The Architecture of Human Exceptionalism

Redrawing Our Relationship with Other Species
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-20834-1
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 280 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 680 g

Reihe: Routledge Research in Architecture

This book challenges the assumption that architecture is a human-centered endeavor and calls for a fundamental shift in how we engage with the built environment. By examining how speciesist assumptions rooted in human exceptionalism shape architectural thought and practice, it asks how architecture might respond differently in a world defined by ecological entanglement rather than human dominance.

Drawing on ecofeminist interpretations of Spinoza’s philosophical work, the book develops a conceptual framework for redrawing human relations with other species. Philosophical inquiry and architectural representation operate together as modes of interrogation, with drawing understood as a form of thinking from the position of an architect engaged in multispecies relationality. The central claim is that by engaging with niche construction, architecture can become a vehicle for ecological empathy, shifting practice away from domination and toward enmeshment with the environment.

The book is intended for architects, designers, and scholars working across architecture, environmental humanities, and philosophy, as well as students and readers interested in climate ethics, multispecies theory, and the transformative potential of design.

Zielgruppe

Academic, Postgraduate, and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

de Vega, Eva Perez

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Ökologische Aspekte in der Architektur
• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Architektur: Berufspraxis
• Geisteswissenschaften Architektur Gestaltung, Darstellung, Bautechnik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction From architecture to ecotecture Part I Rethinking the Speciesist Framework  Chapter 1: Human Exceptionalism and Its Persistent Dualisms Chapter 2: Alternate Cartographies to Human Exceptionalism Chapter 3: WithIn Environments IUNCTURA I - Expansion Joint 1: drawing Parasitism Part II Human Exceptionalism in Architecture Chapter 4: Rise of the Inorganic Chapter 5: Architectural Rectitude Chapter 6: Typological Frameworks IUNCTURA II - Expansion Joint 2: drawing Commensalism Part III Ecological Cartographies Chapter 7: Ecologies of Consciousness Chapter 8: Enmeshed Architectures Chapter 9: Ecological Empathy in Architecture IUNCTURA III - Expansion Joint 3: drawing Mutualism CODA Drawing as a Mode of Thinking

Über Autor(innen)

Eva Perez de Vega is an architect and educator, philosopher, and co-founder of e+i studio, an architecture and design practice based in New York City. She teaches architecture and design at Parsons School of Design where she heads the Multispecies lab, and at Pratt she developed the Ecological Cartographies theme for degree project thesis. She holds degrees in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (ETSAM) and a PhD in Philosophy from The New School for Social Research, with a certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies, as well as professional training from the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. Through her practice and academic work, Eva advocates rethinking human exceptionalism by engaging architecture as a multispecies practice, choreographing spaces and environments that promote aesthetic innovation and ecological empathy. She lectures widely on topics related to architecture and ecology, animal ethics, and ecofeminism, and published her first book, Choreographing Space, in 2021.