%0 Thesis
%9 Doctoral
%A Shergill, Ramandeep
%B Bartlett School of Architecture
%D 2024
%E Cruz, Marcos
%F discovery:10190162
%I UCL (University College London)
%P 266
%T Visions of a Critical Posthuman Practice: Embodying Exoskeletal Living Systems (ELS)
%U https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10190162/
%X In the twenty-first century, the consequences of anthropogenic activity and the resulting changes in climate and reduction in biodiversity are having a substantial impact on the human body, threatening human survival. The unknown scope of environmental and ecological conditions may lead to a global existential threat. This research reimagines and redefines the body and its relationality to an increasingly environmentally fragile planet, through the proposition of Exoskeletal Living Systems (ELS). A modular set of biologically integrated interfaces between the body and its surroundings as a protective encasement system is suggested — achieving new aesthetics in a mode of critical posthuman practice. Bioregenerative Life Support Systems are interpreted through photographic explorations, supported by design and biochemical engineering. The perception of the body as a singular cultural agent is challenged through characterising sympoietic (making-with) alliances. Exoskeletal Living Systems are suggested as a response, through speculative design, to climatic existential risk conditions on Earth and for supporting life beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO).
%Z Copyright © The Author 2024.  Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).  Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms.  Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request.