The Preservation of Disability

A presentation of the special issue of Future Anterior on Disability and Preservation, which critically examines the concept of disability—in all its myriad definitions—through the historical and theoretical lens of preservation and on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This discussion brings together architects, theorists, and historians whose perspectives on human impairment reimagine the reconstruction and maintenance of the built past. Such perspectives move beyond simply accommodating people with disabilities in historic spaces. Rather, the preservation of disability suggests ways to rethink the content, materiality, and aesthetics of built history itself.

A full text version of Disability and Preservation (Vol. 16, no. 1, summer 2019) is available here.

Organized and moderated by David Gissen, in discussion with Georgina Kleege, Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, Rob Thomson, Sun Young Park, and Wanda Katja Liebermann.