In his 1979 essay The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge philosopher Jean-François Lyotard noted that the advent of the computer opened up a stage of progress in which knowledge has become a commodity. Modernity and postmodernity appear as two stages of a process resulting from the conflict of science and narrative. As science attempts to distance itself from narrative, it must create its own legitimacy. This paper takes up this challenge with a focus on the question of imagery. The image is precisely what modern science seeks to free itself from in its quest for absolute transparency. This transparency is examined from the perspective of architecture, drawing on arguments from philosophy, quantum mechanics, theology and information theory.
- Natural science in the context of postmodernism
- Quantum mechanics and information theory
- New volume in the Applied Virtuality Book Series
About the author
Riccardo M. Villa joined the department for Architectural Theory at the Vienna University of Technology as assistant researcher in September 2017. He holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Milan, where he graduated with honours with a dissertation about the contemporary mutations of the architectural profession. In July 2022 he obtained his doctoral degree with the highest grade, with a dissertation entitled Upon Entropy. Architecture and Image in the Age of Information. His professional background includes collaborations with several practices around Europe, from small ateliers to large architectural companies. Since 2009 he is a member and part of the editorial board of GIZMO, a Milan-based architectural research collective, and a platform for publications, events and exhibitions. He contributes to magazines and to other publications dealing with architectural history and criticism.
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