Art Metropole

#16126

The architecture of disability: Buildings, cities, and landscapes beyond access

Writer

David Gissen

Date

2023

Publisher

University of Minnesota Press

Format

Monographs

ISBN

9781517912505

Size

139 × 215 mm

Length

224 pp

Genre

Disability and Chronic I, Activism, Architecture

Disability critiques of architecture usually emphasize the need for modification and increased access, but The Architecture of Disability calls for a radical reorientation of this perspective by situating experiences of impairment as a new foundation for the built environment. With its provocative proposal for “the construction of disability,” this book fundamentally reconsiders how we conceive of and experience disability in our world. With its provocative proposal for “the construction of disability,” this book reconsiders how we conceive of and experience disability in our world.

By recontextualizing the history of architecture through the discourse of disability, this book presents a unique challenge to current modes of architectural practice, theory, and education. Envisioning an architectural design that fully integrates disabled persons into its production, it advocates for looking beyond traditional notions of accessibility and shows how certain incapacities can help to positively reimagine the roots of architecture.