Ecology and the aesthetics of heat

Boon Lay Ong (1)

1 Department of Architecture

The sense of heat does not even register as one of our five senses. Yet, this paper proposes that an aesthetics of heat is critical to the ecological understanding of ambiance. It begins with a recent argument that the key human advantage in evolution is our ability to maintain a constant temperature, or homeostasis. Cultural markers of human civilization like fire, food, clothing and buildings are seen as further refinements of this. The sense of heat is important because it is a measure of our energetic balance with the environment. If we do not maintain this balance, getting too cold or too hot for too long, we die. Recent studies in everyday aesthetics have opened the door to a broader definition of aesthetics and this has allowed the introduction of a new field of study - the aesthetics of heat.

Mots clés: evolution; ecology; homeostasis; Rembrandt; thermal aesthetics

Domaines: Architecture, aménagement de l'espace; Sociologie

Boon Lay Ong. Ecology and the aesthetics of heat. Ambiances in action / Ambiances en acte(s) - International Congress on Ambiances, Montreal 2012, Sep 2012, Montreal, Canada. pp.129-134. ⟨halshs-00745023⟩