Contra*

Each conversation featured in Disability Meets Architecture draws on a different productive friction and places two activists, architects, designers, writers or artists in dialogue. This one, on ‘takeaways,’ brings together themes and tensions arising over the series. It reflects on what worked with the format, the themes which arose and what questions we did not get around to.This episode features all of the people from The DisOrdinary Architecture Project and Critical Design Lab who coordinated this series. This includes Aimi Hamraie (they/them) who is a disabled designer, researcher and director of Critical Design Lab. Aimi works with Paul DeFazio (he/him[fluid]), a legally blind architect and artist who works for Critical Design Lab and the Institute of Human Centred Design. Next we have Jos Boys (she/her), who lives with a chronic condition, and is an architecture-trained artist, activist writer and founder of DisOrdinary. Jos works at DisOrdinary with Scar Barclay (they/them), a neuroqueer architectural designer and maker.To read the full episode transcript and learn more, visit ⁠criticaldesignlab.com⁠.Find out more about Aimi’s work here: Websites: aimihamraie.com criticaldesignlab.com labsforliberation.orgInstagram: @criticaldesignlabFind out more about Jos’s work here: Website: josboys.co.uk disordinaryarchitecture.co.uk matrixfeministarchitecturearchive.co.ukInstagram: @josonthelineFind out more about Scar’s work here: Website: disordinaryarchitecture.co.ukInstagram: @scarbarclayFind out more about Paul’s work here: Website: criticaldesignlab.com humancentereddesign.orgInstagram: @defazio_paulAs always DMA is brought to you by The DisOrdinary Architecture Project and Critical Design Lab. Your hosts are Aimi Hamraie and Jos Boys, with Scar Barclay Paul DeFazio supporting the series production. Ilana Nevins is our editor.This miniseries is funded by The Graham Foundation.You can find out more about this project and related projects at disordinaryarchitecture.co.uk and criticaldesignlab.com.

Each conversation featured in Disability Meets Architecture draws on a different productive friction and places two activists, architects, designers, writers or artists in dialogue. This one, on ‘anti-fascism,’ attends to the rise in right-wing, populist movements and their rhetoric. It asks what it means to continue to operate against the political pendulum, how to find gaps for resistance and how to fortify our movements in the face of erasure. It swings between the need to be legible to hold on to the basics of functional access versus a desire for illegibility and more expansive notions of access.This episode features Beatrice Adler-Bolton (she/her), a disabled and chronically ill writer and artist based in the U.S. who co-hosts the Death Panel Podcast with Artie Vierkant, Phil Rocco, Jules Gill-Peterson and Tracy Rosenthal. She also co-authored Health Communism (2022) with Artie Vierkant. This text sets out the history of the monetisation of health in the U.S. and identifies the necessity in a radical politics and approach which severs health from capital.Beatrice will be in conversation with both Scar Barclay and Paul DeFazio. Scar (they/them) is a UK-based neuroqueer architectural designer, whose work explores Disabled, neurodivergent, trans+ and queer ways of being. They have worked with The DisOrdinary Architecture Project since 2023. Paul (he/him[fluid]) is a legally blind architect and artist who works for Critical Design Lab and the Institute of Human Centred Design.To read the full episode transcript and learn more, visit ⁠criticaldesignlab.com⁠.Find out more about Beatrice’s work here: Websites: www.beatriceadlerbolton.com / www.deathpanel.net Instagram: @beatriceadlerbolton / @deathpanel_Bluesky: @reallandsend.bsky.social / @deathpanel.bsky.socialX: @realLandsEnd / @DeathPanel_Find out more about Scar’s work here: Website: disordinaryarchitecture.co.ukInstagram: @scarbarclay @disordinaryarchitectureFind out more about Paul’s work here: Website: criticaldesignlab.com humancentereddesign.orgInstagram: @defazio_paulAs always DMA is brought to you by The DisOrdinary Architecture Project and Critical Design Lab. Your hosts are Aimi Hamraie and Jos Boys, with Scar Barclay Paul DeFazio supporting the series production. Ilana Nevins is our editor.This miniseries is funded by The Graham Foundation.You can find out more about this project and related projects at disordinaryarchitecture.co.uk and criticaldesignlab.com.

Each conversation featured in Disability Meets Architecture draws on a different productive friction and places two activists, architects, designers, writers or artists in dialogue. This one, on ‘who counts,’ explores which bodyminds are thought of as productive. We are thinking about histories of systemic ableism and racism and how to go about challenging architecture’s understanding of diverse identity and lived experience, so that Disabled lives and experience is rightfully valued.This episode features Micha Frazer-Carroll (she/her), a writer and journalist who is a former editor of gal-dem magazine and founder of Blueprint magazine. Micha authored MAD WORLD: The Politics of Mental Health (2023), a call for radical politics and a revealing account of the ever changing construct of health under capitalism.Micha will be in conversation with Samir Pandya (he/him), an architect, writer and educator who is Associate Head of College at the College of Design, Creative and Digital Industries at the University of Westminster in London. Samir’s edited book After Belonging: Architecture, Nation, Difference (2023) examines the relationships between architecture, spatial politics and identity.To read the full episode transcript and learn more, visit criticaldesignlab.com.Find out more about Micha’s work here: Website: michafrazercarroll.comInstagram: @micha_frazercarroll As always DMA is brought to you by The DisOrdinary Architecture Project and Critical Design Lab. Your hosts are Aimi Hamraie and Jos Boys, with Scar Barclay Paul DeFazio supporting the series production. Ilana Nevins is our editor.This miniseries is funded by The Graham Foundation.You can find out more about this project and related projects at disordinaryarchitecture.co.uk and criticaldesignlab.com.

Each conversation featured in Disability Meets Architecture draws on a different productive friction and places two activists, architects, designers, writers or artists in dialogue. This one, on ‘care with teeth,’ takes its name from the expression “joy with teeth” in Black Liturgies: Prayers, Poems and Meditations for Staying Human (2024) by Cole Arthur Riley. It considers the plurality of care, what it means to fiercely care and be cared for, care as a radical embedded practice and one which brings with it at times conflict and challenge.  This episode features Jeff Kasper (he/him), an artist, writer, and educator working across public art, design, and social practice. Jeff’s project ‘Wrestling Embrace’ (2017-present) uses physical contact, guided contemplation and embodied practices to navigate consent, conflict and care in interpersonal relationships.Jeff will be in conversation with Anthony Clarke (he/him), Architect and Director of Austrailian architecture practice BLOXAS. BLOXAS has a radically empathetic and anti-hegemonic approach with their clients. Anthony is a co-editor with Judy Illes, Jos Boys and John Gardner of Neurodivergence and Architecture (2022).To read the full episode transcript and learn more, visit ⁠criticaldesignlab.com⁠.This miniseries is funded by The Graham Foundation.You can find out more about this project and related projects at disordinaryarchitecture.co.uk and criticaldesignlab.com.Find out more about Jeff’s work here: Website: jeffkasper.coInstagram: @JeffKasperStudio.Find out more about Anthony’s work here: Website: bloxas.comLinkedin: Dr Anthony ClarkeImage credit: Sayher Heffernan

Each conversation featured in Disability Meets Architecture draws on a different productive friction and places two activists, architects, designers, writers or artists in dialogue. This one, on ‘access washing,’ an expression coined by Stacey Milbern, considers the power dynamics in the design process and projects, where and how Disabled practitioners are involved, and to what extent ‘access’ is understood on a deep, systemic rather than superficial level.This episode features Karen L. Braitmayer, FAIA (she/her), a licensed architect and accessibility specialist who is a full-time wheelchair user with hearing loss. Karen founded Studio Pacifica, an access consultancy in Washington State which foregrounds Disabled practitioners.Karen will be in conversation with Natasha Trotman (she/they), a UK-based Neurodivergent and disabled international Equalities Designer and Researcher advancing inclusive, accessible, evidence-led design with neurodivergent, disabled, and underserved communities. Natasha is a frequent collaborator with DisOrdinary.Full transcripts and show notes are available on the criticaldesignlab.com website. Find out more about Karen’s work here: Website: StudioPacificaSeattle.com Instagram: @StudioPacificaSeattleFind out more about Natasha’s work here: Website: natashamtrotman.com Instagram: @trottykinsAs always DMA is brought to you by The DisOrdinary Architecture Project and Critical Design Lab. Your hosts are Aimi Hamraie and Jos Boys, with Scar Barclay Paul DeFazio supporting the series production. Ilana Nevins is our editor.This miniseries is funded by The Graham Foundation.You can find out more about this project and related projects at disordinaryarchitecture.co.uk and criticaldesignlab.com.