Unity in Peirce and relations with aesthetics and ecology

considerations on new conduct in architecture

Abstract

In this work, we are interested in reflecting on an approximation between aesthetics and ecology through the concept of unity, as previously indicated by Freitas (2005). Faced with a contemporary context of environmental crisis, we propose to look at the field of architecture and urbanism, in which we observe a growing search for aesthetic and epistemological models that may be characterized as ecological. We adopt the pragmatist philosophy of Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) as a theoretical reference, considering, in particular, the affinity pointed out by Nöth (1996; 1998; 2001) between this system of thought and ecology. Starting from there, we organized the work into two distinct moments: the first one is conceptual; and the second, focused on the relationship between concept and practice. We begin by identifying and selecting, in writings by Peirce and his scholars, some of the uses of the term unity, seeking to understand how it is related to concepts specific to his philosophy, covering phenomenology, the normative sciences and metaphysics, and passing through pragmatism, presuming an understanding of unity that underlies that initial approximation. Based on this, we then reflect on that conception in relation to architecture and urbanism, based on the work of Toyo Ito, who is interested in the transition from a machine aesthetic to an aesthetic of flows and whose professional dialogue between theory and practice leads us to broader considerations about knowledge in architecture, with consequences for the formation of new conduct in this field.