Designing Disability - by Elizabeth Guffey (Hardcover)
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<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br><i>Designing Disability</i> 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.<br/><br/>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. <br/><br/>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.<p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>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.<br/>John Radford, Emeritus Professor of Critical Disability Studies at York University, Toronto, Canada<br><br>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.<br/>Kaite O'Reilly, winner of the Ted Hughes Award 2011<br><br>Informed and erudite, <i>Designing Disability</i> 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.<br/>Stuart Murray, Director of the Centre for Medical Humanities, University of Leeds, UK<br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br><b>Elizabeth Guffey</b> 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 <i>Design and Culture</i>, and is the author of books including <i>Retro: The Culture of Revival</i> (2013) and <i>Posters: A Global History</i> (2015).
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