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 Click on a title to read about the conference... Formation and Persistence of Townscapes ISUF 2010, 20-23 August 2010, Hamburg, Germany Strengthening and Retrofitting SAHC 2010, 6-8 October 2010, Shanghai, China The Utopia of Tradition IASTE 2010, 15-18 December 2010, American University of Beirut, Lebanon The Spirituality of Place 7th Savannah Symposium 17-19 February 2011 Conferences Archive
Formation and Persistence of Townscapes Call for Papers - Due 31 March 2010
New Researchers' Forum on 'Formation and persistence of townscapes' Call for Papers - Due 31 March 2010 The Seventeenth International Seminar on Urban Form, to be held in Hamburg, Germany, 20-23 August 2010, will include a New Researchers’ Forum, in which researchers new to the field of urban morphology are invited to take part. Contributions by graduate students are particularly welcome. Proposals of papers on one or more of the following topics are invited:
Further information
Main Conference
New Researcher's Forum
International Seminar on Urban Form 
Structural Analysis of Historic Constructions Call for Papers - Due 23 October 2009 
The conference will be held in Shanghai, China, on October 6-8, 2010 (SAHC-2010). SAHC-2010 will provide a forum for practitioners and researchers to exchange views and experiences in future direction and cooperation in historic buildings, including conservation and strengthening, seismic behavior and retrofitting, development and protection, inspection and monitoring, non-destructive testing, experimental results and laboratory testing, analytical and numerical approaches, historical aspects and general methodology, innovative and traditional materials / technology, case-studies and so on. China is a land of ancient culture and Shanghai is the showcase of China's fast growth and a bonanza of tourist attractions, business opportunities and cultural activities. Between May to October 2010, Shanghai will be the host of the Expo 2010 World's Fair. SAHC-2010 will provide a forum for practitioners and researchers from around the world to exchange views and experiences in future direction and cooperative areas for analysis, protection and reuse of historical Constructionsss. In particular , Constructionsss that are still in regular use will be targeted in this conference. Affected by the load change and material degradation, the buildings need strengthening and retrofitting to meet the requirements of safety, serviceability and durability. The theme of the conference will focus on "Strengthening and Retrofitting", and allows a broad scope of areas including restoration and strengthening, seismic behavior and retrofitting, development and protection, inspection and monitoring, non-destructive testing, experimental results and laboratory testing, analytical and numerical approaches, historical aspects and general methodology, innovative and traditional materials / technology, case-studies and so on. The scientific program includes 3 parallel sessions, 1 poster session, and 1 panel over two and half days reflecting the themes of the conference, involving 10 keynote speeches and 4 invited lectures. Abstracts will be sent to the international scientific committee for review. Papers and posters will be selected from the accepted abstracts and will also be sent to the international scientific committee for review. Further information
Please send the abstract or the selected paper to:
Dr. Tao CHEN
The Utopia of Tradition
Call for Abstracts - Due 12 February 2010
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 'utopia' is 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 the vision of a perfect community 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.
Perhaps the relationship between utopia and tradition can best be understood by examining dystopia, utopia's twin other. Dystopia finds its clearest manifestation in literary and filmic representations, such as _1984_ and _Blade Runner_, which embody complex imageries of terror, control, and urban anxiety. Tradition, in these brave new worlds, has often been explicitly rejected, and new forms are introduced as alternatives.
The historical development of utopia both draws upon and creates anew certain traditions of space, citizenship, and government. Those engaged with the idea of utopia have always come back to its physical realization within space, however elusive and/or illusory. In writing his Republic, Plato drew heavily on Greek traditions of warfare, civic engagement, and physical form, while Augustine of Hippo's City of God was a response to a particular moment of empire and decadence. Thomas More created a sketchy ideological geography of 'no place' as a mythical island with a-spatial intonations. Since the Renaissance, when architects and artists such as Vitruvius searched for the citte felice, practitioners have tried to create physical spaces that would provide Eden-like environments for humankind. In more recent times, the modernist schemes of Ebenezer Howard and Le Corbusier envisioned ideal spaces that claimed to erase difference. 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 The deployment of tradition demands a certain selectivity that negates some forms of the past while celebrating others, making this exercise inherently political. In constructing utopias, practitioners also draw upon traditional discourses, practices, and forms, thus politicizing the quest for ideal communities. A key component in interrogating utopia and tradition is the political backdrop against which they occur. Examining the linkages between utopias, politics, and tradition, papers in this track are encouraged to investigate how tradition is deployed within the political sphere, and the role the state plays in formulating notions of community and governance. Track 3. Utopia and the Space of Difference By the end of the twentieth century, the crisis within modernism and the critical opposition to authoritarianism had caused a retreat from the idea of utopia as an ideal and perfected spatial form. This track seeks to examine new concepts of utopia that have risen to question its previous incarnations and established traditions. Papers in this track are encouraged to explore how the latest utopias have become more of an open process that engages both the present condition and the forbidden, the unseen and the marginalized, straying from the imagined idyllic landscapes towards a new politics of difference. Submission requirements Please refer to our website, at www.ced.berkeley.edu/iaste, for detailed instructions on abstract submissions. A one page abstract of 500 words and a one page C.V. are required. For further inquiries, please email IASTE Coordinator Sophie Gonick at iaste@berkeley.edu.
Proposals for complete panels are welcome. All papers must be written and presented in English. Following a blind peer-review process, papers may be accepted for presentation in the conference and/or publication in the Working Paper Series.
Contributors whose abstracts are accepted must pre-register for the conference, pay registration fees of $400 (which includes a special discounted $25 IASTE membership fee), and prepare a full-length paper of 20-25 double-spaced pages. Registered students may qualify for a reduced registration fee of $200 (which includes a special discounted
$25 IASTE membership fee). All participants must be IASTE members.
Please note that expenses associated with hotel accommodations, travel, and additional excursions are not covered by the registration fees and have to be paid directly to the designated travel agent. Registration fees cover the conference program, conference abstracts, and access to all conference activities including receptions, keynote panels, and a tour of the Beirut Central District.
Conference schedule Organising committee Nezar AlSayyad, IASTE President, University of California, Berkeley Mark Gillem, IASTE and Conference Director, University of Oregon Howayda Al-Harithy, Local Conference Director, American University, Beirut, Lebanon Sophie Gonick, IASTE and Conference Coordinator, University of California, Berkeley Leila Solh, Local Conference Coordinator, American University, Beirut, Lebanon Lanbin Ren, Conference Administrative Assistant, University of Oregon Vicky Garcia, CEDR Conference Administrator, University of California, Berkeley Conference advisory committee Eeva Aarrevaara, Hesham Khairy Abdelfattah, Heba Farouk Ahmed, Joseph Aranha, Greig Crysler, Howard Davis, Mona Harb, Hildegarde Heynen, Anne Hublin, Samir Khalaf, Duanfang Lu, Jala Makhzoumi, Robert Mugerauer, Sylvia Nam, Mina Rajagopalan, Ipek Tureli, Montira Horayangura Unakul, Dell Upton, Marcel Vellinga Conference sponsors Center for Behavioral Research, American University of Beirut Department of Architecture and Design, American University of Beirut College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley School of Architecture and Allied Arts, University of Oregon Conference site The conference will be held at American University of Beirut's West Hall with accommodation at nearby hotels. In order to be able to obtain special room rates, reservations should be made online, over the phone, or through email at the conference hotel:
Gefinor Rotana Hotel, Hamra, Beirut Further information
International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments (IASTE)
The Spirituality of Place: Call for Papers - Due 15 May 2010 Throughout history spirituality has been a major force in shaping the built environment. From ancient Mesopotamian ziggurats to European cathedrals, cities have served as centers of sacred practices and religion. The connection between spirituality and place, however, has not been the exclusive preserve of religious institutions. The co-mingling of sacred and secular realms in urban contexts often reflected the combined spiritual and temporal authority of priest kings, popes, and monarchs, and even facilitated the deification of mortal rulers, as with some Roman emperors. With the increasing secularization of the modern world, concepts of spirituality have broadened and diversified, allowing purely secular situations to be perceived as spiritual, and for the emergence of increasingly heterogeneous and personal concepts of spirituality to supplant traditional religion. Savannah exemplifies the full range of meanings behind the concept of spirituality of place. With Georgia conceived as a charitable colony providing a safe haven for continental European Protestants, Savannah played a fundamental role in the introduction of various religious groups to North America -- Jews, Lutherans, Methodists, African Baptists. The idealistic egalitarianism allowing for the acceptance of all religions (except Catholicism, at first) instilled a spirit of peaceful co-existence and toleration of diversity throughout the city's history that also included remaining Native Americans and African slaves. The legacy of these different groups is understood through the rich histories of Savannah and urban fabric of the city. In more recent times, Savannah and surrounding historical sites have become themselves "spiritual" places that serve those who seek a more secularized pilgrimage experience connected with their cultural and historical heritage. It is with this in mind that the 7th biennial Savannah Symposium invites papers that explore the role of spirituality as it relates to the development and shaping of architectural and urban forms. Paper sessions will focus on the broadest context of spirituality as a significant factor in the study of the built environment globally, nationally and locally. Of particular interest are essays that provide a critical evaluation of the relationship or co-existence of sacred and secular spirituality in regards to the constructed world. Potential papers topics might include as their focus:
Papers are invited from scholars and practitioners in, but not limited to, architecture, architectural history, urban history, planning, historic preservation, landscape design, art history, geography, archaeology, cultural history, sociology, political science and anthropology. How to Participate Send one-page abstracts (300 words maximum) and curriculum vitae to Thomas Gensheimer and Jeff Eley at (architecturalhistory@scad.edu) or c/o Department of Architectural History, Savannah College of Art and Design, P.O. Box 3146, Savannah, GA 31402-3146. Electronic submissions are preferred. For more information about the symposium (and past symposia), visit our website at www.scad.edu/savannahsymposium. Deadline for submissions: 15 May 2010. Further information
E. G. Daves Rossell View our Conferences Archives: 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
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The Seventeenth International Seminar on Urban Form (ISUF 2010) will take place in the Geomatikum in Hamburg between 20 and 23 August 2010. It will be organized by the Institut für vergleichende Städtegeschichte (Institute of Comparative Urban History) at the University of Münster, in conjunction with the Institut für Geographie (Institute for Geography) of the University of Hamburg. There will be an excursion to Lübeck on 24 August. The general theme of the conference is "Formation and persistence of townscapes". Special concerns of the conference are:
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