Title:
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The Inhabitable flesh of Architecture
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This research is dedicated to a future vision of the body in architecture, questioning the
contemporary relationship. between the human and the architectural flesh. Conceptually it
delves into the arena of disgust on which the aesthetic flesh is standing, and it explores new
types of 'neoplasmatic' conditions in which the future possibility of a neo-biological flesh is
lying.
Through the analysis and design of a variety of projects, Flesh is proposed as a concept that
extends the meaning of skin, one of architecture's most fundamental metaphors. It seeks to
challenge a common misunderstanding of skin as a flat and thin surface. In a time when a
pervasive discourse about the impact of digital technologies risks turning the architectural skin
ever more disembodied, the aim of this thesis is to put forward· a thick embodied flesh by
exploring architectural interfaces that are truly inhabitable.
Today's architecture has failed the body with its long heritage of purity of form and aesthetic
of cleanliness. A resurgence of interest in flesh, especially in art, has led to a politics of
abjection, changing completely traditional aesthetics, and is now giving light to an alternative
discussion about the body in architecture.
Different concepts of Flesh are investigated in this thesis. This is not just concerning the
architectural and aesthetic, but also the biological aspects of flesh. More than derived from
scaled-up analogies between biological systems and larger scale architectural constructs,
Synthetic Neoplasms are proposed as new semi-living entities. These 'neoplasmatic' cr·eations
are identified as partly designed object and partly living material, in which the line between the
natural and the artificial is progressively blurred. Hybrid technologies and interdisciplinary
work methodologies are thus required, and lead to a revision of our current architectural
practice.
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