Designing Disability: Symbols, Space, and Society

Designing Disability traces the emergence of an idea and an ideal – physical access for the disabled – through the evolution of the iconic International Symbol of Access (ISA). The book draws on design history, material culture and recent critical disability studies to examine not only the development of a design icon, but also the cultural history surrounding it. Infirmity and illness may be seen as part of human experience, but 'disability' is a social construct, a way of thinking about and responding to a natural human condition. Elizabeth Guffey's highly original and wide-ranging study considers the period both before and after the introduction of the ISA, tracing the design history of the wheelchair, a product which revolutionised the mobility needs of many disabled people from the 1930s onwards. She also examines the rise of 'barrier-free architecture' in the reception of the ISA, and explores how the symbol became widely adopted and even a mark of identity for some, especially within the Disability Rights Movement. Yet despite the social progress which is inextricably linked to the ISA, a growing debate has unfurled around the symbol and its meanings. The most vigorous critiques today have involved guerrilla art, graffiti and studio practice, reflecting new challenges to the relationship between design and disability in the twenty-first century.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Illustrations Introduction: Disability By Design? Design's Misfit Defining Disability Defining a Symbol PART ONE: History of an Idea: Access (- 1961) Origins of a Misfit Design: The Advent of the Modern Wheelchair (- 1945) An Environmental Misfit A Symbol of Defeat? How to Behave in a Bath-Chair The Chair That Changed the World Fitting In (1945 - 1961) Accessing a Culture on Four Wheels The Nugent Ethic An Attack on Barriers PART TWO: Redesigning Signs and Space (1961 - 1974) The Personal Politics of Signs (1961 - 1965) What a Good Sign Can Do Down the “Welfare Path” The Ideologies of “Self-Help” and “Social Welfare Cultures” Breaking Barriers Signs of Discrimination (1965 - 1968) The Secret Signs of Disabled People Positive Discrimination and the Psychology of Disablement Towards s Universal Sign A Design for the Real World? (1968 - 1974) A Technical Aid Man and The Environment A Misfit Head A Positive Step Forward PART THREE: A Mark of Identity? (1974 - Today) Signs of Protest (1974 - 1990) “The Selma of Handicapped Rights” Rights and Protest Passing the ADA: Compliance and Defiance A Critical Design? (1990 - Today) A Cry for Help A 21st Century Makeover Epilogue: The Beginning of the End? Bibliography

About the Author :
Elizabeth Guffey is Professor of Art and Design History and directs the MA in Modern and Contemporary Art, Criticism and Theory at the State University of New York, Purchase, USA. She was a founding editor of the journal Design and Culture, and is the author of books including Retro: The Culture of Revival (2013) and Posters: A Global History (2015).

Review :
Erudite, accessible, and with an impressive breadth of reference, this engaging and highly readable book offers fresh historical and cultural perspectives on the fit/misfit binary. Focussing on how design both creates and responds to different notions of disability, it gives an at times fascinating alternative history of activism and identity through the study of the ISA – the International Symbol of Access. The strength of Designing Disability is the way significant moments in the history of access and disability are woven together with society's perception and the design of a universal icon ... It is an impressively researched and thought-provoking text that leaves the reader wanting to closely follow the shifting social construct as history continues to unfold. An engaging account of the evolution of the barrier-free architecture movement, and its thorny relationship with the ISA. Elizabeth Guffey's search for the origins of the International Symbol of Access takes her on an unexpected path, discovering not only the history of the modern wheelchair but a new perspective on disability at the intersection of design, the body and space… and most readers will delight in following her quest. Informed and erudite, Designing Disability shows how the analysis of a single symbol can act as a gateway to discussions of disability theory and history. Elizabeth Guffey's critical insight augments and develops our understandings of disability experiences and subjectivities. From the invention of the modern wheel chair and early critiques of disabling design conventions, Guffey makes a history of the international symbol of access come alive. An original and insightful analysis that furthers our understanding of both the symbol's history and associated access debates. This book will appeal to appeal to students and academics across a range of disciplines, shedding further light not only on a symbol and its history, but also how disability continues to be socially produced. Design Incubation is excited to announce Elizabeth Guffey's latest book published by Bloomsbury Publishing, titled Designing Disability: Symbols, Space, and Society. This book describes the development of disability as an idea. Disability, accessibility, its institutionalization, acceptance, and integration is considered within the context of design history. I encourage anyone to read this important book... it should catalyse reflection and discussion about the implications for disabled people and non-disabled people, designers and design-and provoke new directions in disability-led design.