D_061 Cyborg Culture Informing Architecture: Reinserting the Human

Christopher Ferguson

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

Current proposals in utilizing cyberspatial methods of investigative design methodologies involve disembodying the Mind to free oneself from the Body. Historically, one of the primary thinkers behind this idea was Descartes. Descartes felt the body can be studied in absence of the mind (or soul). In today's culture, the very idea of the cyborg permeates our lives, from transplant patients to the eccentric. Further study indicates the interest in a complete mind transfer: the ultimate melding of soul to Artificial Intelligence. The assumption is that the idea of AI calls into question what it means to be truly human. However, it is possible for cybernetic-thinking machines to interact with humans without disembodiment of the Mind. The implications to architecture are similar, and in fact mirror that of cyborg theory and development. The disembodiment of humans from habitable space has disinfected the modern enclosure from human habitation. In other words, there is a large difference between intellectualized space and intellectualized habitable space. Therefore, the question being asked is as follows: In acceptance of our current and future cyborg culture as Embodiment with the Machine, can re-humanized cyborg culture become a catalyst for re-embodiment of the Human into Architecture?

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