Architecture for More-than-Humans

Abstract

In his project New Babylon (1956– 1974), artist Constant Nieuwenhuys proposes an alternative society that dedicates its time to creativity and play, and where human work becomes superfluous. Architectural paradigm of the free space and leisure enabled by the automation of work, New Babylon was also able to visualize the architecture of the post-labor world. A world that, fifty years later, is beginning to take concrete shape. Today, the architecture of full automation is being implemented in places like the Netherlands and China. Its introduction shakes the labor markets, as well as the configuration of human spaces and work tasks that have become obsolete with the emergence of machines in the production centers. These disruptive changes, however, could also be a trigger for the reinvention of the notion of human work and its architecture, from the perspective of its possible obsolescence. The architectural discipline faces the challenge of responding to the introduction of automation technologies. A research and innovation domain that still lacks a critical spatial perspective, automated architecture is, however, fundamental to discern an imminent future and, ultimately, to explore our agency and capacity to accept or challenge it.