This conference seeks to debate contemporary questions of society, rights, communities, the environment and the city. It argues that each of these disciplines are interrelated fields of thought and practice, and that the lessons learnt in one place and time, are useful in another.
Cultures Communities and DesignThe University of Calgary
June 28-30, 2022
Abstracts: 01 July, 2021 (Early)
https://architecturemps.com/calgary/
Publishers: Cambridge Scholars Publishing and Routledge.
Key themes: Society + Cultures, People + Communities, Design + Urban Planning
Other dates: Later Rounds of abstract submission will be opened in December 2022 and, based on demand, March 2022
FULL CALL:
‘The Countryside’ – a polemically generic term the architect and social theorist Rem Koolhaas has recently used to reposition debates about our cities to those of rural areas. While posited as ‘new’, it is, in reality, a well established mode of thinking. Through notions such as the peri-urban for example, geographers, sociologists, architects, urban designers and regional economists have all debated the urban-rural relationship for several decades. Under this framework we are obliged to consider the city and its architecture on its own terms, but also address the ‘rural’ in its particular context and, importantly, explore the parallels and mutual influences at play.
According to this logic, the social, cultural, planning and devlopment issues relevant in our cities find parallels outside the city fringe. The Right to the City echoes concerns about land rights. Gentrification resembles the pressures on arable lands through urban expansion. The sustainability of our buildings and neighbourhoods is connected to debates on the sustainability of rural areas.
Calgary, the host city of this conference, is a perfect example of all of this. It has heavy industry, a thriving business economy and a growing tourist sector. However, pockets of the city contend with poverty and gentrification. Others suffer disinvestment and require regeneration. Its architecture and public spaces are a combination of the ‘spectacular’ and the mundane.
As a city, Calgary also ‘pressures’ its surrounding lands. These include the Rockies, the Banff nature reserve, and the First Nations lands of the Blackfoot, the Stoney Nakoda and the Tsuutʼina. As such, it is both a site of opportunity and development in its own right, and the cause of environmental concerns and social pressures, beyond its conceptual and geographic borders.
More details:
https://architecturemps.com/calgary/
Fabian Neuhaus, Lorraine Gess