Philosophers, historians of technology, and anthropologists often offer accounts of technology that include a “human clause,” some phrase to the effect that only humans use or make technologies. When these academics do consider tool use, they refer to a few cases, usually from chimpanzee studies, as special and unusual in the animal kingdom and whose similarities to human tool use can be explained through some shared evolutionary heritage. However, new observational and laboratory animal studies demonstrate that tool use and the use of learned techniques are actually more widespread than many scholars have appreciated, encompassing the behaviors of dolphins, crows, gorillas, and octopuses. Some studies have shown that even species that are not known to produce tools in the wild can, in the right contexts, produce and use tools as capably as related species that do employ tools. Some of the non-human animals' tool use and manufacture indicates learned components, shared material cultures, innovation, an understanding of 'folk' physics and causal reasoning, the standardization of tools, and the use of metatools. This dissertation involves a reflection on these new animal studies cases: what they might indicate, how they relate to concepts used in defining technology (and humanity), how they might disrupt human-centered models of technology. This dissertation also provides a framework for considering these animal cases within the context of technological knowledge, one important concept in philosophy of technology. To highlight the relationships between two different approaches to technological knowledge, this project introduces a graphical model for considering animal cases alongside human technologies; mapping individual technologies and techniques in terms of technological know-how and encapsulation of information allow for the additional consideration of animal constructions – webs, nests, dams, etc. – alongside animal tool use and human technologies. By categorizing non-human animal constructions, tool use, and technology along the same axes, we see that the individual material products of humans and non-humans are often a matter of degree, and not a matter of kind. Animal constructions and tool use can be productively incorporated into philosophy of technology. / Ph. D.

Growing up in a bicultural household, navigating the F train as well as mountain creeks, studying culture and then participating in its production, these are some of the idiosyncrasies that I bring to my work. My investigations are rooted in combining a rediscovery of the sensuousness of the natural world and an investigation of the poetics of everyday life. Choosing materials and situations within the realm of the everyday, I'm interested in a transformation that suggests the infinite potential and worth in all things. The resulting objects have identities as complex as my own. They are ridiculous and serious, normal and magical, and confident in their awkwardness. This document was created in Microsoft Word X for mac.

Throughout time man has discovered that the human form, in all its harmonious proportion, can be used as a guide, gauge and tool to design and build structures. However, the human figure has not been the only organic form used to create architecture. Many animals create dwellings that synchronize with not only their own unique physical characteristics and survival instincts, but with their aesthetic preferences as well. It is logical that a design should respond to its surroundings, program and most importantly, its inhabitants. This thesis design is for two specific occupants: the cat and the human. They are both meant to inhabit the building wholly and simultaneously. The way each of them experiences and uses the space, however, differs greatly. For a building to survive it needs many of the same things as living creatures: sunlight, air and movement, to name a few. It also needs to function like a living creature. It must breathe, sleep, respond to the changing seasons, and adapt over time. This thesis is an investigation of how both human and cat can dwell in a building of harmonious proportion, scale, light, and material. / Master of Architecture