The third Parlour Reading Room collection considers the built environment through a feminist lens, reflecting on and questioning accessibility and the importance of noticing the “diverse perceptions and experiences of occupying built space” (Boys, 2018, p. 37). Through the collection, we ask how the social model of disability manifests in architectural practice and the built environment, how educational institutions can better welcome students with disabilities to study design, and in what ways can we enable inclusion in designing that ensures diversity does not always fall to those experiencing exclusion?

In November 2021, we hosted a conversation between Sara Chesterman and Maryam Gusheh to reflect on the collection and to explore their lived experiences of collective access within the built environment, which can be seen here alongside the collection’s facilitation prompts.