FIG #7 TECHNOSPHÈR

Dedicated to the notion of technosphere, the seventh issue of fig. reflects on the thirst for domination that human beings have for their natural and social environment and that continues to define this early 21st century. This collective discussion between researchers, architects, artists, filmmakers and activists aims both to situate their disciplinary fields within this global overflow and to propose alternatives motivated by sustainability, inclusion and solidarity.

To be discovered in this issue, among others:

APOLLINE VRANKEN - Interview

Apolline Vranken is a Belgian woman architect, feminist and activist. She is a doctoral student in architecture (FNRS-FRESH) at the Université libre de Bruxelles. She is the author of the book From the beguinages to the feminist architecture. How to interrogate and subvert the gender relations materialized in the inhabited area? (Women's University, 2018), which has won two awards. In parallel to her interventions in architectural offices and editorial offices, she founded in 2018 the platform L'Architecture qui dégenre, which seizes on the realistic utopias that are feminist architectures, questions the dominant order and provides a component of advice and pedagogy on the issue of gender. In 2019, she is organising the first Journées du Matrimoine in Brussels, the third edition of which has just been successfully completed.

In this interview, she talked about women, regeneration, intersectionality, expertise of experience, reclaiming the public domain, the importance of unionising, and guided tours.

SOILS - Cinzia Romanin

While drawing up an ironic assessment of the use of land and building resources since the industrial revolution, the "Soils" project allows us to go beyond mere criticism by tackling new architectural perspectives. Like a dive into the heart of materiality, this visual exploration surveys African and Western landscapes, between tradition and innovation, in search of new ways of inhabiting the earth.