by Chiara Fucci.
In recent years, the Ferragamo Museum in Florence embarked on a profound transformation, aimed at making the museum experience increasingly inclusive and multisensory. Its commitment to accessibility -traditionally understood as overcoming physical barriers – became a true laboratory of cultural research, where technological innovation intertwines with listening to visitors and embracing a broader vision of the public.
The project dedicated to blind and visually impaired people, developed in synergy with the Italian Union of the Blind and Visually Impaired – Florence provincial section, gave rise to an exemplary model of aesthetic accessibility: an immersive audio guide in Dolby Atmos® and a tactile path designed to explore the exhibition Salvatore Ferragamo 1898 – 1960.
From sound to space: the voice which shapes the imagination
The accessible audio guide was created in collaboration with the Libero Accesso Association, which edited the texts, and under the supervision of the UICI, ensuring that the language, pacing, and descriptions met the needs of a visually impaired audience.
The true innovation, however, lies in the use of Dolby Atmos® technology, employed for the first time in a museum setting for an accessibility project.
In this system, sounds move in three-dimensional space: voices, instruments, environments, and background noises surround the listener, creating a sense of physical, almost tactile presence. It is no longer simply a matter of “hearing a description”, but of inhabiting a soundscape where each element contributes to reconstructing the proportions, materials, and atmospheres of the artworks.
The audio guide is accessible free of charge through the Bloomberg Connects App, an international platform that brings together multimedia content from leading cultural institutions. In this way, the exhibition opens virtually to the world, reaffirming that accessibility is not only a right, but also an opportunity to broaden the dissemination of knowledge.
Touching the form: the tactile path and the body of memory
Alongside the audio experience, the museum introduced a tactile path that allows visitors to explore a selection of shoes from the Ferragamo Archive. The reproductions faithfully recreate the details of the original models created by Salvatore Ferragamo, transforming touch into a vehicle for a material and intimate narrative.
Blind and visually impaired visitors, accompanied by mediators and museum staff, can experience the brilliance of the company’s founder not only through words and sound, but also through the texture of materials, the weight, the curvature of the heel, and the softness of leather.
The experience is enhanced by a tactile map of the exhibition spaces, designed to encourage visitor autonomy and produced by 3Discover.
The first visit, organized together with the UICI, saw enthusiastic participation, highlighting the real need for sensory experiences.
A new culture of accessibility
For the Ferragamo Museum, this project represents much more than a one-off initiative: it signals a shift in institutional perspective. Accessibility has become an integral part of museum design and staff training, reshaping the team’s approach.
Collaboration with associations and specialized organizations led the museum to reflect on what “inclusion” truly means: not adapting afterwards, but designing experiences from the outset that take into account perceptual, linguistic, and cognitive diversity.
As director Stefania Ricci emphasizes, the museum – though corporate – aims to be a “place of culture open to diversity and sustainability”, in line with the definition of a museum proposed by ICOM in 2022.
The challenge is to ensure that Ferragamo’s legacy – its artisanal attention to form, body, and movement – can engage increasingly diverse audiences, enriching itself with new sensory dimensions.
Accessibility as a form of beauty
The creation of the Dolby Atmos® audio guide and the tactile tour marks an important step in the renewal of Italian museums toward a concept of “accessible beauty”.
In its enveloping sound and explorable form, the Ferragamo Museum rediscovers its vocation as a place where creativity meets the human. True innovation – as this project demonstrates – is not just the use of cutting-edge technology, but the ability to put technology at the service of listening, empathy, and participation.
In this dialogue between art, touch, and sound, Ferragamo fashion becomes a shared experience: a multisensory narrative inviting every visitor, sighted or otherwise, to become part of the same story.