The Architecture of Disability

“This recommendation was hand-selected by The Gwenin Exchange team for its alignment with Gwenin’s values of clarity, accessibility, and mindful living.”

Buildings, Cities, and Landscapes Beyond Access
By David Gissen

Publisher: University of Minnesota Press
Publication Date: 24 January 2023
Format: Paperback
ISBN / EAN: 9781517912505
Pages: 224
Language: English
Dimensions: 139 × 216 × 14 mm
Weight: 256 g
Category: Architecture; Disability – social aspects

Description

The Architecture of Disability offers a radical rethinking of how we design and inhabit spaces, placing disability and human difference at the centre of architectural practice.

Author David Gissen challenges traditional approaches that focus solely on accessibility modifications. Instead, he proposes the “construction of disability” as a fundamental lens for imagining and shaping buildings, cities, and landscapes. Drawing on historic sites, urban spaces, and landscape designs, Gissen explores how architecture has long been haunted by the human body and its varying capacities.

Through this lens, the book highlights the limitations of conventional functionalist design and demonstrates how embracing diverse physical capacities can lead to more innovative, inclusive, and thoughtful environments. By rethinking architecture from the perspective of disability, Gissen calls for a paradigm shift, one that integrates disabled experiences as essential to the creation of all built spaces.

Why We Chose This Book

At The Gwenin Exchange, we champion books that challenge assumptions, expand empathy, and invite reflection on how our world is shaped.

We chose The Architecture of Disability because it aligns with our ethos of inclusion, conscious design, and thoughtful living. This book reframes disability not as a limitation but as a source of insight and creativity, encouraging readers to reconsider how space, form, and society intersect with human diversity.

It’s a thought-provoking resource for architects, urban planners, students, and anyone interested in building a more equitable and imaginative world.

Why You’ll Love This Book

Offers a bold, new perspective on architecture and disability.
Challenges conventional accessibility-focused approaches.
Explores historic and contemporary examples of inclusive design.
Encourages reflection on the connection between bodies, spaces, and society.
Ideal for professionals, students, and socially conscious readers.

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