Biopolitics, Space, and Architecture in Agamben’s Philosophy

Abstract

The article analyzes Giorgio Agamben’s (b. 1942) research interests in terms of original interpretations of such categories as form of life, habitat, exclusion status and camps, biopolitics. Giorgio Agamben’s “Architectural Theory” is the result of a wide variety his readings of individual but very important reflections on biopolitical power and spaces for life. The purpose of the article is to outline for future researchers G. Agamben’s judgments about architecture, biopolitics and space, which, by chance or not, can lead the past and us to new horizons of philosophical understanding of the present. In some works, the philosopher himself accompanies his conclusions with an analysis of the spatial and architectural correspondences of power and biopolitics. In the reflections of G. Agamben emphasizes the linguistic and cultural distinction between domicile architecture (domus) and building structure (aedes), which is directly related to the “archaeological” research in the spirit of M. Foucault, as well as to the philosophy of architecture by M. Heidegger. It is noted that G. Agamben outlined a number of important theses, apparently continuing the correspondence debate with the famous architectural theorist Vittorio Gregotti, which began on the pages of magazines back in the 1990s. Camillo Boano, another researcher, revisits the theoretical connections between space and politics, arguing for the importance of Giorgio Agamben’s work for the theory and practice of architecture as a discipline. The article is intended for researchers of biopolitical power, anthropologists, architects and cultural theorists.