Guibert, E. 2021. On the Usefulness of Modern Animism: Co-Creating Architecture with Soils as Ontopolitical Practice. GeoHumanities. 7 (1), pp. 176-197. https://doi.org/10.1080/2373566x.2021.1904785
| Title | On the Usefulness of Modern Animism: Co-Creating Architecture with Soils as Ontopolitical Practice |
|---|---|
| Type | Journal article |
| Authors | Guibert, E. |
| Abstract | In opposition to the general understanding of animism as an irrational religious set of beliefs, the—secular—modern animism embodied in this practice of built and grown architecture is operative. It conceives of places—ecosystems—as beings with agency that we garden with to nurture and express their resilience. It is a useful ontology for ecological practice; this architectural animism is ontopolitical; it co-creates a common world. At a recent symposium, a number of projects were presented as architectural soils and to give a voice to these earthly beings, the method was to write a letter from them to me. This first letter with the response in this article forms the beginning of an animistic correspondence. The medium places the reader in a pluriverse, in between the multiple voices of various “actants.” The text is isomorphic to the embodied dialogue of this earthy practice. It is useful both to nurture societal awareness—empathy and care—towards these fragmentary ecosystemic beings, and as research method to conceive them, and our relationship. |
| Keywords | animism |
| architecture | |
| co-creative design | |
| new materialism | |
| ontopolitic | |
| Journal | GeoHumanities |
| Journal citation | 7 (1), pp. 176-197 |
| ISSN | 2373-566X |
| 2373-5678 | |
| Year | 2021 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| Publisher's version | License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 File Access Level Open (open metadata and files) |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1080/2373566x.2021.1904785 |
| Web address (URL) | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2373566X.2021.1904785 |
| Publication dates | |
| Published online | 07 Jun 2021 |
| Published in print | 01 Jun 2021 |
| Supplemental file | License CC BY 4.0 File Access Level Open (open metadata and files) |