ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the discourse primarily related to the 2005-08 work of Michael Hensel and Achim Menges focused on membrane systems developed through work at the Rotterdam Academy of Architecture and Urban Design; the Architectural Association; and London Metropolitan University. The libidinal economy is the economy of the singular exchange of intensity, as in the singular intensities of sex acts. The philosopher and literary theorist Jean-Francois Lyotard describes Libidinal Economy as a piece of shamelessness, immodesty and provocation. The key point being made here is that much architectural design associated with sustainability has centred upon the use of wall thickness as a key means of controlling climate and maintaining interior comfort. In place of this technique that extends the 'division' of the interior/exterior dualism, Hensel and Menges offer the architectural membrane as part of a wider package of architectural technologies that fit under the banner of 'performance-oriented design'.
