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The Netherlands, 16-19 October 2012
Conference brief
In the age of globalization, cities can no longer be understood as autonomous identities but have to be regarded as parts of larger networks and metropolitan areas.
As a consequence the city structure changed: for example, the priority given to the perspective of ‘time’ which tends to reduce and “consume” the traditional importance of ‘space’ and ‘place’; the overwhelming increase of logistics; the demand for a mobility infrastructure that renders a broader than ever spectrum of complementary solutions, the new role assumed by green areas. Solutions like water links, railways, highways and airlines, offer the opportunity of reciprocal and multiple connections and at the same time, prompting unexpected geographical configurations.
The conference questions the abovementioned framework to understand which kind of new urban configuration can arise from it.
Conference sub-themes
The Conference Committee invites professionals from both research and practice dealing with the built environment (architecture, urbanism, landscape architecture, planning, geography, sociology, urban history etc.) to send in abstracts for papers on one of the following sub-themes:
1. Innovation in building typology
Analytical and design studies which investigate the potential of new, often hybrid building types deriving their legitimacy from the specific conditions of the new urban configurations and the subsequent transformation of existing settlements.
2. Infrastructure and architecture
Analytical studies which investigate the relationship between infrastructure and architecture, also focusing on the possibility of reciprocal blurring.
3. Complex urban projects
Experiments and experiences dealing with complex functional requirements, a wide spectrum of multiple requests and stakeholders within strongly layered preexisting urban systems.
4. Green spaces: the city and the territory
Analytical studies and designs that investigate the role of the landscape (verdure) as material for a new kind of urban and architectural design consideringdriving forces such as the necessity of limiting our ecological (energetically) footprint.
5. Delta urbanism: Living with water in the urban Deltas
More than half of the world population lives in cities today and especially the effects of climate changes increase the vulnerability of people in areas with risks of flooding. We encourage researchers and designers to contribute with methodological, analytical and design studies to discuss problems and solutions concerning water-management, flood-defence and urbanization.
Further details on the conference, its organization, registration procedure etc. will be
available on the website of the TU Delft Faculty of Architecture:
http://www.newurbanconfigurations.nl
11th International Conference on Urban History
Cities & Societies in Comparative Perspective
Prague (29 August-1 September 2012)
CFP Deadline: October 1, 2011
DEPICTION AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE "OTHER":
ISLAMIC CITIES IN THE EYES OF EUROPEAN TRAVELERS
The Renaissance era is often said to be a significant turning point in
European history, as a period of cultural and economic reformations
that were shaping the identity of the "West." This new identity was
based on a revolutionary shift in knowledge about the world in this
period. Cultural discovery of the non-Western lands, triggered after
the 16th century by European travelers, opened new doors for cultural
and economic exchanges. The "discovery" of new territories by the
Western-eye transformed the 'mystical' orient into immanent
geographies to be visited, explored, recorded, and something to be
depicted. The 'voyage to the Orient', once an exceptional adventure,
evolved into a habit of the Western intellectual. In the corresponding
period of time, the civilizations in Ottoman Turkey, Safavid Persia,
and Mughal India were experiencing diverse socio-political and
cultural developments. The complex layers of political, economic, and
religious struggles, alliances, and rivalries among these empires
gradually impacted on the development of cities in this region. The
progress in geographic discoveries and the ascending habit of
travelling led to inevitable result of the definition of the "other"
as opposed to the identification of the "self". Following this
construction of the "other" and the creation of "non-Western"
cultures, some civilizations were sub-categorized under a homogenizing
term, "Islamic" and the cities in these territories were started being
defined as the "Muslim city". Distinctions between the Muslim city and
the Muslim society against the European city and the European society
were sharply defined. Travelers' accounts played a major role in the
split of the world into East and West. This session aims to discuss
the West/non-West divergence from a different perspective, which is
based on analyzing the travelers' accounts on the "Orient" in the
early modern era. We are searching an answer for how the Muslim city
was defined and depicted by the Western gaze before the heyday of
Orientalism; and proposing to discuss the issues of urban
representation before the invention of photography.
The papers of this panel could address the following issues:
1. What tools were used for the depiction of urban fabric and how
these depictions were interpreted in the West and also in the East?
2. How "Islamic" cities responded to the developments taking place in
Europe in the post-Renaissance era?
3. How was the image of the "Muslim city" literally and symbolically
formed and transformed during this period with regard to the cultural
and political changes in the Western world?
4. What iconic representations were utilized and how these
formulations were transformed within the rapidly changing social,
political, and economical context of the period?
The papers can analyze the correspondences and discrepancies between
visual depictions and textual accounts and compare various forms of
representation of the cities. The papers could initiate new
comparisons among European and Muslim cities and encourage new
cross-cultural discussions on the underlying factors behind their
urban design and development.
Session chairs: Mohammad Gharipour, College of Architecture and
Planning, Morgan State University; mohammad@gatech.edu; and Nilay Ozlu,
Bogazici University; Department of History; nilay.ozlu@gmail.com
All abstracts, maximum 500 words, with a brief CV should be submitted by
October 1, 2011.
For more information, please visit the website of the conference on http://www.eauh2012.com
EAHN
c/o TU Delft
RMIT - Faculty of Architecture
PO Box 5043
2600 GA Delft
Netherlands
http://www.eahn.org
Border Conditions presents the initial results from the research and design studio of the Faculty of Architecture at Delft University of Technology. The book offers a collection of essays and experimental architecture projects that emanated from research into the spatial impact of socio-political developments, with an emphasis on mapping the contemporary urban milieu. The book provides a thematic overview of the contemporary discussion surrounding borders in architecture, from conflict situations to marginal urban areas; from Kinshasa-Brazzaville, Gibraltar, Kaliningrad and Kiev to Benidorm, Marseille and Rotterdam. A selection of projects shows how mapping can be used to not only register and interpret urban processes, but to show how these design principles can act as the basis for architectural interventions.
Facing Impact of the Second World War: Urban Design in Contemporary European Cities.
Het onderzoek richt zich in eerste instantie op de steden Oświęcim/Auschwitz, Rotterdam en Dresden. Drie steden waar de Tweede Wereldoorlog op zijn eigen wijze een onuitwisbare ruimtelijke afdruk heeft achtergelaten in het stadslandschap. De vragen die gesteld worden zijn: In welke mate heeft de Tweede Wereldoorlog impact (gehad) op het stadslandschap en het collectieve geheugen van de stad? Welke stedenbouwkundige ontwikkeling hebben deze steden doorgemaakt na de oorlog? En wat betekent deze oorlogsgeschiedenis voor hun toekomstige ontwikkeling?
Het in kaart brengen van de impact van oorlog op het stadslandschap en zijn bewoners kan leiden tot een internationaal online kenniscentrum dat ideeën kan genereren voor de wederopbouw van steden die recent getroffen zijn of in de toekomst getroffen worden door de vernietigende kracht van een oorlog.
Oświęcim
Het doel van deze eerste workshop is het formuleren van een visie voor de toekomstige ontwikkeling van Oświęcim. Een dergelijke visie kan niet geformuleerd worden zonder de sporen te bestuderen die de Tweede Wereldoorlog heeft achtergelaten in het stadslandschap en het collectieve geheugen van de stad.
Het idee voor de workshop in Oświęcim is aangedragen door Barbara Starzynska en Hans Citroen, kenners en onderzoekers van Oświęcim. Een internationaal gezelschap bestaande uit studenten en docenten uit Nederland (TU Delft studio Border Conditions i.s.m. leerstoel Landschapsarchitectuur), Polen (Cracow University of Technology) en Duitsland (HAWK Hildesheim) hebben gedurende twee weken de ruimtelijke nalatenschap uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog in kaart gebracht. Aan de hand van vier onderzoeksthema’s hebben de studenten strategieën en ideeën voor de toekomst ontwikkeld en deze aan de gemeente Oświęcim en andere belangstellenden gepresenteerd.
Als algemene conclusie kan gesteld worden dat Oświęcim/Auschwitz ongewild gevangen gehouden wordt door haar eigen geschiedenis. Door de problemen rond het landeigendom, de vele overblijfselen uit de Tweede Wereldoorlog, de slechte bodemgesteldheid, de laag gelegen overstromingsgebieden en de wegtrekkende inwoners is het plannen en bouwen van nieuwe woningen en faciliteiten een lastige opgave.
De toeristische excursies en rondleidingen in de concentratiekampen (per jaar worden de kampen Auschwitz I en Auschwitz II/Birkenau door ca. 1,1 miljoen mensen bezocht) worden grotendeels vanuit de levendige stad Krakow georganiseerd. Oświęcim heeft financieel niet of nauwelijks baat bij de grote aantallen bezoekers die jaarlijks de kampen bezoeken. Enerzijds snakt de stad naar een ‘gewoon’ leven, en wil het zich distantiëren van de concentratiekampen en de beladen naam Auschwitz. Anderzijds wil de stad graag economisch profijt hebben van de grote stroom bezoekers die ieder jaar de kampen komen bezoeken.
De petrochemisch industrie, gebouwd door gevangenen tijdens de Tweede Wereldoorlog en na de oorlog een van de grootste en succesvolste fabrieken van Europa, is verlaten en in verval. Hierdoor is er onvoldoende werk en toekomstperspectief voor de inwoners van Oświęcim met leegloop van de stad als gevolg.
Tijdens de workshop zijn tientallen verlaten gebouwen in kaart gebracht. Plekken met potentie voor de toekomst. Sommige gebouwen kunnen een herdenkingsfunctie krijgen, anderen liggen strategisch gunstig ten opzichte van de stedelijke ontmoetingscentra waardoor ze bijvoorbeeld als onderzoeksinstituut en hotel kunnen fungeren. Indien een paar van deze voormalige fabrieken functies krijgen, die de bezoekers van de kampen kunnen verleiden ook een bezoek aan de stad Oświęcim te brengen, betekent dit niet allen dat dit erfgoed behouden blijft voor latere generaties, maar is dit ook de start van een beter toekomstperspectief voor de inwoners van Oświęcim.
De workshop in Oświęcim/Auschwitz is gefinancierd door het Erasmus Intensive Program 2009 en gecoördineerd door de Cracow University of Technology. De voorlopige uitkomsten zijn te bekijken op de website www.urbanwarimpacts.eu
Voor vragen of bijdragen aan dit project kunt u contact opnemen met Eelco Dekker via www.eelcodekker.nl. Eelco Dekker is architect en is daarnaast werkzaam als gastdocent en onderzoeksmedewerker voor de leerstoel Landschapsarchitectuur van de TU Delft. In combinatie met Marc Schoonderbeek en Micha de Haas geeft hij begeleiding aan de Masterstudenten voor het project ‘The Visible City: Oświęcim, Polen’ van de studio Border Conditions. Samen met Hans Citroen werkt Eelco Dekker aan een internationale publicatie van de stedenbouwkundige geschiedenis van Oświęcim/Auschwitz getiteld: ‘Auschwitz: de nieuwe stad in het Oosten’.
Symposium Border Conditions
Thursday 20-10-2011
Location: Oostserre
Faculty of Architecture
Delft University of Technology
Julianalaan 134 Delft
Writings in Architectural Education
Research by Design
In 2000, EAAE together with Delft TU held a conference entitled “Research by Design”. Needless to say, over the past ten years the theme has generated many challenging and interesting discussions both inside and outside academia, and few programs in architecture have not be influenced by this theme. Despite the many discussions, no one has been able to truly define what research by design is. In the more established research fields outside of the creative disciplines, research by design is neither directly overlooked nor openly accepted, but it has in a positive way opened up for new types of collaboration between design professions and other related fields. In addition it has also brought about a focus on the intuitive creative act itself and its validity within research in architecture.
Since 2000, Research by Design has taken many directions, initiated many questions and has been given many different names. Can studio teaching be seen as research, what about spatial experimentation in a scale of 1:1, or a concentration on a further understanding of a particular material and its structural capacity, is this research? These are just some of many questions that have caused debate. In each case where there was a lack of definition and in turn also a lack of precision, the programs broadened definitions in relation to architectural research.
The term research is about to loose some of its meaning and content, as the schools of architecture are often tempted to regard most material produced after the bachelor level as research in architecture. Perhaps this open and generous interpretation of research can be regarded as positive, but if this is the case the critical question and the theme for this competition, The EAAE Prize, Writing in Architectural Education is:
What has architectural education achieved during this past decade with regards to research by design? Which new experiences and insight has research by design generated, and what impact has the new content had in relation to architectural education?
SUBMISSION FORMAT
Submissions may take the form of reports or critical reviews dealing with conceptual or methodological developments that make a significant contribution to the theme of the competition.
Documents must be in English out of consideration for the jury’s work.
Contributions should be sent electronically to the Organising Committee in PDF format only. The length should be limited to 33,000 characters, ie. about 6,000 words; illustrations must have a quality suited for electronic and paper publication. The identity of the author must not be revealed in the PDF file.
All material submitted must be original ie. neither published nor entered for publication at the time of entry. The Organising Committee will ensure that the contributions are sent to the jury anonymously. The material must have arrived at the Organising Committee no later than 7 December 2009.
Download EAAE PRIZE 2011-2012 invitation text here
Download EAAE Prize 2011-2012 poster here
Download EAAE Prize 2011-2012 registration form interactive here
Call for Papers - 12th Docomomo International Conference
THE SURVIVAL OF MODERN - FROM COFFEE CUP TO PLAN
Docomomo Suomi/Finland will host the 12th Docomomo International Conference in Espoo, Finland in August 2012. The Conference coincides with the Helsinki region being the World Design Capital 2012, with numerous events and exhibitions dealing with design in all its aspects.
Docomomo invites architects, researchers, historians and other parties involved in the process of preservation, conservation, renovation or transformation of modern towns and buildings to investigate on the theme: The Survival of Modern - From Coffee Cup to Plan. The proposed theme gives an opportunity to discuss modernist architecture and town-planning from a holistic point of view. The concepts of space and scale in modernist architecture are challenged in an age of new ecological and economical needs for more building density and energy-saving technical solutions. The theme also builds on and adds to the themes of previous Docomomo conferences.
The concept of space in architecture and town planning has changed radically during the last hundred years. The modernist vision of townscape opened up the closed urban surroundings of the 19th century with dramatic consequences. The introduction of new building materials and pre-fabricated building techniques influenced the architecture whereas the uses of zoning in dividing urban landscape to separate functions and neighbourhood-unit concept in organizing suburban areas led to a new paradigm in urban planning.
All this has had a great impact on us, not only from architectural point of view, but also through changes in the relationship between nature and the built environment, development of urban infrastructure, and developments in environmental psychology and its uses and misuses in planning. The four sub-themes examine the concept of space and design in four different scales and offer views on how the fundamental urban qualities of modernism can be preserved and what they have to offer for contemporary planning.
1. Environment
What is a good living environment? What is the sense today of preserving modern heritage?
Points of interest: environmental psychology, scale, urban density, nature and environment, challenges of sustainable development, landscape architecture, architecture of the infrastructures, (preservation of modernist heritage).
2. Urban Space
How to protect and improve modern urban space?
Points of interest: the ideal of openness and the contemporary requirements for sustainable development, ecologically and economically motivated requirements for density, challenge of sustainable urban planning. The form of the modern city in the scope of a social responsible approach.
3. Open Plan
Where to draw the line between the architect's intention and the preservation of realized building? Points of interest: open floor plan, the ideal of flexible space and the anticipation of the future needs in relation to original arrangement of spaces and original interior program, questions of conservation in situations of shifting purposes/function, everyday environment and its changes, Techniques and constructive issues regarding durability and change.
4. Interior Design
How to preserve modern interior designs and furnishings?
Points of interest: total work of art, innovation in details, the preservation of hardware, built in furniture - loose furniture, balance between the interior and its surroundings, the detail scale and the concept of global design.
Those interested in presenting a paper should submit an abstract before 15 October 2011.
For Abstract registration form and Abstract Intructions please click here.
For information on the scientific program please contact:
Docomomo Finland at secretary@docomomo-fi.com
www.docomomo-fi.com/conference2012/
For information on abstract form, registration, payments, accommodation and travelling to Finland etc. please contact:
TAVI Congress Bureau
Ms. Annikka Lampo, Project Manager at docomomo2012@tavicon.fi
tel. +358 3 233 0430, fax. +358 3 233 0444
www.tavicon.fi
EAHN
c/o Faculty of Architecture - RMIT
PO Box 5043
2600 GA Delft
the Netherlands
www.eahn.org
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