The Hidden Unwelcome: How Buildings Speak and Act

Abstract

A few years ago, Natalia needed to obtain a document from a town hall. Eager to be first in line, and get a trivial bureaucratic practicality over with quickly, she rolled her wheelchair to the main entrance 15 minutes before opening. Time went by, and numerous people queued behind her. When the main doors opened, she suddenly realized that, past the first door, there was a second revolving glass door. While the queue waited for her to react, she was in doubt whether her wheelchair would fit through the small, rounded passage. Once the first and second people walked past and entered the building using the revolving door, she noticed yet another door in the corner—a perfect fit for the wheelchair-sized her—but one that was locked. By now, the next few people walked by. Through a glass panel, Natalia saw a security guard inside, next to the front desk. Surely, he must have the key to open the other entrance made for people like her, who did not fit through the revolving door. However, the security guard was busy passing out advice to the ‘fit-people’ who were already inside, and did not notice the ‘un-fit’ other who remained outside. For a moment, she was consumed by the sight of dozens of people passing her. The idea of ‘getting in’ and ‘getting out’ quickly was dropped. Natalia was growing upset and decided to give the rotating door a chance. From the outside, it looked as if she was stubbornly planning to squeeze a square peg into a round hole. But maybe, if she pushed the wheelchair into the widest corner of the arched triangle... nope, wheelchair got stuck—right in the middle—and the rotating door stopped. Completely helpless and reliant on assistance, she got the guard’s attention as well as all the angry people who were now stuck behind her and could not enter the building. After much back and forth and some muted (behind glass panels) comments within the scope of curse, Natalia was finally freed from her crystal cell and could go on with her day. The handicapped-door remained locked until she asked for ‘permission’ to leave the building an hour and a half later.