Emerging Ecologies and the Nascent Paradigm: Reconceptualizing Architectural Design in the Current Interregnum. The New that cannot be Born

Since the mid-1960s, global discussions in philosophy, epistemology, science, and technology have engaged in a critical examination of the concepts and applications of anthropocentrism [1], [2], [3]. This scrutiny has subsequently stimulated new discussions on how various fields of knowledge, spanning from science to humanism, should grapple with the inclusion of external agents that were previously excluded or overlooked. In the last decades, philosophical circles represented by thinkers such as Braidotti [4] and Delanda [5] have raised inquiries into the operational value of the concept of “progress.” This concept, central to the ideologies and practices of Modernity, has been scrutinized for its role in perpetuating a worldview founded on binary oppositions and polarities—the typical "black or white" litany. The scope of challenging anthropocentric thought extends beyond considerations of species other than humans; it encompasses, perhaps above all, the sustainability of our planet intricately interwoven with its political and economic dimensions. Concepts like assemblage, emergence, difference, agency, affect, immanence, sympathy, ecology, and symbiosis, among others, have undergone a gradual migration into various subject areas and realms of contemplation. These terms are now intricately interlinked, establishing new ecologies, connections, and continuities across diverse academic domains. Indeed, we find ourselves immersed in what can be described as a Gramscian interregnum, characterized by the simultaneous decline of established paradigms and the hesitant emergence of new ones. This transitional phase is marked by the poignant sentiment that "the old is dying and the new cannot be born." The challenge lies in determining the nature of novelty we should advocate for the creation and identification of specific forms, materials, styles, and substances that should be attributed to the emerging paradigm to distinguish it from the outgoing one.