project, from the width of corridors to the placement of handrails to the deliberate absence of visual signage, came directly from those conversations.
3. Sensory Experience
Which sensory element—touch, sound, smell, or spatial awareness—played the most significant role in your concept, and how did you integrate it architecturally?
Spatial awareness was by far the dominant sense in our concept. We were obsessed with how the body understands where it is when it is without seeing: the way a tunnel narrows to create intimacy and then dramatically opens into a cavern generating awe; how gentle curves guide movement more intuitively than straight angles; how compression and release provoke emotional responses. Touch came second (through floors and walls with changing textures that mark different "galleries"), followed by sound (carefully tuned acoustics) and finally controlled micro-scents. But everything revolved around that primal, almost animal-like spatial intelligence that the mole has perfected.
4. Accessibility & Inclusivity
What strategies did you use to ensure your design promotes accessibility and inclusivity for people of all abilities?
We treated accessibility not as an add-on but as the very essence of the project. Every path is guided by continuous tactile paving with different textures that indicate direction or changes in program. Materials themselves become the signage: rough stone for contemplation zones, smooth resin for circulation, warm wood for rest areas, cool metal for interactive pieces.
Sighted visitors must surrender their vision (we dim lights progressively until total darkness in the main areas), so the experience is genuinely the same for everyone — true universal design, where no one is "accommodated" but everyone is invited on equal terms.
5. Innovation & Materials
Were there any innovative materials, technologies, or spatial techniques you used to enhance the sensory experience?
We applied a series of acoustic, tactile, and olfactory strategies to enhance the sensory experience. Curved surfaces and sound-conducting corridors shaped the acoustics, creating an auditory map that supported orientation. Micro-porous scent-emitting points marked transitions between zones, adding a subtle navigational layer. These techniques worked together as non-visual guides, transforming the space into a multisensory environment that could be understood beyond sight.
6. Challenges & Learnings
What was the biggest challenge you faced during the design process, and what did you learn from overcoming it?
The biggest challenge was unlearning how to think like sighted architects. We were trained to prioritize visual composition, light, color, perspective — everything we had to deliberately abandon. In the beginning, we kept falling back into visual thinking ("but how will this look?"), and it was incredibly difficult to silence that voice. The breakthrough came when we started prototyping in complete darkness ourselves and realized how rich and precise perception becomes when vision is removed. The learning has been life-changing: we now understand that good architecture doesn't need to be seen to be beautiful or emotionally powerful. Beauty can be felt, breathed, heard, remembered in the body. This project permanently changed how we design every future project, even for sighted users, will be better because of it.
7. Emotional Impact
How do you hope visitors—both visually impaired and sighted—will feel or experience the space when they interact with your design?
We hope visually impaired visitors feel profoundly seen and celebrated. For sighted visitors, we want a gentle but radical awakening: that moment of initial disorientation giving way to wonder, the sudden realization of how much they normally miss, and ultimately a deep empathy and gratitude for other ways of being in the world. We want everyone to leave feeling more alive in their bodies, more connected to their animal senses, and with a quieter mind.
8. Future Vision
How do you see the role of sensory architecture evolving in the future, and what message would you like to share with designers exploring inclusive design?
We believe sensory architecture is the future, not just for inclusive design, but for all design. In an increasingly visual and screen-saturated world, spaces that awaken the other senses will become essential for mental health, connection, and genuine presence. The future belongs to architecture that speaks to the whole human being, not just the eyes. Our message to other designers is simple but urgent: close your eyes. Seriously prototype in darkness, walk your spaces blindfolded, listen to how your materials breathe. Until you understand what it's like to navigate the world without sight, you will never design truly inclusive or truly human spaces. The mole already knows this.
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