Abstract:

In 2012, the Illinois Regional Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in Chicago, designed in the 1970s by US architect Stanley Tigerman (1930–2019), was converted into the flagship offices of a regional bank. During its heyday, Tigerman’s library was widely recognized as an innovative example of empathic design that engaged the sensory and mobility impairments of its intended patrons. In its conversion to a bank, however, contemporary architects sought to capitalize upon the library as an eccentric icon of mid-1970s postmodernism. In the process, they jettisoned many notable features of Tigerman’s original design. This essay endeavors to show what was lost in the conversion, since the bank chose to preserve that which is most superficially associated with histories of postmodernism while erasing the library’s material commitments to histories of disability. By recovering the original context and guiding principles behind the library’s design and execution, the essay asserts the importance of thinking about disability within practices of historic preservation while also restoring Tigerman’s library to its rightful place within historical assessments of late-twentieth-century urban architecture.

摘要：

2012年，由美国建筑师史丹利·泰格曼（Stanley Tigerman，1930–2019）在1970年代设计的位于芝加哥的伊利诺伊州盲人和残障人士地方图书馆，已转变成一家地区银行的旗舰办公室。在鼎盛时期，Tigerman的图书馆被广泛认为是共情设计的一个创新示例，该设计涉及了预定顾客的感觉和行动能力障碍。然而，在转变为银行的过程中，当代建筑师试图利用图书馆作为1970年代中期后现代主义的怪诞标志。在此过程中，他们抛弃了Tigerman原始设计的许多显着特征。本文致力于展示转化过程中丢失的内容，因为该银行选择保留与后现代主义历史最表面相关的内容，同时删除了图书馆对残疾历史的物质承诺。通过恢复图书馆设计和执行背后的原始背景和指导原则，本文断言了在历史保护实践中考虑残疾的重要性，同时也将老虎人的图书馆恢复到其在二十世纪后期城市建筑历史评估中应有的地位。