Study Architecture 
ProPEL 
Author(s): William Willoughby
“If all things turned to smoke, the nostrils wouldsort them out.”—Heraclitus1Michel Serres, one of France’s leading intellectuals,is difficult to categorize. His ecstatic works cut awide swath between literature, science, philosophy,and mathematics. The global and the local interminglein many of his writings. As architects, we areparticularly sensitive to the global-local problem.Influenced by Gaston Bachelard, Serres’ writingcontains much for architects to consider. He inquiresinto the body and the senses, addresses thecontact between the social sciences and the naturalsciences, and explores the epistemological limits ofsustainability. Many of Serres’ works address ourmodern penchant for messages and their passagethrough networks of transference—reality is understoodas the continuous concourse of messagesinlaid between objects, people, and locales. Metaphoricmessengers like Hermes and angels play alarge role in his writings.For a non-Francophone to discuss Michel Serresmight be taken as a dubious enterprise since mymain access to his work is English translations andcommentaries by scholars writing in English. However,his translated books and articles convey a vividnessof thought that I have found fully inspiring.For Serres, each book is an elaboration on everyother of his books. The originality of each new arrangementinspires my wonder at Serres—I appreciateeach twist of his textual kaleidoscope. Serres’ arcof thought is extensive, intricate, and interwoven.His philosophical approach syncs with his rhizomaticwriting; his works compose a dynamic world.
Volume Editors
Ikhlas Sabouni & Jorge Vanegas
