Ghost City: Alternatives for a Metaphysics of Architecture

This book examines the relationship between architecture theory and the philosophy of mind. Today, the art of building has become increasingly dominated by concepts borrowed from science, but how do we interpret this influence when the causal reduction of thought and feeling to space-time physics has repeatedly failed? This collection of essays-part short fiction, part philosophical investigation, part architecture treatise-explores the "hard problem of consciousness" and what happens in theory when two distinct yet closely related ontologies are called into question. By deconstructing the conceptual supports for material monism and substance dualism, Ghost City raises questions largely ignored by contemporary designers-especially those focused on the evolution of artificial intelligence. Through a series of technologically motivated critiques, the author argues vehemently that direct insight into the nature of mind can help create a more timeless and ecologically sound framework for design in an age of accelerating change.

About the Author :
Mike Silver holds a Masters of Building Design from Columbia University, and is both a LeFevre' 29 research fellow for The Knowlton School of Architecture in Columbus, Ohio, and a Sanders Fellow at the University of Michigan. He was the director of digital media at the Yale School of Architecture from 2001-2004, a design instructor at Harvard's Graduate School of Design and a co-founder of the center for Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotic Technologies at the University of Buffalo. He is also the author of numerous books on the relationship between technology and building including "Pamphlet Architecture #19", AD's, "Programming Cultures", "Mapping in the Age of Digital Media" and "XXL-XS: New Directions in Ecological Design" co-edited with Dr. Mitchel Joachim. Mr. Silver currently directs the kNOW Office a multidisciplinary design studio based in Brooklyn, NY. In collaboration with computer scientists, mathematicians and process engineers his office works at a variety of scales and has extensive experience in the production of furniture, interiors, consumer products and buildings. Today, Mr. Silver continues innovative research in the field of sustainable design, digital cartography, software development, green manufacturing and high performance computing. His current work explores technologies like augmented reality, mobile computing (AutomasonMP3), numerically controlled fiber-placement technology and leg-based robotics. As an experimental collaborative Mr. Silver's firm is deeply committed to the precise alignment of advanced technology, ecological practice, architectural poetics and building construction. His work has been exhibited at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, in Manhattan, the IDC in Nagoya, Japan, the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., the Architecture League in New York and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. He built his first working robot out of Scotch tape and Spirograph parts at the age of 14.