Deaf Space & Disability Justice Design Lab
How can design advance Deaf Spaces, uphold disability justice, and uplift cultural memory?
The built environment plays an outsized role in shaping the daily experience of deafness and disability, reflecting broader, evolving social values. For Deaf and Disabled communities, the architectural lineages of Deaf schools, state hospitals, and prisons—typologies of exclusion and isolation—have shaped barriers both physical and psychological in a world not designed to be equitable.
“Deaf people must every day adapt to a world that is not designed for us so having a space designed by and for us allows us to relax and be our natural selves.”
—Jeffrey Mansfield on "Design for All," Architectural Digest, December 3, 2021
Despite significant strides in the disability rights and universal/inclusive design movements, a deeper embrace of the interplay of architecture, disability, and community is necessary. Those most affected by design decisions are still often excluded, resulting in projects that fail to promote community agency and dignity, and deepen distrust.
The Lab counters these trajectories by empowering Deaf and Disabled communities to reclaim spatial narratives.
Led by Jeffrey Mansfield, the DSDJ Lab centers the voices of Deaf and Disabled thought leaders, practitioners, and community members to uplift the social, emotional, and cultural experiences of Deaf and Disabled communities. For these groups who have been deeply impacted by the built environment, connecting to cultural memory and identity through the design process becomes an act of resistance, healing, and hope.
Architecture of Deafness Exhibit
In collaboration with deaf artist Christine Sun Kim and curator Niels Van Toome, “Architecture of Deafness” was installed at the Tallinn Art Hall in Tallinn, Estonia, for an exhibition that closed in February. Courtesy of Architectural Digest and Karel Koplimets
Through the DSDJ Lab, projects undertaken at MASS are based in human-centered, Deaf-centric design that amplifies the somatic knowledge and cultural experiences of Deaf people.