Sympoietic Architecture: Making with Lina Ghotmeh (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9783037788240)

A deep dive into the philosophy of care and responsibility guiding Ghotmeh's architectural practice, as seen across two decades of eco- and context-conscious projects

This substantial volume investigates the concept of "sympoietic living" in the work of Lebanese-born, Paris-based architect Lina Ghotmeh (born 1980). Ghotmeh's work epitomizes the sympoietic approach, which is defined by Donna Haraway as "making with" and "worlding-with." 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." Ghotmeh's work exemplifies a mode of design that engages with its context, histories and participants, reflecting 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 21st century, arguing that architecture must shift from the paradigm of control inherited from late modernity toward a practice that thinks "with" the world.