New exhibition surveys the intersection of design and disability

If you're in London this weekend, don't miss the opening of Design and Disability at V&A South Kensington. 

The exhibition reframes disability not only as a lived experience but as a vital cultural and creative force. 

Spanning from the 1940s to the present, the show foregrounds the radical and often overlooked contributions of people with disabilities, deafness, and neurodiversity across design disciplines — from fashion and furniture to architecture and technology. 

With over 170 objects grouped into three themes — Visibility, Tools, and Living — the exhibition is both a celebration of Disabled-led innovation and a call to embed these voices at the heart of design practice.

The exhibition brings forward design justice as a framework — highlighting how access, care, and self-advocacy can transform the field. Designed to be accessible in form as well as content, Design and Disability incorporates Deaf Space principles, tactile objects, self-regulation and resting areas, and BSL guides and tactile surfaces and floors. 

For architects and designers, the exhibition serves as a necessary provocation to rethink who designs, who is designed for, and how equity can be woven into every stage of the design process.

Design and Disability opens this Saturday, June 7, and will run until February 15, 2026.