CfP: Marginalia. Limits within the Urban Realm - The 2017 issue of "studies in History and Theory of Architecture"

The journal studies in History and Theory of Architecture, published by the Department of Architectural History & Theory and Heritage Conservation at “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest, Romania, invites submissions for the 2017 issue

Marginalia. Limits within the Urban Realm

Continuing the explorations initiated in the 4th volume, this issue invites contributors to undertake an enquiry on the idea of limits in intimate relation with the urban realm. Were they boundaries, expansions extra muros, or delineations intra muros, places of difference, of intermediacy, of conflicts and of negotiations, limits appear to have always been the defining feature of any place with a name.

From Romulus’ first furrow to the città difusa or to the Zwischenstadt, cities have been built on various margins, real or imaginary, physical or social, clear or diffuse; cities are places where contradictions/conflicts and solidarities have met, drawing up tangible or elusive frontiers or dissolving them. Whether solid or porous, physical or mental, intangible or violent, stable or moving, historical or present, the emergence of limits bestowed specificity on human settlements, while their dissolution defined and redefined urban identities.

A whole body of literature tried to capture these phenomena and, along this process, reshaped itself to accommodate the specific dynamic of its subject. Authors developed new methods, which help them understand the metropolitan landscape and conceptualize the city.

Therefore, we invite contributors to examine cities from the perspective of the various margins that coexist or collide within their territories, focusing on the role that architecture plays or has played in relation to these limits. We suggest several possible points of focus:

— The role of limits in the historical or present definition of the city – questioning their dynamics, from the autarkic city to the ville-monde or to the oecumenopolis;

— Social and economic marginalities and marginalized spaces inside cities – interrogating what the “city proper” is; or conversely, what sort of morphological and political realities do such margins bring about?;

— Continuities and/or borders between the urban “inside” and “outside” – exploring the relationship between controlled environments and the untamed diversity;

— “Cities within cities” – encompassing questions on the city as unity, the revival of traditional neighborhoods inside the global city, etc.

These suggestions are not restrictive. Contributors are invited to formulate their own research matters, thus coming up with a fresh look on how settlements define and redefine their borders and identities in the post-industrial societies of today.

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A preliminary abstract of 150 - 200 words should be submitted by March 24, 2017. Selected contributors will be notified by e-mail on April 5. The final article should be submitted for review by June 1.

Contributions will undergo a double-blind peer review procedure by independent reviewers.

All correspondence should be addressed to sita@uauim.ro, to the attention of Dr. Arch. Ilinca Păun-Constantinescu. Please see detailed guidelines for authors at sita.uauim.ro.