Disability and the diversity of bodies and people should be an engaging subject for architects: it is about lived experience, problem-solving, and designing a better built environment.
While the topic involves critical theory and aspirations for collective life, it is often viewed merely as a compliance-driven field—or worse, a sensitive subject fraught with outdated terminology and archaic habits of thought. Typical design routines do not always account for the variety of human bodies.
According to Aimi Hamraie, associate professor of Medicine, Health, and Society and American Studies at Vanderbilt University, engaging design disciplines with disability requires epistemic activism:
