Xenoaesthetics

A Posthumanist Approach to Architectural Encounter

Xenoaesthetics cover

Description

Xenoaesthetics: A Posthumanist Approach to Architectural Cognition examines our relationships with architecture beyond human-centric perspectives.

It challenges conventional views of architectural design and space inhabitation by exploring these experiences within the framework of the architectural project as an autonomous entity. Weaving insights from philosophy and architecture, this book delves into the conditions, roles, and implications of architectural encounters, contending that our definitions and interactions with it- while actively contributing-cannot solely determine its nature. This book conceptualizes the architectural project as a unity-multiplicity tension, introducing the concept of xenoaesthetics as a cognitive mode attuned to this structure. This approach invites readers to reimagine architectural experience as a dual action that reveals the project to us and realizes itself through us. This context not only implies disciplinary consequences for design questions but also holds socio-political significance for our everyday architectural interactions, contributing to the quest for practices and discourses on equality. Methodologically, the argument draws from Object-Oriented Ontology and the architect Enric Miralles, offering an additional retrospective crossover that enriches both references.

Xenoaesthetics serves as a resource for students, architects, scholars, and enthusiasts interested in exploring new insights on architecture beyond assumptions and prescribed value systems. It encourages a deeper understanding of the intricate relationship between humans and the architectural project.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Part I: The Xenological Framework
1. The Architectural Project as Object
2. The Cognitive-unit
3. The Xenoaesthetic Approach

Part II: Deep cognition and the Ineffable Being
4. The Immaterial Experience of Unity
5. Mimesis and Imitation
6. The Role of the Cognizer

Part III: Open Cognition and the Knowable Manifestations
7. The Chain of Multiplicity
8. Metaphor in the Design Process
9. The Physical Aesthetic Experience
Conclusion

Bibliography

Product details

Bloomsbury Academic Test
Published 22 Jan 2026
Format Ebook (PDF)
Edition 1st
Extent 288
ISBN 9781350515048
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Illustrations 10 bw illus
Series Posthumanism in Practice
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Gonzalo Vaillo

Gonzalo Vaillo holds a PhD from the Department of…

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