Book Talk | Jose Aragüez: Dispositional Intelligence

Dispositional Intelligence proposes a contemporary theory of spatial organization in architecture through original research into a particular kind of hybrid design production—inherently architectural yet strongly driven by modes of intellection traditionally associated with engineering—which surfaced between the mid-1950s and the mid-2000s. Three highly important yet radically overlooked bodies of work are examined here: those of the Italian architect and artist Vittorio Giorgini (1926–2010), the Israeli architect, engineer, and geometer Michaël Burt (b. 1937), and Sri-Lankan-born, London-based engineer and theorist Cecil Balmond (b. 1943). Giorgini was a trailblazer in incorporating surface topology into architectural thinking with a considerable level of scientific self-awareness. Burt’s body of work proves to be one of the earliest, most thoroughgoing investigations into the discovery and visualization of three-dimensional models for the subdivision of space based on patterns of configurational continuity. Balmond pioneered the translation of aspects of nonlinearity into design moves of significant architectural consequence as well as the application of design frameworks thus initiated to the conception of entire buildings.
By combining granular historical analysis of these bodies of work with advanced theoretical investigation, this volume substantially expands the distinct dispositional possibilities for architecture enabled by the deep scientization of design that unfolded across the West over the course of the second half of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first. In so doing, it addresses the urgent need to extend the boundaries of architectural thinking in a fundamental fashion—beyond conventional models of three-dimensional articulation—and it contributes not only a new mode of thought to the history of architecture, but also novel critical and design frameworks to today’s discourse and practice culture.

The lecture will be followed by a Q&A discussion moderated by Michael Young.

José Aragüez is a practicing architect, author, and educator. He currently teaches advanced studios at Yale University and previously led studios and seminars at Columbia University GSAPP from 2013 to 2020. In 2020–21, he held the H. Deane Pearce Endowed Chair at Texas Tech. Aragüez earned a PhD in the History and Theory of Architecture from Princeton University. Earlier, he completed a Master of Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Granada, Spain, where he received Honorable Mention, the University Graduation Extraordinary Award, and the 1st National Prize in Architecture. He also holds a post-professional Master’s degree from Columbia GSAPP (Honor Award for Excellence in Design) and a Graduate Certificate in Advanced Architectural Research.

Aragüez has lectured extensively across Europe and North America—including at the Venice Biennale and most of the top schools—as well as in the Middle East and Japan. In addition to Yale, Columbia, and Texas Tech, he has taught at Cornell, Princeton, Penn, Rice University in Paris, and the University of Granada.

His six-year project culminating in the publication of The Building (Lars Müller Publishers, 2016) is widely regarded in international circles as one of the most significant contributions to architectural discourse in the 2010s. He is also the author of two other books: Spatial Infrastructure (Actar, 2022) and Dispositional Intelligence in Architecture (Actar, 2025). His writings have appeared in Domus, e-flux, Flat Out, The Routledge Companion to Criticality in Art, Architecture and Design (Routledge, 2018), Radical Pedagogies (MIT Press, 2022), and TECNOSCAPE: The Architecture of Engineers (Fondazione MAXXI, 2022), among other venues.

Aragüez is the founding principal of José Aragüez Architects, a practice dedicated to architecture, urbanism, and the production of discourse. Earlier in his career, he worked as an architect for Antonio J. Torrecillas (Spain), MVRDV (Rotterdam), and IDOM/ACXT (London).

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is Required.

Host or Publisher WNYC and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art