David Gissen

David Gissen is a historian of architecture and an author of works of architecture theory and criticism. His research examines physiological and environmental concepts embedded within modern and late-modern architecture and design. In particular, he studies the manner in which works of architecture shape experiences of health, stability, capacity, and normalcy within built space. He traces these processes in historical research and responds with alternative, critical formulations of use to scholars and designers.

He is the author of four books, including The Architecture of Disability: Buildings, Cities, and Landscapes beyond Access (University of Minnesota Press, 2023) – a work of history, theory, and memoir that offers a disability-based critique of the discipline of architecture and architecture history; Subnature: Architecture’s Other Environments (Princeton Architecture Press, 2009) — a critical reassessment of the material aesthetics of hygiene and health in modern and late-modern architecture; and Manhattan Atmospheres: Architecture, the Interior Environment, and Urban Crisis (University of Minnesota Press, 2014) — a book that charts the post-war history of New York City’s architecture via the material attributes of the air within its buildings.

In addition to book projects, Gissen has published over one-hundred essays that range from detailed histories of individual buildings to experiments in alternative forms of writing about architecture and design. His writing has appeared in international anthologies, journals, catalogs, and magazines and has been translated into over a dozen languages. Recent essays include “Outline for a Disability Critique of Property” (e-flux, 2024) — an examination of essential aspects of US architecture, landscape and urban history via the figure of the physically capacitated land holder. With Georgina Kleege, he wrote “The Glass Hospice” (Harvard Design Magazine, 2025), which examines Philip Johnson’s transformations to The Glass House as he aged and became frail, but that were removed or hidden when the house was transformed into a museum.

Gissen also maintains a practice as a curator and designer. Such work includes curatorial commissions for The Venice Biennale, The Canadian Centre for Architecture, and The National Building Museum; workshops and public programs at The Museum of Modern Art, The Guggenheim Museum, and the Walker Art Center; and collaborative architecture and planning proposals, such as “Block Party” (with Irene Cheng and Brett Snyder, et al.), exhibited at The Centre for Architecture, The Victoria and Albert Museum (2025), and the National Museum of Art, Seoul (2025).

His work has been supported and recognized with grants, honors and distinguished professorships, including support from the Graham Foundation, SEED Fund, and New York Foundation for the Arts; awards including the J. B. Jackson (“On the Brink”) book award, the Lewis Mumford Lecture at the Spitzer School of Architecture, City College New York, and visiting academic positions at Columbia University, MIT, Yale, and the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.