Francesca Ferrando, a leading voice in the fields of Posthuman and Gender Studies, traces for the first time the invisible connection between Posthumanist philosophy and Architecture. In a video interview with Francesca Romana Forlini she outlines the foundations of new, fruitful interdisciplinary exchange that combines ecological consciousness and new technological advancements, and ultimately paves the way to new architectural design approaches. In specific, Ferrando challenges the notion of the subject and opens to diversity and “otherness” simultaneously pushing the boundaries of anthropocentric spatial thinking and anticipating what a “Posthumanist Architecture” should look like. Ferrando's effort in making her philosophy accessible to designers is a precious contribution to the contemporary debate on the future of architectural design in light of the current climate crisis.
Bio
Francesca Ferrando is a leading voice in the fields of Posthuman and Gender Studies. Throughout her academic career Francesca held numerous research and teaching positions, and she is now an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at NYU-Liberal Studies at New York University. She received her degrees at Roma Tre university in Rome and at the University of Utrecht with Rosi Braidotti. Francesca is the founder of the NY Posthuman Research Group, and has been the recipient of numerous honors and recognitions, including the Sainati prize with the Acknowledgement of the President of Italy. Her book "Philosophical Posthumanism" was published in 2019 by Bloomsbury, and she was also the first TED talk speaker to cover the topic of the posthuman. US magazine "Origins" named her among the 100 people making change in the world.
Francesca Romana Forlini is an architect, Ph.D, editor, writer and educator whose research is located at the intersection of feminism, cultural sociology and architectural history and theory. She is an Adjunct Associate Professor at the New York Institute of Technology and Parsons The New School in New York. She worked as chief editor at KoozArch, where she is currently a contributor. She is a Fulbrighter ed alumna of Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and the RCA.
Cover image: Artist Neil Harbisson seen with his cyborg antenna implant that allows him to perceive colours that go beyond human perception. Dan Wilton, CC BY-SA 4.0
