Physical Impairment and the Spatial Dimensions of Everyday Life in Rural Households in Pre-industrial Iceland

A number of studies exploring disability and housing address the question of how design and layout of dwelling and home environment affects the quality of life of persons with physical impairments. While these studies mostly focus on contemporary predicaments this chapter addresses the social space of disability in the traditional rural household in Iceland. The discussion rests on the premises that pre-industrial Icelandic economy was almost entirely household-based till the late 1800s and that a substantial part of everyday life of the general population was confined to the social space of the farm. Drawing on case-based evidence the chapter explores the production of social space within the vernacular architecture of the turf-house with regard to social participation and activity of individuals with physical impairments. The chapter maintains that the spatial design of the turf-house and the plasticity of its architecture, in conjunction with specific socio-economic factors, effected a distinct dynamic relationship between space and "different" bodies. In conclusion the chapter argues that the social space of the turf-house did in significant ways have a less disabling effect on people with physical impairments than the spatial design of the urbanised society that supplanted it.