The 'tectonic sensibility' in architecture: From the pre-human to the post-human

Hale, Jonathan

Abstract

This paper argues for a new definition and a broader application of tectonic theory in architecture. It extends the traditional understanding of tectonics as a bodily feeling for the physical materiality of constructional elements, in order to form the basis of a more generalized notion of a bodily sensibility towards the ‘the way things are’. The discussion is informed by an evolutionary perspective on the relationship between technology and human embodiment, suggesting links between the ‘pre-human’ and the ‘post-human’. It offers a reassessment of an often overlooked but pivotal insight evident in the work of both André Leroi-Gourhan and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, that the human and the technological are mutually co-constitutive. It explores this notion in the light of recent research in archaeology, evolutionary, psychology, philosophy and neuroscience.

Citation

Hale, J. (2020). The 'tectonic sensibility' in architecture: From the pre-human to the post-human. Nottingham French Studies, 59(3), 350-367. https://doi.org/10.3366/nfs.2020.0295

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Dec 2, 2020
• Publication Date: 2020-12
• Deposit Date: Feb 18, 2025
• Journal: Nottingham French Studies
• Print ISSN: 0029-4586
• Electronic ISSN: 2047-7236
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 59
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 350-367
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3366/nfs.2020.0295
• Keywords: Linguistics and Language; Literature and Literary Theory; Cultural Studies; History; Language and Linguistics
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5124553
• Publisher URL: https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/10.3366/nfs.2020.0295