1st Edition
Relational Architectural Ecologies Architecture, Nature and Subjectivity
Examining the complex social and material relationships between architecture and ecology which constitute modern cultures, this collection responds to the need to extend architectural thinking about ecology beyond current design literatures. This book shows how the ‘habitats’, ‘natural milieus’, ‘places’ or ‘shelters’ that construct architectural ecologies are composed of complex and dynamic material, spatial, social, political, economic and ecological concerns.
With contributions from a range of leading international experts and academics in architecture, art, anthropology, philosophy, feminist theory, law, medicine and political science, this volume offers professionals and researchers engaged in the social and cultural biodiversity of built environments, new interdisciplinary perspectives on the relational and architectural ecologies which are required for dealing with the complex issues of sustainable human habitation and environmental action. The book provides:
- 16 essays, including two visual essays, by leading international experts and academics from the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Europe; including Rosi Braidotti, Lorraine Code, Verena Andermatt Conley and Elizabeth Grosz
- A clear structure: divided into 5 parts addressing bio-political ecologies and architectures; uncertain, anxious and damaged ecologies; economics, land and consumption; biological and medical architectural ecologies; relational ecological practices and architectures
- An exploration of the relations between human and political life
- An examination of issues such as climate change, social and environmental well-being, land and consumption, economically damaging global approaches to design, community ecologies and future architectural practice.
Introduction Peg Rawes Part 1: Biopolitical Ecologies and Architectures 1. Posthuman Relational Subjectivity and the Politics of Affirmation Rosi Braidotti 2. Architectural Ecologies of Care Peg Rawes 3. Diagramming Control Nathan Moore Part 2: Uncertain, Anxious and Damaged Ecologies 4. ‘Manufactured Uncertainty’: Epistemologies of Mastery and the Ecological Imaginary Lorraine Code 5. Fear, the Sublime and Sheltered Difference Rachel Jones 6. Bonjour Tristesse David Cross Part 3: Economics, Land and Consumption 7. Beyond Consumerism: Reflections on Gender Politics, Pleasure and Sustainable Consumption Kate Soper 8. Economization of Life: Calculative Infrastructures of Population and Economy Michelle Murphy 9. The Ecology, Economy, and Politics of the ‘One’ in Food Culture Gail Schwab Part 4: Biological and Medical Architectural Ecologies 10. Sexual Difference as Sexual Selection: Irigarayan Reflections on Darwin Elizabeth Grosz 11. ‘Between the womb and the world’: Building Matrixial Relations in the NICU Katie Lloyd Thomas 12. The Global Healthcare Biome and Building the Ecological Medical School Anita Berlin Part 5: Communal Ecologies and Architectures 13. The Social Handprint: Decentring the Politics of Sustainability after an Urban Disaster Bronwyn Hayward 14. Movement and Stasis: Shifting Subjectivities on the Mongolian Border Rebecca Empson 15. Gardeners of Commons, for the most part, women Doina Petrescu 16. The Ecological Relation Verena Conley
Biography
Peg Rawes is Senior Lecturer at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL, London. Her teaching and research focus on interdisciplinary links between architectural design, philosophy, technology and the visual arts. Publications include: Space, Geometry and Aesthetics (2008) and Irigaray for Architects (2007).
