19 november 2009

Hej! Aktuellt på skolan: På måndag håller Hanna Erixon arbetssemiarium på sitt avhandlingsarbete. I morgon och på lördag, Critical Spaces of Today, a Seminar on Contemporary Theories and Practices of Planning, Urbanism, Architecture and Geography. Mer information, se nedan. Hälsningar Gertrud Olsson

ARBETSSEMINARIUM
Seminariet kommer att handla om ett av de paper Hanna Erixon skriver tillsammans med Henrik Ernstson från Stockholm Resilience Center.
Dag: Måndagen den 23 november
Tid: 9-12
Plats: Arkitekturskolan, Östermalmsgatan 26
Lokal: A4
Paperutkastet har arbetstiteln: RETHINKING SPATIAL AGENCY IN URBAN GREEN SPACE CONSERVATION PROCESSES - EXPLORING THE DYNAMICS OF PROTECTIVE AND PROJECTIVE STORIES.
Gäst: Lisa Switkin från Field Operations

DOCENTFÖRELÄSNING
Välkommen till en docentföreläsning av Catharina Nord: ARKITEKTUR FÖR SÄRSKILT BOENDE SOM HETEOROTOP. Föreläsningen äger rum den 7 december klockan 10.00 i rum 4055, Drottning Kristinas väg 30. I sin docentföreläsning samlar Catharina Nord en rad teman som är aktuella i hennes forskning om arkitektur i särskilt boende för de allra äldsta. Heterotop är ett Foucauldianskt begrepp som innebär en motsats till och en spegling av andra platser, och som samtidigt omfattar andra platser. En heterotop är en plats som ifrågasätter och vänder upp och ner på andra begrepp. I den här föreläsningen används det för att beskriva den komplexa verklighet som de begränsade rum som ett särskilt boende är, men som ändå ska härbärgera ett meningsfullt liv för en grupp människor med mycket svåra funktionshinder, som är beroende av hjälp och stöd dygnet runt. Föreläsningen presenterar exempel från en längre empirisk studie av två särskilda boenden. Den knyter ihop praktiska frågor med existentiella och hur dessa relateras till arkitektur som praktik och som form. Teman som tas upp är bl.a. särskilt boende i samhället, motsättningarna mellan privat och publikt, kollektiv och individ, samt etiska frågeställningar och relationen till den omsorgsgivande personalen.

SEMINARS/SEMINARIER
KOMMUNIKATION: KULTUR, TEKNOLOGI, VETENSKAP
Temat för höstens seminarieserie är ”Fenomenologi, teknologi och media”.
Tid: Torsdag 19 november kl. 14-16 (obs, idag!)
Plats: Torget, Lindstedtsvägen 5, plan 6, Skolan för datavetenskap och kommunikation, KTH
Föredragshållare: Sven-Olov Wallenstein, Philosophy, Södertörns högskola
Titel: HUSSERL, THE EARTH, AND TECHNOLOGY
Abstract: Husserl‚s idea of the earth as an ”orginary arche” can be found in one of his posthumous manuscripts (D 17, May 19 1934), entitled „Overturning of the Copernican doctrine in the normal interpretation of the world. The world as originary arche does not move. Foundational inquiries concerning the phenomenological origin of corporeality and the spatiality of nature in the first sense of natural science.‰ In this fragment Husserl attempts to formulate a science of the origin of space as the foundation for the idealizations carried out in geometry, which leads him into some of his most daring formulations˜some of which he himself characterize as „quite simply insane,” or as an „expression of the most unreasonable philosophical hubris.” The Copernican world and its decentering of the earth, understood as a shorthand for modern theoretical physics and astronomy in the most general sense, indeed forms our unavoidable horizon, Husserl notes, and yet the earth, in another sense, constitutes the „originary arche,” the very condition of possibility for all other determinations of movement and rest. As such it is also the ultimate foundation for our humanity, one and the same earth for everyone, a ground and not a body among others. Each movement is first of all relative to a „ground-body” at one with my Leib, but then this body is relative with respect to a more profound „earthground,” which, understood as a whole, can no longer be fragmented in parts and bodies, but is precisely an ultimate ground. Any movement or repose and of my own body is grounded in this more profound immobility of the earth-ground. But, and this objection is voiced by Husserl himself, what if I were to leave the astronomical earth and depart for the moon? Would my observations still be part of the same humanity, and of the same horizon? Could such a shift be contained within the idea of a simple modification and a first „we” a we that for Husserl is fundamentally bound to the earth as ground? Curious as such an objection may sound˜and indeed must have sounded in 1934˜it also prompts a series of properly geo-political reflections on what Husserl calls an „originary native country” out of which estrangement first becomes possible, and Husserl claims any substitution of „hearths” must be derived from a primordial territory and a founding history. In this fragment, Husserl only opens these questions, which belong to the wider context of his reflections on the crisis of the European sciences and the historicity of reason. My proposal here is to read this fragment as an implicit reflection on technology that attempts to locate a profound facticity as the source and support for the infinity of possible sense and project of scientific reason, in a way that comes close to Heidegger, and yet remains opposed to the reflections on the earth that we find in a text like The Origin of the Work of Art. Assessing the proximity and distance between these two conceptions will allow us to discern more closely what is at stake in the phenomenological critique of technology. This seminar will be held in Swedish.
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On thursday, November 19, at 16.00(-18.00), in A4/School of Architecture:
we have Liza Fior of muf, a multidisciplinary practice between art and architecture, as a guest. muf became known as THE all women architecture office in the middle of the 1990s in Britain (after the marxist-orientated office Matrix closed down). The event is planned as a conversation. This means she will give us a short introduction to muf's collaborative way of working, their ideas about approaches, processes, and pleasure principles. -- For preparation, please see muf's website under: <http://www.muf.co.uk> and the article under the following link, which is an excerpt from muf's book: The muf manual. This is what we do (2001). http://www.xakt.nu/MUF_thisiswhatwedo.pdf
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CRITICAL SPACES OF TODAY. 20-21 november. A Seminar on Contemporary Theories and Practices of Planning, Urbanism, Architecture and Geography. Kl 9.00-18.00, Nalen, Regeringsgatan 74. “This foreclosure crisis, this financial crisis, has to be thought of as a crisis of the city, a crisis of urbanization - and if it's a crisis of the city and of urbanization, then the solution has to be a reconfiguration of the city and a redirection of what urbanization is about.” That is how the urbanist, Harvey, starts a conversation about the city in Baltimore's Independent Reader in April 2009. No matter what attitude we take to David Harvey's challenge, it is still a very important question he asks: Do we have the strength to contemplate the city in its entire complexity economically, politically, socially and at the same time esthetically, or do we choose the simple solution, the one way architecture and the instrumental sense? Do we have the strength to maintain the complexity, not only when we ask questions but also when answering in drawings, legal documents and political decisions. -- With CRITICAL SPACES OF TODAY A Seminar on Contemporary Theories and Practices of Planning, Urbanism, Architecture, and Geography, The Association of Architects in Stockholm want to ask the difficult questions and give the difficult answers. The last two decades, the discussion about the city has been very animated around the world. Quite a few new words - POSTMETROPOLIS, SPATIAL FIX, PARADOXICAL GEOGRAPHIES, ZWISCHENSTADT, SPRAWLTOWN - have helped us to obtain a richer picture of the city. They have not yet been introduced in Sweden. It is about time. So: Planners Fantasies: How do we create space for the incredible and fantastic? How do we make pictures of the future city, the future Stockholm work? Paradoxical Geographies?; The Question of the Center: What do the conflicts look like between a city consisting of several cores and the city centre? How does the power of attraction work and do we need more or less monuments? Spatial Fix? Zwischenstadt? Violence and Freedom of the City: What is a durable city? How do you get the ecological, economical and social to co-operate? Sprawltown?; From a Crisis Generated Reconstruction to a Reconstruction Generated Crisis: Is it possible to find a living and constructive attitude to the twentieth century's modernity regarding city development. How can micro practitioner and macro practitioner be co-ordinated? Postmetropolis? -- Två dagars konferens om planering, staden och geografin, med en blandning av teoretiker och praktiker på scenen. Bland annat har ni då möjlighet att höra och se Thomas Sieverts, Muf, Gilian Rose, Agent of Change, Richard Ingersoll, Field Operations, med flera. For more information, see the attachment. Arr: Meike Schalk/ Stockholms Arkitektförening.
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SITE Salon: EDMUND HUSSERL 150 ÅR
Den moderna fenomenologiska filosofin inleds hos Edmund Husserl (1859-1938) vars projekt var att lägga en ny grund till vetenskaperna och till erfarenheten i vidaste mening, genom en fördjupad analys av medvetandets sätt att förhålla sig till världen. Den fenomenologiska reflexionen utvecklas sedan i en mängd analyser av tiden, kroppen, matematiska och logiska begrepp, intersubjektiviteten och historien, och väsentliga delar av 1900-talets filosofiska debatt blir först begripliga om man ser dem i förhållande till Husserls pionjärarbeten. SITE inbjuder till en salong med en serie korta föredrag som belyser olika aspekter av Husserls verk. -- Föredrag av Samuel Ijseling, Hans Ruin, Per Martin-Löf, Jonna Bornemark, Karl Weigelt, Nicholas Smith, Sven-Olov Wallenstein, Jens Cavallin och Marcia Cavalcante-Schuback
När: Lördagen den 21 november kl. 15-19
Var: Milliken Gallery, Luntmakargatan 78, Stockholm
Hur: SITE i samarbete med Milliken Gallery
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FORUM FÖR KULTURARVSFORSKNING bjuder in till seminarium den 24 november kl 16-18 om NY RUNFORSKNING VID RIKSANTIKVARIEÄMBETET. Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien har i samverkan med Riksbankens jubileumsfond tagit initiativ till och finansierar två nya post-doc forskartjänster inom runforskningsområde vid RAÄ. Vid seminariet presenterar de två nytillträdda forskarna sina projekt, Laila Kitzler Åhnfeldt och Magnus Källström. Arrangör: Kungl. Vitterhetsakademien, Riksantikvarieämbetet, Statens historiska museer och Stockholms universitet. Plats: Riksantikvarieämbetet, Östra stallet. Kontakt: Camilla Montan, telefon: 08-5191 8140, e-post: <camilla.montan@raa.se>
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Konstfack Research Seminars 2009: RESEARCH AS PRACTICE
Thursday November 26
URBAN SOUND DESIGN - METHODS FOR SPATIAL SOUND ANALYSIS
Nina Hällgren
THINKING OF PLACE THROUGH SOUND
Ricardo Atienza
4-6 pm, E1, Konstfack, LM Ericssons väg 14
www.konstfack.se
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arkitekturakademin.se
RESEARCH BY EDUCATION
Friday 4th December, Salongen, KTH Library, Osquars Backe 25, Stockholm
arkitekturakademin.se: Swedish Architectural Research Intitative, established between the architecture schools of Chalmers, Göteborg; KTH, Stockholm; LTH, Lund; and Umeå Universitet, Umeå, defining strategies for architectural research in Sweden 2010-2020. -- research by education: first in a series of seminars for researchers, educationalists and practitioners which discuss thematic directions, programme structures and funding mechanisms that will link architectural research to society and to disciplinary education in the 21st century. -- context: architectural research is many faceted and its origins within the University are eclectic. Although as a designated field of enquiry it is very young - the first generation of academics whose main occupation was to research architecture emerged after World War II - it inherits a geneology within the humanities going back through art history to Wölfflin. And although, during the 1970 and 80s architectural research became strongly identified with traditions of springing from the growth of the social sciences, equally it relates to the tradition of technical and engineering enquiry that emerged out of the 19th century. At the same time architectural research is carried out within academic environments that are strongly stamped with the traditions of architectural education; these have their own, unconventional trajectory (in University academic terms at least) leading to particular mores, practices and habits of thought. -- seminar theme: to consider in detail the implications of projecting a productive cross over between Masters education in architecture, which must negotiate the educational expectations of architectural practice, and architectural research initiation: what would it mean for the tradition of the architectural 'exjobb' or final thesis if Masters level education was also used to lay the ground for research level projects?; can the expectations of practice based education and academic-led enquiry be satisfied within single programmes and funding mechanisms? and; if architectural research is to earn a place within society's idea of 'key' research areas, by its relevance and its creativity, how can the interface between Masters and Research education be exploited? -- programme: for Friday 4th December 2009: 9.00 registration; in practice… 9.30 introduction - research, design, education - Katja Grillner, KTH; 10.00 Suzanne Ewing, University of Edinburgh - Architectural Masters; 10.30 Discussion - chair Helena Matsson, KTH; in theory… 11.00 Mats Rosengren, Södertörn University College - Rhetoric, research and doxology; 11.30 Suzanne Ewing, University of Edinburgh - Learning and Las Vegas; 12.00 discussion - chair Fredrik Nilsson, Chalmers; 12.00 lunch; 13.00 roundtable talks - research and education agendas; 14.30 coffee, final discussion - chair Tim Anstey, KTH. -- venue: Salongen, KTH Biblioteket, Osquars Backe 25, Stockholm 100 44 -- registration: register by email to Carin Österlund, KTH-ABE <carinoe@arch.kth.se>
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FORUM FÖR INDUSTRIELL BYGGNADSKONST inbjuder till seminarium på temat VAD ÄR INDUSTRIELL BYGGNADSKOST? Torsdagen den 10:e december kl. 15.00 - 17.00 är du hjärtligt välkommen till KTH, sal D31, Lindstedtsvägen 17. Inledare är CINARK, Centre of Industrialised Architecture: Jesper Nielsen, Centrumledare, Lektor, Arkitekt; Anne Beim, Prof. PhD, Arkitekt; Kasper Sànchez Vibæk. Moderator: Prof. Örjan Wikforss, Arkitekt, KTH.

KONFERENSER/CONFERENCES
Call for papers: AVANT-GARDE AND ANTI-AVANT-GARDE MOVES IN THE ARCHITECTURE OF EVERYDAY LIFE, Session at the EAM 2010 conference in Poznan, Poland. The 2010 EAM conference will be held at Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan in Poland, 9-11 September 2010. Founded at Ghent University (Belgium) in 2008, the European Network for Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies (EAM) devotes itself to the study of the avant-garde and modernism in Europe within a global setting, throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The network promotes interdisciplinary and intermedial research on experimental aesthetics and poetics, and aims to encourage an interest in the cultural dimensions and contexts of the avant-garde and modernism. EAM aspires to embrace the wide variety within avant-garde and modernism studies, and welcomes all scholars engaged in these areas of research to participate in its bi-annual conferences and to contribute to its open-source bibliography. All EAM initiatives, including its book series European Avant-Garde and Modernism Studies, are trilingual (English, French and German). -- Abstracts of 500 words accompanied by one page CVs clearly stating institutional affiliation and current position should be sent by  November 30th 2009 to Dirk van den Heuvel <d.vandenheuvel@tudelft.nl> and Tahl Kaminer <tkaminer@cubicle-design.com> (TU Delft, The Netherlands). Submitters will be informed by the 1st of February 2010 whether their submission has been accepted. See <www.eam2010.amu.edu.pl> for details.
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Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion, I.I.T. Haifa, Israel CALL FOR PAPERS: PLiC - PUBLIC LIFE in the IN-BETWEEN-CITY International Conference, 6-10 June, 2010. Researchers, designers, theoreticians, practicioners and scholars of various fields and backgrounds are invited to submit a paper proposal for one of the below listed themes. Themes: History of public life in the in-between city: more than recent decades phenomena; Types of in-between cities and inherent public life in various geographical, sociocultural and political contexts; Nature, structure and infrastructure; Time, space, hubs and networks; Alternative spaces of freedom and democracy in the in-between city; Identity, belonging and inter-cultural communication; Appearance, event and performance of public life in the in-between city; The real and the virtual: communication, relation and mobility of public life in the in-between city; Embodied experience of public life in the in-between city; and Design/planning, otherness and rights to the in-between city. -- Constantly growing, the earth population increasingly lives in "archipelagos of peripheries - hybrids of villages, suburbs, city outskirts, industrial and rural areas, that have been termed In-Between-City (Zwischenstadt), Netcity (Netzstadt), Non-Place or Region-City. Some of these urbanites have moved into their current residence from other towns, regions, or continents, voluntarily or driven by conflict or disaster. Others are likely to move due to the incessantly changing neo-liberal economy, or for political or cultural reasons. Their diverse life-styles, induced by and regenerative of worlds of flow, consists of mobility and motion in the context of physical, social, cultural, economic and political networks. What are the phenomena of publicness under these conditions and emergent life-styles? -- Please email a 500 words abstract, describing the paper proposal to <plic2010@gmail.com> by 15 December 2009. Accepted papers will be notified by 15 January 2010. More information: <http://plic.ar.technion.ac.il>
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ARCHITECTURAL COMPETITIONS Convener: Joris van Wezemael, University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Architectural competitions have recently emerged as a significant field of empirical research. For this conference, we invited papers within the following themes: Two-stage (esp. prequalification) versus one-stage competitions: relating procedures and outcomes; “The perfect brief”: How much and what kind of scope does it provide? How does it achieve that?; Concepts and theoretical approaches in interdisciplinary 'competitions research'; Tracing the political in planning competitions; Expertise and judgment: Performing quality in design competitions; Historical trajectories: places, cultures and ruptures in legislation (e.g. impacts of WTO regulations/EU regulation from 1994); and Knowledge creation and design competitions: from individual answers, experiences and specific solutions to general, collective and theoretical reflections. The conference will help build a network for joint (comparative) research across Europe and beyond. Conference 2010: CONSTRUCTIONS MATTER Managing Complexities, Decisions and Actions in the Building Process, Center for Management Studies of the Building Process / Copenhagen Business School, 5-7 May 2010. CALL FOR PAPERS AND CONTRIBUTIONS: The building process, from start to finish, is an obscure blend of dualities and supplements. For example, the process seems to combine abstract visions and physical realities, a sense of aesthetics and economic constraints, multiple pasts and multiple futures, local conditions and general influences. The building process is often described as complex, uncertain and ambiguous. Therefore it is not surprising that building an understanding of the building process requires a theorization sensitive to multiplicity, volatility and transience. How may this provide grounds for a generalized or shared approach? The conference intends to provide a celebratory ground for sharing results of research projects that have the building process, or parts thereof, as their empirical focus. The conference is also an occasion for discussing what we may strive to know - and what cannot be illuminated through research studies and analysis. Deadline for submission of extended abstracts (5-7 pages): December 15, 2009. Pre-register / abstract submission Pre-register for the conference For more information, or for suggesting additional conference themes, please contact: Jan Mouritsen, CBS: <jm.om@cbs.dk> Kristian Kreiner, CBS: <kk.ioa@cbs.dk> Maj Britt Aronstein, CBS: <ma.ioa@cbs.dk>
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CALL FOR PAPERS: 9th Congress of the INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR VISUAL SEMIOTICS (IASV) to be held in Venice, Italy, 13-16 April 2010. Theme: RHETORIC OF THE VISIBLE - Strategies of the Image between Signification and Communication. Deadline for abstracts: 15 December 2009. Please, donwload the details of the call for papers: http://www2.iuav.it/lisav/pdf/iasv010_call_eng.pdf Organization: LISaV (International Laboratory of Semiotic Studies, IUAV University, Venice) more info: <aisv10@gmail.com>
http://www2.iuav.it/lisav/aidan/convegno_13_4_10.htm
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IMAGINING: The 27th Annual SAHANZ Conference, the University of Newcastle, 30thJune-2nd July 2010 In C. Wright Mills 1959 work The Sociological Imagination, Mills argues that historical events are linked, through the “imagination”, with the intimate and personal experience of everyday life. Torn between the global and the personal, architecture can be positioned at the same crossroads, where imagination fuels the human experience of an architectural object, memory or event. The imagination also opens up alternative, implausible and disparate trajectories through which the built environment can be inhabited and understood. This conference explores the role of the imagination in architecture and architectural history. How are broad narratives distilled through subjective recollection? How does factual history intersect with fiction and the imaginary? How is personal experience embedded in historical narratives or architectural fantasy? How would we describe an “architectural imagination” in the context of C. Wright Mills? How does the act of imagining entwine with the work of history and the historian? We invite architectural historians to reflect upon the theme of imagining in all of its possible contexts. We welcome papers on a broad range of subjects that engage notions of the imagination in architectural history. The conference hopes to explore the buried traces of imagination, which shape our architectural histories of the past and present. Abstract submission: Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be sent via email in DOC format to <michael.chapman@newcastle.edu.au> before 18th December, 2009. Please include in the body of the email your name, affiliation and short (200 word max) bio. Abstracts and accepted papers will be double blind refereed and published in a proceedings. More information is available at the conference website: <http://www.newcastle.edu.au/conference/sahanz-2010/>
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SPACES OF HISTORY / HISTORIES OF SPACE: Emerging Approaches to the Study of the Built Environment. A Conference at the University of California at Berkeley on April 30, 2010. In the past three decades, a growing number of scholars in the humanities and social sciences have turned their attention to space and to the built environment as a means of understanding historical processes. The writings of Lefebvre, Foucault, Gregory, Harvey, Soja, Latour and others have significantly reshaped the intellectual landscape across academic fields. Meanwhile, the subject matter and research methods of the history of architecture, landscapes and planning have become increasingly open to reassessment. Looking to survey and assess new approaches and analytical tools for studying the history of built spaces across a variety of scales and geographies, this conference will explore a range of questions pertaining to theory, methodology and pedagogy. How has the "spatial turn" in the humanities and social sciences transformed the ways in which history of the built environment is theorized and researched? How should we study a historical moment when certain types of evidence predominate? What are the potentials and biases in the use of particular research techniques and narrative forms? To what extent are these choices shaped by disciplinary knowledge? How might such interrogations help us conceive new pedagogies for design and planning? The conference is expected to attract a diverse group of scholars interested in interdisciplinary research on the history of the built environment. Participation from graduate students and early career academics is especially welcome. Participants will present papers related to one of the following two tracks: 1. Interrogating Theories and Methodologies: Papers in this track will explore how built spaces have been integrated into historical research in a variety of disciplines, or discuss the use of particular theoretical formulations that have become influential in studying the history of the built environment. We are especially interested in work that assesses the potentials and limits of research methods, such as ethnography and oral history, as well as the use of various types of archival evidence; 2. History as Pedagogy: Teaching and Practice: Papers in this track will examine pedagogical approaches to history in design education and their implications for the making of the built environment, including professional practice. Topics of interest include the use of history as precedent, the construction of a survey course, the relationship between history teaching and the design studio, and other interdisciplinary approaches to historical research such as experimental art practice and other creative mediums. As part of the activities of this conference, we will be holding a special poster exhibition that explores the relationship between historical thinking and the making of the built environment. This exhibition especially welcomes the participation of graduate students in professional programs as well as advanced undergraduate students. For submission guidelines for posters, please refer to the forthcoming conference website at <arch.ced.berkeley.edu/events/conf/spacesofhistory2010>. Applicants should submit a 250-word abstract and a short CV in Word format to <tcastela_at_berkeley.edu> and to <ceciliachu_at _berkeley.edu> by January 8, 2010. Accepted participants will be notified by February 5, 2010. Authors of accepted proposals should submit a completed paper of no more than 10 pages that summarizes the main points of the presentation by April 2, 2010. This conference is organized by graduate students Tiago Castela, Cecilia Chu, Clare Robinson, Yael Allweil and Huey Ying Hsu. The event is jointly sponsored by the Draper Architectural History Research Endowment of the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley and by the Townsend Center for the Humanities at UC Berkeley. For additional information about the conference, please contact the organizers, or visit the conference website.
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CEPHAD 2010 Conference, Danish Design School in Copenhagen, January 27-29, 2010. The borderland between philosophy and design research: Centre for Philosophy and Design (CEPHAD) solicits contributions to the CEPHAD 2010 conference, to be held at the Danish Design School in Copenhagen January 27-29, 2010. A pre-conference master class for Ph.D. students will be conducted by leading researchers, January 26-27. The purpose of the conference is to stimulate the flow of ideas between research in philosophy and research in design. At an operational level, the conference aims at creating personal and institutional contacts of lasting value for research cooperation across national and discipline borders. The expected audience includes researchers in design, philosophy or other relevant disciplines, whose work may benefit from or contribute to cross-fertilization between philosophy and design research. Emphasis will be on exchange of promising ideas, rather than on showcasing finished work. Accordingly, most of the presentations and discussions will take place in small round-table groups of about 10 persons. However, to provide a common background, plenary sessions will feature presentations by invited speakers and subsequent debates. -- Invited speakers (confirmed): Louis L. Bucciarelli // Emeritus prof. (eng. & technology studies) // MIT School of Engineering; Nathan Crilly // Dr. // Cambridge Engineering Design Centre, University of Cambridge; Soeren Kjoerup // Emeritus prof. of philosophy // Roskilde University; Bergen National Academy of the Arts; Peter Kroes // Prof. of phil. of technology // TU Delft; Terence Love // Dr. (eng. des.) // Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia; Lancaster University; IADE, Lisbon; and Peter-Paul Verbeek // Prof. of philosophy // University of Twente; Pieter Vermaas // Dr. // Dept. of philosophy, TU Delft. -- Hosts: CEPHAD (http://www.cephad.org/) & The Danish Design School (http://www.dkds.dk/). To learn more about this event, please consult http://www.dkds.dk/Forskning/Projekter/CEPHAD/events/Cephad2010
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THE UTOPIA OF TRADITION, IASTE 2010, International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments, American University of Beirut, 15-18 December 2010. CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: In recent years IASTE scholars have examined traditions and their multitude of built forms in an increasingly interconnected global landscape. To advance this effort, this conference seeks to study how tradition inspires and informs changing concepts of utopia in theory and space. Utopian theories and plans emerge from a complex symbiotic relationship with traditions that are based on notions of the ideal.Indeed, utopias cannot be understood without understanding the traditions from which they develop. At its etymological root, utopia embodies both the theoretical paradox of an ideal place, eu-topia, and a non-place, ou-topia, rendering it an impossibility. As an ideal place, utopia relies on tradition, but as a non-place it attempts to negate it. Although most utopias have spatial manifestations, they often attempt to harness and make static the traditions used to create these spaces. The geographies of utopia physically ground tradition, but tradition simultaneously controls these very same geographies. This contemporary moment of economic crisis necessitates a re-examination of this dynamic. The word utopiais no longer as commonly referenced in professional practice as it was a few decades ago. However, architects, planners, and politicians continue to look for and disseminate notions of ideal forms. Regulated by ethnicity, religion, or race, the identity enclaves of many modern nations use territory to perpetuate visions of perfect communities based on specific traditions. The continuation and strengthening of tradition, cloaked in the language of utopia, may thus be seen to provide the focus for new gated communities in the developing world, the dreamscapes in cities around the Persian Gulf and the Pacific Rim, and the faux-colonial homes in American suburbs. On the other hand, there is an emerging discourse that reconceptualizes utopia itself, not as a product but as an open process aimed at transforming, rather than transcending, the existing condition. -- This IASTE conference will focus on the theme of utopia and tradition in the twenty-first century. The conference will attract an interdisciplinary group of scholars and practitioners from around the world working in the disciplines of anthropology, architecture, art and architectural history, city and regional planning, cultural studies, geography, history, landscape studies, sociology, and urban studies. They will present papers related to the following three themes: Track 1. Utopian Ideals versus Traditional Physical Realities; Track 2. The Practices of Utopia and the Politics of Tradition; and Track 3. Utopia and the Space of Difference. -- Submission Requirements: Please refer to our website <www.arch.ced.berkeley.edu/research/iaste> for detailed instructions on abstract submissions. A one-page abstract of 500 words and a one-page CV are required. For further inquiries, please email IASTE Coordinator Sophie Gonick at <iaste@berkeley.edu>. Conference Schedule: Deadline for receipt of abstracts and Cvs: February 12.

STIPENDIER
STOCKHOLMS BYGGNADSFÖRENINGS STIFTELSE FÖR DOKTORANDSTIPENDIAT: Stiftelsen som tillskapats genom medel tillskjutna av Stockholms Byggnadsförening och enskilda medlemmar bildades, med antagna stadgar den 29 mars 1989. Stiftelsen har till ändamål att ekonomiskt understödja forskning och utbildning som till allmänt gagn främjar utvecklingen inom byggnadsbranschen på så sätt att stiftelsen genom utdelning av stipendier skall bereda forskare - doktorander - vid Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan, och då i första hand vid Arkitekturskolan och sektionen för Samhällsbyggnad (S) möjlighet att under en sammanhängande period bedriva forskning och studier vid annan europeisk högskola eller universitet. Stipendiat skall vara medborgare i något av de nordiska länderna. Stipendiet utdelas årligen i samband med Stockholms Byggnadsförenings årsmöte i mars månad. Ansökan om stipendiet skall vara ingiven till Stockholms Byggnadsförening, Norrlandsgatan 11, 111 43 Stockholm före december månads utgång. För mer information se <http://www.sthbyggnadsforening.se> eller ring till Stockholms Byggnadsförenings kansli på tel 08-10 13 62.
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STIFTELSEN LÄNGMANSKA KULTURFONDEN skall främja: humanistiska vetenskaper - inkl. teologi och juridik; naturvetenskaper - inkl. medicin; konst och litteratur - inkl. musik, dans, film m.m.; samt folkbildningsverksamhet. Bidrag ges främst till särskilda projekt, inte till egen utbildning eller löpande verksamhet. Bidragen är i regel i storleksordningen 15 000-40 000 kronor. Ansökningar om anslag ur de medel som skall delas ut under år 2010 skall göras på särskild blankett, som rekvireras via någon av följande kanaler: <www.langmanska.se>; Stiftelsen Längmanska kulturfonden, Box 5073, 102 42 Stockholm; tel 08-611 87 15. Närmare anvisningar medföljer blanketten. Ansökningar skall vara fonden tillhanda senast den 15 januari 2010. Beslut meddelas i början av maj. Närmare upplysningar lämnas av sekreteraren, tel 08-611 87 15 (telefontid onsdagar kl 10-12).

JOURNAL CONTRIBUTION
FOOTPRINT, Delft School of Design Journal, call for papers: DIGITALLY DRIVEN ARCHITECTURE. Similar to the way that industrial fabrication with its concepts of standardization and serial production has influenced modernist architecture, digital fabrication influences contemporary architecture: While standardization focused on processes of rationalization of form, mass-customization as a new paradigm that replaces mass production, addresses non-standard, complex designs based on non-Euclidean geometries. Furthermore, knowledge about the designed object can be incorporated at the level of its connectivity with data stemming not only from its geometry but also from its content and behaviour within an environment. Digitally driven architecture implies, therefore, on the one hand, digitally designed and fabricated architecture, and on the other hand, it implies architecture controlled and actuated by digital means. In this context, the 6th Footprint-issue is examining the influence of digital means on architecture as pragmatic and conceptual instruments for exploring and generating complex systems of spatial organization as well as for constructing and actuating architecture. The focus is not only on computer-based generative systems for the development of architectural designs, but also on architecture incorporating aspects of digital sensing/actuating mechanisms that enable buildings to interact with their users and surroundings. The 6th Footprint-issue will be published in April 2010. Authors interested in submitting a contribution are requested to submit full papers of maximum 6000 words to the editors before 10th of January 2010. After initial review by the editors, suitable papers will be submitted for peer-review. For paper submissions and all other correspondence, please contact Henriette H. Bier, e-mail h.h.bier[at]tudelft.nl (replace [at] with @). Editors: Henriette H. Bier (TUD) and Terry Knight (MIT), <www.footprintjournal.org>.

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Gertrud Olsson, rum E303
KTH Arkitekturskolan
100 44 Stockholm
gertrud@arch.kth.se
08-790 85 44