[Mateus vanStralen]

ASC Speakers Series Season 6#2: presents: The Appropriation of Autopoiesis in Architecture In his talk, Guillermo Sanchez Sotes will examine the merits of the cross-disciplinary appropriation of the theory of autopoiesis in Patrik Schumacher's The Autopoiesis of Architecture. Sunday, Oct 19, 2025  12:00 PM EDT Abstract This talk will provide an overview of Guillermo’s PhD research, recently published in condensed form in Frontiers of Architectural Research. In his PhD, Guillermo examines the merits of the cross-disciplinary appropriation of the theory of autopoiesis in Patrik Schumacher’s The Autopoiesis of Architecture. Schumacher’s two-volume work builds upon Luhmann’s sociological adoption of Maturana et al.’s biological theory of autopoiesis. This lineage of repeated appropriation raises questions about the merits of the cross-disciplinary appropriations of natural-scientific theory in architecture in general and the appropriation of autopoiesis in architectural theory in particular. Specifically, what are the merits of Schumacher’s appropriation of the theory of autopoiesis? To address this question, Guillermo developed and applied a text analysis method drawing on discourse analysis, close reading, visual interpretation, and “inference to the best explanation” to analyse a set of pertinent samples from The Autopoiesis of Architecture. The analysis, using previously established categorisations of language use and merits of theory appropriation, shows that Schumacher employs various modes of language use in The Autopoiesis of Architecture to reference both prior instances of autopoiesis. These ambiguities serve to achieve merits that, in many cases, seem to benefit the author rather than his readers. Participants' Bios: Guillermo Sánchez Sotés is a Madrid-based chartered architect and Lecturer at the Manchester School of Architecture. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Liverpool (based at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China), in which Guillermo investigates the merits of cross-disciplinary appropriations of natural scientific theory in architecture. He has obtained multiple scholarships and granted funds that enabled him to enrol in both research and teaching at different universities while also collaborating with various international architectural firms such as Izaskun Chinchilla Architects. Chitraj Bissoonauth is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Liverpool (UoL). In his dissertation, he investigates a previously established theory of purposeful human actions in the context of digital design. Chitraj holds a BEng and MArch in Architectural Design from UoL and Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. His research interests include design research, design cybernetics, digital design, architectural design and education, and human-computer interaction. Unsubscribe