Architecture and the imperative reconstruction of its technical ethos

Abstract

This article discusses the situation of Architecture as a field of knowledge and its relations with Construction. The hypothesis is that a disciplinary practice of Architecture, which recognizes itself as something distinct from Construction, has been responsible for its emptying. The theme is discussed in the light of the question of technique in Martin Heidegger’s thought, for whom technique and knowledge are intrinsically related. Seeing design as a process of knowledge production, a kind of knowledge that is always new and materialized in the construction of new realities, the transition between idea (knowledge) and object (matter) is discussed, suggesting an understanding of technique as a kind of language. It is suggested that a disciplinary practice of Architecture, mediated by hierarchical knowledge, belittles techniques and practical knowledge, thus alienating itself from its own language. It is concluded that a transdisciplinary and innovative practice of Architecture could start from its epistemological renovation based on the re-construction of its ethos.