Centering Disability in Design

What does it look like when disabled people are viewed not as edge cases or afterthoughts in the design process, but as the default users? What happens when, instead of flattening disability into an indistinguishable group of “all abilities,” we understand and design for the unique and varied experiences of disabled people? How can we prioritize, honor, and celebrate disability in our design practice? Join our panelists in conversation to answer these questions about designing for and with disability. This program was held as part of Cooper Hewitt's 2023 National Design Week celebrations.
Olivia Mae M. Asuncion, AIA (she/her), has oriented her career path towards building inclusive communities as an architect and design researcher from Oakland, California. She started off with helping Bay Area non-profit organizations through construction, project, and property management, including the Ed Roberts Campus, a universally designed building in Berkeley that houses several disability-centered organizations. She then transitioned into the design and construction of public safety buildings, public sector offices, and community spaces, and K-12 educational facilities, with a focus on going beyond the building code minimums and finding creative solutions to enhancing accessibility in the built environment. Asuncion’s notable research projects include: a study assessing the efficacy and accessibility of existing evacuation protocols and building safety codes; collaboration with university faculty on the post-occupancy evaluation of the Ed Roberts Campus; and a Fulbright Program project studying the accessibility of elementary schools in the Philippines. She is currently serving as a public member of the U.S. Access Board.
Sky Cubacub (They/Them/Xey/Xem/Xyr) is a non-binary xenogender disabled Filipinx neuroqueer from Chicago, Illinois. They are the creator of Rebirth Garments, a line of wearables for trans, queer, and disabled people of all sizes and ages, which started in summer 2014. Sky is the editor of the Radical Visibility Zine, a full color cut and paste style zine that celebrates disabled queer life, with an emphasis on joy. Additionally xey are the Access Brat and the editor of a section on ethics and inclusion called “Cancel & Gretel” at literary fashion magazine “Just Femme and Dandy.” Sky has most recently been working on a free online queercrip DIY fashion program with Chicago Public Library called Radical Fit. Sky was named 2018 Chicagoan of the Year by the Chicago Tribune and is a 2019/2020 Kennedy Center Citizen Artist and a Disability Futures Fellow.
Christine Hemphill (she/her) is a disability and age-inclusive researcher, designer, and innovator. In 2015 she founded and continues to lead Open Inclusion, a London-based, global insight, design, and innovation agency. Hemphill is a Certified Member of the Market Research Society (MRS), a Certified Professional in Accessibility (CPACC) with the IAAP and currently chairs MRS Unlimited, the disability-inclusive research sector group in the UK. She is an Ambassador for Co-Innovate at Brunel University and a past leader and ongoing active member of the Inclusive Design for XR group at XRAccess. As a neurodivergent individual and parent, wife, aunt, and daughter of family members who have different access needs and disabilities, understanding and designing for human differences is a personal and professional joy.
Moderated by Dr. Bess Williamson (she/her). Dr. Williamson is a historian of design and material culture and Professor of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the author of Accessible America: A History of Disability and Design (2019) and co-editor of Making Disability Modern: Design Histories (2020). Her work explores diverse histories and practices of design that extend expertise to users and communities, and challenge designers to address access and power in their work.