Designing Disability: Symbols, Space, and Society

by Elizabeth Guffey

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.

Genres: Disability, Nonfiction, Art Design, Design

240 pages, Paperback

Published December 28, 2017

Reviews

[Morgane · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like 4.5. The lost star is due to the lengthier and more legislative middle part of the book. Other than that, the subject was interesting both for the history of something I took for granted and the ideas of access and design it combines. The last chapter is inspiring to question the process of design projects.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

For GLP-195.

[Yong Feng · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of the design of the symbol for disability, and through it the struggle for disability rights, mostly in the western world. Some parts were dry but there were also interesting anecdotes, like how there were two opposing schools of thought on how to provide accessibility — one arguing that ramps should be provided but not signs so as not to specifically single out or draw attention to people with disabilities and allow them to blend in; while the other rightly arguing that clear signage and wayfinding is crucial for accessibility, especially for public places that many would enter for the first time and not be familiar with the barrier-free routes. Though I appreciate the book’s strict focus on the design of the symbol, I would also appreciate another more wide ranging book on the history of design for accessibility in general.

[Mills College Library]

720.87 G941 2018