Self-Regulated Architecture: Artificially Enhanced Environments

Notions of humanism permeate architecture. Since the enlightenment, humanism has been the central philosophical and theoretical discourse informing architecture. However, the conditions in which architecture serves as a mediating agent have been significantly intensified over the past few decades by technological advancements. The impact of these technologies challenges the conceptualization of the building as a static and neutral device. Instead, the building becomes a self-regulating organism with the capability of interacting with the user and the environment, blurring the line between the organic and inorganic. This design research explores the uncanny as an architectural device capable of producing an aesthetic affect beyond the traditional humanist framework. The design investigation will apply aspects of form, order, and scale to find an alternate approach towards the architectural object. Such modes of operation aim to reveal posthumanist relations between self and technology by intensifying the aesthetic engagement between the user and the building.