Designing disability : symbols, space, and society / Elizabeth E. Guffey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Guffey, Elizabeth E., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Barrier-free design--History.

Barrier-free design.

International Symbol of Access.

Signs and symbols--Social aspects--History.

Signs and symbols.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (241 pages)

Distribution:

London, England : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020

Place of Publication:

London, England : Bloomsbury Academic, 2020.

Summary:

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.

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 a 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.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-212) and index.

ISBN:

1-350-00428-6

1-350-00424-3

1-350-00425-1

OCLC:

1201426656

Publisher Number:

194185