Inhabiting Fragility

A Sociotechnical Approach to Spatial Vulnerability

Abstract

This article explores fragility as a core concept for rethinking architecture and its relationship with the built environment. Challenging traditional notions of permanence and mastery, it reframes fragility as a generative force that fosters adaptability and care. Architecture is positioned as an evolving ecology, where human and non-human interdependencies shape spaces through continuous maintenance, repair, and negotiation. Case studies, such as the Ballarò market of Palermo, highlight how material and social fragility can drive innovation and resistance, revealing the adaptive capacities of precarious systems. Drawing on thinkers like Latour and Haraway, the article argues for an architectural practice rooted in relational care, flexibility, and responsiveness. Ultimately, it proposes fragility as a paradigm that transforms vulnerability into resistance, fostering dynamic coexistence and ecological renewal.