Nathalie Kerschen, PhD
Trained as an architect, I am an independent researcher, doing research-creation in Luxembourg.
PhD, McGill - University (2023); B. Arch, ENSA Paris-Malaquais (2008); M. Arch, ENSA Paris-Malaquais (2010); Post-Professional MA Architecture, McGill-University (2011); BA Philosophy, Paris-Sorbonne IV (2014); Architect HMONP (France, 2013).
PhD, McGill - University (2023); B. Arch, ENSA Paris-Malaquais (2008); M. Arch, ENSA Paris-Malaquais (2010); Post-Professional MA Architecture, McGill-University (2011); BA Philosophy, Paris-Sorbonne IV (2014); Architect HMONP (France, 2013).
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Drawing from phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty, Toadvine) and the hermeneutical tradition in architecture (Pérez-Gómez), my aim is to show how the technological attitude which is paramount in contemporary approaches to sustainable design, is not only at the root of our current alienation from Nature but also the problematic reverse of the artistic attitude. More specifically, I will explain how the arts, technology and our relationship towards Nature are philosophically intertwined since the split of technè into the realm of the “artificial” and the “artistic” (Blumenberg), and the doubling of Nature into a "natura naturans" and "natura naturata" (Merleau-Ponty) at the onset of modernity. Secondly, I will present an alternative to this technologically-driven approach by looking at what architectural scholars group under labels such as “formless architecture” (Forty), the “architecture of affect” (Bressani) or “architecture as atmosphere or mood” (Boehme; Perez-Gomez). Reading these findings against the backdrop of large scale installations such as "The Blur Building" (Diller and Scofidio + Renfro) or the Ilulissat Icefjord Park, (Studio Other Spaces), it will be shown how these structures not only move visitors through their atmospheric and immersive (Hornby) qualities, but also through their capacity to let us perceive Nature in form of the elements.
Drawing from phenomenology (Merleau-Ponty, Toadvine) and the hermeneutical tradition in architecture (Pérez-Gómez), my aim is to show how the technological attitude which is paramount in contemporary approaches to sustainable design, is not only at the root of our current alienation from Nature but also the problematic reverse of the artistic attitude. More specifically, I will explain how the arts, technology and our relationship towards Nature are philosophically intertwined since the split of technè into the realm of the “artificial” and the “artistic” (Blumenberg), and the doubling of Nature into a "natura naturans" and "natura naturata" (Merleau-Ponty) at the onset of modernity. Secondly, I will present an alternative to this technologically-driven approach by looking at what architectural scholars group under labels such as “formless architecture” (Forty), the “architecture of affect” (Bressani) or “architecture as atmosphere or mood” (Boehme; Perez-Gomez). Reading these findings against the backdrop of large scale installations such as "The Blur Building" (Diller and Scofidio + Renfro) or the Ilulissat Icefjord Park, (Studio Other Spaces), it will be shown how these structures not only move visitors through their atmospheric and immersive (Hornby) qualities, but also through their capacity to let us perceive Nature in form of the elements.