Comments on: Disability as architectural criticism — Yale/Rudolph

By: Adebayo Euba

Adebayo Euba — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 18:53:18 +0000

this is to an extent a revelation and education. am an architect in training and would need your help in getting materials concerning this topic. DISABILITY AND ARCHITECTURE. it would really be a nice thing if you would help me out with my dissertation work here in Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife Nigeria. i await your reply. thank you and God bless you

By: Disability and Architecture « (Dis)ability in America

Disability and Architecture « (Dis)ability in America — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:38:53 +0000

[...] Disability and Architecture 8 10 2008 David Gissen has an amazing post about his relationship as a disabled person to buildings, especially Paul Rudolph’s brand of “heroic architecture.” [...]

By: dlgissen

dlgissen — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:09:10 +0000

To Badgerbag: thanks for the kind words–really appreciated; but really, don’t do anything rash. If you hurt yourself the emergency rooms in New Haven are creepy. You’ll regret your brave act of critique. Plus, I’ll lose a fan!

To Gregory: You bring up some great points. There is a great piece by Nancy Forgione in a 2005 issue of Art Bulletin that briefly discusses the image of the maimed war veterans that moved through Hausmann’s Parisian boulevards. There are more connections here that could be made. As for livability, that’s a topic where we should all fight it out — demanding an expression of our different ideas regarding what livability might mean.

Thank you all for reading and commenting

By: Gregory

Gregory — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 01:09:08 +0000

Interesting criticism.
I am myself am not disabled unless you expand the definition of that word to include a middle-aged, fat guy with bad-knees; but since I have done more than my share of international travel I have endured more than my share of heroic architecture.
I actually wanted to concentrate my comments on heroic town-planning and landscape architecture. There seems to be something in the size of an empire, the size of a country’s military and the nearness to political power that brings out the grandiose in town planning.
Cities that simply have plenty of money and people create wonderful walking streets like those in Lower Manhattan, great shopping districts like the street fairs of London or the wonderful lake-side beaches in Chicago.
Yet in power capital cities like Delhi, Paris and Washington, wide streets were slashed through ancient neighbourhoods in a bid for heroic architecture.
In the best-designed cases — such as Paris or Moscow — the wide vistas of the local Champs Elysee or Red Square can be negotiated with a generous subway system. (Unfortunately not much chance of finding elevator access).
I think that the connection between heroic architecture and heroic town planning is the need to make statement. When things are simply made livable for human beings then the results are much more comfortable.

By: badgerbag

badgerbag — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:38:56 +0000

If I’m ever there I’ll wheel down the steps and video, it in honor of this awesome post!