Lecture by David Gissen

e-flux Architecture presents "Function-Able: Artifacts in the Era of Design and Disability," a lecture by David Gissen at e-flux on Thursday, June 12, 2025, 7pm

In this talk, David Gissen will explore a range of US industrial designers' and architects’ efforts to both define physiological normality and to enhance the functioning of disabled people. Many of these works uphold a mechanistic concept of human capacity, while others unknowingly utilize frameworks that originated within eugenic theories. Among the examples, this talk will briefly outline the way a range of designers sought ways to enhance the human grip, upright posture, movement, respiratory capacity, and physical autonomy as central attributes of human-ness.This talk ultimately argues that what is eliminated in this design work—the provocative physicality of incapacities—offers a critical perspective on the limits of design versus more opportunities for design engagements with disabled people. In an effort to outline the latter concept, the talk also introduces the possibilities of a disability-led anti-design movement, drawn from little-known historical examples.

"Function-Able: Artifacts in the Era of Design and Disability" is presented as part of e-flux Architecture Lectures, a monthly series inviting researchers and practitioners to discuss timely issues in contemporary architecture, theory, culture, and technology.

David Gissen is an architecture historian, designer, and educator. His books include, The Architecture of Disability: Buildings, Cities, and Landscapes Beyond Access; Manhattan Atmospheres: Architecture, the Interior Environment, and Urban Crisis; and Subnature: Architecture’s Other Environments. In addition to his book projects, he has authored numerous articles—from detailed studies of individual buildings to experiments in methods of writing about architecture. He has held academic and administrative positions at Yale University (current), The New School, Columbia University, and the California College of the Arts, among other institutions.