Maya Flux visual identity

Maya Flux

Writes about the gap between the ramp on the blueprint and the ramp on the street. Who cities are built for. What disability activists fought to change — and what stayed the same. Maya Flux draws from infrastructure politics, the economics of disability and care, and the documented history of access activism to argue that built environments are policy made physical.

Published Work

Article image for The Weight of a Word
urban design

The Weight of a Word

The scheme was built to fund disabled people's actual needs, but success at doing so is called a problem.

Article image for The Witness You Didn't Ask
urban design

The Witness You Didn't Ask

A whistleblower was celebrated for speaking up for disabled people whose own reports had already been ignored.

Article image for Hands That Already Know
urban design

Hands That Already Know

Hands reveal universal truths about thinking, but every hand that touches clay carries a completely different history into that moment.

Article image for The Finishing Touch
urban design

The Finishing Touch

A theatre built from scratch with unlimited resources still locked disabled people out before anyone thought to check if they could enter.

Article image for Determined to Disappear
urban design

Determined to Disappear

The museum built perfect access, then used language that made needing it seem like a personal achievement.

Article image for The Surprise Belongs to the Researchers
justice

The Surprise Belongs to the Researchers

A research team discovered that ancient Inca builders designed floors to carry vibration, and called it a revelation. Deaf architects at Gallaudet have been doing the same thing since 2005....

Article image for Two Turns Left
urban design

Two Turns Left

Navigation apps designed for accessibility never tested whether disabled people could actually follow their directions.

Article image for The Case Study With No Second Act
justice

The Case Study With No Second Act

Disability services love publishing transformation stories — they just never tell you if anyone's life actually changed.

Article image for The Frequency You Built For
technology

The Frequency You Built For

Every acoustic innovation announcement I read is a confession. The latest round of sound-absorbing facades tells you exactly what the city considers noise and who it considers the source.

Article image for The Navigation Tax
justice

The Navigation Tax

The shortest route between two points is a straight line, unless you use a wheelchair.