Architecture and the Question of Technology. Mediality and Apparativity in the Architectural Context

Abstract

There are considerations within the philosophy of technology that question the ontological division into “technical” and “non-technical” entities and units. Rather, technology is understood as a reflexive term that allows for the question of technology to be reformlated such that something might be thematized as technology or not. The question that arises according to this model is the reflexive concept of architecture, inquiring into the “ontology” of architecture. What does this mean, if architecture is not fundamentally based on a division of architectural and non-architectural objects? Further, there is a question of relations of so-called New Technologies and architecture, given that these new technologies (such as “Internet of Things”, pervasive computing, augmented reality, AI, etc.) carry with them yet another dimension that could be identified as “trace erasure” or an increasing disappearance of the experience of difference in using technology. In the case of architecture, there is a question of use and integration of such technologies (e.g., “Smart Houses”). On the other hand, if these new technologies become a model for design and development, it would imply a set of considerations regarding the potential reformulation of architecture as a whole.