trans #47 – SOFT

Soft is the warm breath that blurs sharp edges, the quiet elusion of fixed categories, the slow wearing away of the rigid. A silk scarf brushing against the skin, red lips murmuring from a billboard, a backup in the aether of iCloud. Soft is desire, blooming with each click – a fleeting satisfaction swallowed by the next fancy. The seamless seduction of curated needs.
 
Soft material, soft sound, soft-mannered, soft sell, soft power, soft management, soft computing, soft politics, software, soft shell, soft architecture…

Soft is the presence that lingers, bending rules without announcing rebellion, dissolving order rather than breaking it. Soft is a revolution that isn’t about imposing, but about becoming undone. It forces hold the potential to reshape the hard world; subverting norms, transcending categories. Soft is a site of resistance and deformation. Reshaping political spaces by seeping through the cracks of the Empire. Working along its edges, rendering control porous and vulnerable. Often mistaken for weakness, it is power in disguise.

White arches mirrored in still waters—a beauty that disarms. An effortless manipulation, just as snow suffocates sound. Through it power is rendered less visible, allowing existing hierarchies to persist.

The sand beneath your feet turns to concrete.
What do you feel? Touch it.

Send your abstract (200-400 words) to trans(a)arch.ethz.ch by the 13th of April 2025!

trans is a semi-annual journal of the Department of Architecture, ETH Zürich, managed by an independent student editorial team.