Inclusivity in Public Space: Architecture and the Disabled Body

Abstract

People with disabilities are living in a world that simply was not built for them and it creates a lot of unnecessary struggle and bias because of that. Public spaces are especially discriminatory towards the disabled body, and yet the public world as it exists today is also more and more discriminatory towards every single one of our bodies because of reductive design strategies that place more emphasis on evolving technology such as cars over our bodily experience of design and space. The only way we can interact with the world is through our bodies. Our bodies move us through space and create meaningful interactions and moments with one another and the world around us. For these reasons, this project explores how our ability to engage with public space is entirely dependent on our bodily imagination, and how the experiences we have depend on the engagement of the body and space, the uniqueness of our bodies, and various scales of interaction. To explore these levels of involvement, I propose the design of a library situated in an area known for activism related to ableism. The various scales of the design explore inclusivity as a means of connection and meaningful exchange that allows for active participation within public spaces, in the space of reading, and in a “human library” wherein people can engage with one another’s stories.