Sympoietic Architecture

“Sympoietic Architecture – Making with Lina Ghotmeh” investigates the concept of sympoietic living in the work of architect Lina Ghotmeh. Defined by Donna Haraway as “making with” and “worlding with,” Ghotmeh’s work epitomizes this approach. As a multi-ethnic architect, working across countries, cultures and values, Ghotmeh’s work can be understood as a rich, sensible and articulated process of building that enshrines the practice of inclusive architecture as a “matter of care and responsibility.” In caring about the environment, the materials, the resources, the users, the clients, the land and its heritage, in caring about the concept of beauty, Earth and earthlings, her work displays a position which is at once poetic and political in its ecological approach to architecture. Ghotmeh’s work exemplifies a mode of design that reflects an understanding of architecture as a living system rather than a static artifact. The project responds to the pressing social and environmental challenges of the twenty-first century, arguing that architecture must shift from the paradigm of control inherited from late modernity toward a practice that thinks “with” the world. Through this research, the book argues that the future of architecture depends on its ability to create empathy, attentiveness and relational intelligence.