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Context – Suggest a theme

Front cover Context

Context – the latest edition

The themes for forthcoming editions of Context, the journal of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) Context, are regularly published on the Context page of the IHBC web site.

The theme of each issue takes the form of three or four main articles and allows us to look in detail at a conservation issue or building type

Themed issues of Context also include more general conservation articles as well as news, book reviews and reports from IHBC’s officers.

If you have any suggestions for articles or other material contact Fiona Newton at: editorial@ihbc.org.uk

Call for Sessions – SAH 2025 Annual International Conference

Atlanta, Georgia | April 30–May 4

Submission Deadline: Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 11:59 pm CST

Conference Chair: Mohammad Gharipour, SAH Vice President Elect, University of Maryland
Local Co-Chairs: Christina E. Crawford, Emory University, and Elisa Dainese, Georgia Institute of Technology

The Society of Architectural Historians announces that its 78th Annual Conference will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, from Wednesday, April 30 to Sunday, May 4, 2025. The Society invites everyone interested in the history of the built environment to submit a proposal to chair a session at the conference. 

NEW for 2025 — SAH is extending the paper session portion of the conference and will schedule sessions throughout the day on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The expanded program will allow for greater diversity of session topics and additional opportunities for members to present their work. Each session will comprise 5-6 papers, with each presentation allotted a duration of 15–20 minutes. SAH encourages diverse presentation formats. 

Since the principal purpose of the SAH Annual International Conference is to inform conference attendees of the general state of research in architectural history and related disciplines, session proposals covering every period in the history of architecture and all aspects of the built environment, including landscape and urban history, are encouraged. 

Sessions may be theoretical, methodological, thematic, interdisciplinary, pedagogical, revisionist or documentary in premise and have broadly conceived or more narrowly focused subjects. Sessions that embrace cross-cultural and transnational topics are particularly welcome. Topics related to historic preservation and cultural heritage as related to architecture are also encouraged. Proposals will be selected on the basis of merit and the need to create a well-balanced program. Topics exploring the architecture of Atlanta and the architecture of the southeastern United States are encouraged. In every case, the subject should be clearly defined in critical and historical terms.

Session proposals on architecture and race, architecture of the American South, architecture and urbanism in Atlanta, urban segregation, histories of agency and disturbance, architecture and accountability, history of gentrification, urban development, architecture and coloniality, and health and architecture are encouraged.

SAH welcomes proposals from SAH Affiliate Groups, SAH chapters, SAH committees, SAH partner organizations, and other groups in the field. The Society also seeks proposals for sessions that further the goals of the SAH IDEAS Initiative: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Accountability, and Sustainability. We are thus seeking sessions that explore the intersection of architecture and social justice, inclusion and exclusion, diversity, transparency, accessibility, borders and conflicts, systemic inequalities, and challenges of method. 

Since late submissions cannot be considered, it is recommended that proposals be submitted before the deadline. 

Additional Information

Submission Guidelines


Session proposals must be submitted online by 11:59 pm Central Standard Time, on Wednesday, January 17, 2024. Conference Chair Mohammad Gharipour and members of the Annual Conference Session Selection Committee will review and select the session proposals. 

Prospective session chairs must include the following in their proposal:

  • A session title not longer than 65 characters, including spaces and punctuation
  • Summary of the subject and the premise in no more than 300 words
  • Your name, professional affiliation (if applicable), address, telephone, and email address 
  • A current CV (2 pages max) 

For more information visit the website here

Call for Papers – From Forests to Heritage Conference 2024

Call for Papers – Closes 15 December 2023

From Forests to Heritage Conference brings together researchers studying forests, timber and wooden cultural heritage. Contributions can cover the following fields: forest research, forest ecology, architectural history, cultural heritage studies, dendrochronology, art history, and literature studies, or others.

In 2024, the conference is organized in Helsinki, Finland, at 18th century Sea Fortress Suomenlinna from 28th to 31st May 2024.

Background

The conference is dedicated to the processing of wood in the past for production of architecture, buildings, furniture, works of art, ships and other timber structures. We aim to bring together a diverse group of dendrochronologists, wood scientists, art historians, architectural historians, archaeologists, museum collection curators and scientists from all around the world to exchange the latest insights, methods and ideas related to the study of wooden cultural heritage.

During this conference, research on historical wooden objects and structures that results in a better understanding of past timber exploitation and trade, forestry practices, wood provenance, supply chains, timber assortments, woodworking techniques and craftsmen’s skills will be presented. Furthermore, we encourage contributions that explore novel methods for non-invasive research on historical art objects and analytical techniques that allow to pin-point the provenance of the wood.

We also invite you to conference excursion to old Finnish forests and (timber) built heritage sites normally not open to the public.

Call for papers (opens 15th August)

22 August – 15 December

Schedule

22 August to 15 December (CFP extended to December 15th!) 2023, Submission of abstracts
31 December 2023, Announcement of acceptance
February 2024, Registration deadline
28–31 May 2024, Conference
1 June, Post-conference excursion

Organisers

Aalto University, Architectural History and Conservation
University of Eastern Finland, Forest Ecology
Finnish Heritage Agency           
The Governing Body of Suomenlinna                                                                                            

Conference Venue

The conference will be organized in Suomenlinna sea fortress in the seafront of Helsinki. Suomenlinna is one of the largest sea fortresses in the world, founded in 1748. In 1991, the Suomenlinna fortress was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as a unique monument of military architecture.

The conference takes place at Tenaille von Fersen, old granary of the fortification’s bakery from 1775, nowadays a conference and banquet venue.

Organizing committee

Panu Savolainen (Aalto University, head of the committee), Tuomas Aakala (University of Eastern Finland), Liisa Seppänen (Hämeenlinna city museum), Marko Huttunen (Livady Architects), Miia Perkkiö (The Governing Body of Suomenlinna), Pekka Heikkinen (Aalto University)

Scientific board

Announced in December 2023

Visit the website and find out more here

Call for Extended Research Abstract – EURAU International Conference: IN–PRESENCE/ THE BODY AND THE SPACE

The next EURAU International Conference – IN-PRESENCE / THE BODY AND THE SPACE – The Role of Corporeity in the Era of Virtualisation – will occur in Milan, 19-22 June 2024.

The EURAU Milan 2024 Conference aims to unpack the significance of corporeality in contemporary times and its relevance for the upcoming years. Specifically, the focus is on the relation between body and space and how this relates with architecture, the city and the environment, interpreted as physical facts and processes. Within the background of a technological turn, the focus is now on what has changed or will further change in this relationship and what instead remains unalterable, inherently bound to the material and impervious to the virtual. The call asks for contributions relating to the body-space-architecture relationship.

Submissions close: 31 December 2023

Visit the website here for more information.

Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University Conference – Revivalism: Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Call for Papers: Closes 24 Nov 2023

The past often informs the present in many, interconnected ways. For example, Howard Colvin in his well-known essay on the ‘Gothic Survival and Gothick Revival’ offers a nuanced reading of medieval architecture’s perpetuation in C17–C18 Britain (‘Gothic Survival’) and the style’s quite separate revival. Like the ‘Gothic Revival’, references to and recreations of the past can take many different forms across the arts and humanities; these revivals can leverage mimesis, or perhaps they are more frivolous and based upon loose associationism. Revivals’ form, fidelity, function, and motivation are therefore varied and crucial to understanding and mapping the materiality and ideas from history to its continued relevance, recycling, and recreation in the present.
 
This conference, taking place next February in Cardiff University, wishes to examine the legacies of the past and the past’s recreation under the broad label of ‘revival’ across time, place, and discipline: how and why has the past been reworked, recreated, or revived; what are the minimum requirements for work(s) to be considered a revival; can revivals be counter-cultural? The conference also wishes to examine how revivals have been interpreted (both positively and negatively); and how revivals can be and are set against the source material that inspired them.
 
20-minute papers on any aspect of revivalism across the arts and humanities are solicited for this in-person conference. Proposals that explore interdisciplinary manifestations of revivalism are especially welcome. Topics could include:

  • Art; Architecture; Applied design
  • Literature (fiction and non-fiction)
  • Revivalism, pastiche, and forgery
  • Historiography of revival
  • Interdisciplinary revivals
  • Motivation(s) for revivals/ism
  • Comparisons between revivals and the revied

300-word proposals should be sent to the conference organiser Peter N. Lindfield FSA, Welsh School of Architecture: LindfieldP@Cardiff.ac.uk no later than 24 November 2023.
 
Conference date: Monday 19 February 2024
Location: Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University

From Forests to Heritage 2024 Conference

Submission of abstracts: 22 August to 15 November 2023

From Forests to Heritage Conference brings together researchers studying forests, timber and wooden cultural heritage. Contributions can cover the following fields: forest research, forest ecology, architectural history, cultural heritage studies, dendrochronology, art history, and literature studies, or others.

From Forests to Heritage Conference brings together researchers studying forests, timber and wooden cultural heritage. Contributions can cover the following fields: forest research, forest ecology, architectural history, cultural heritage studies, dendrochronology, art history, and literature studies, or others.

In 2024, the conference is organized in Helsinki, Finland, at 18th century Sea Fortress Suomenlinna from 28th to 31st May 2024.

Background

The conference is dedicated to the processing of wood in the past for production of architecture, buildings, furniture, works of art, ships and other timber structures. We aim to bring together a diverse group of dendrochronologists, wood scientists, art historians, architectural historians, archaeologists, museum collection curators and scientists from all around the world to exchange the latest insights, methods and ideas related to the study of wooden cultural heritage.

During this conference, research on historical wooden objects and structures that results in a better understanding of past timber exploitation and trade, forestry practices, wood provenance, supply chains, timber assortments, woodworking techniques and craftsmen’s skills will be presented. Furthermore, we encourage contributions that explore novel methods for non-invasive research on historical art objects and analytical techniques that allow to pin-point the provenance of the wood.

We also invite you to conference excursion to old Finnish forests and (timber) built heritage sites normally not open to the public.

Call for papers (opens 15th August)

22 August – 15 November (Submission link at the bottom of the page)

Schedule

22 August to 15 November 2023, Submission of abstracts
15 December 2023, Announcement of acceptance
February 2024, Registration deadline
28–31 May 2024, Conference
1 June, Post-conference excursion

Organisers

Aalto University, Architectural History and Conservation
University of Eastern Finland, Forest Ecology
Finnish Heritage Agency           
The Governing Body of Suomenlinna                                                                                                     

Conference Venue

The conference will be organized in Suomenlinna sea fortress in the seafront of Helsinki. Suomenlinna is one of the largest sea fortresses in the world, founded in 1748. In 1991, the Suomenlinna fortress was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as a unique monument of military architecture.

The conference takes place at Tenaille von Fersen, old granary of the fortification’s bakery from 1775, nowadays a conference and banquet venue.

Organizing committee

Panu Savolainen (Aalto University, head of the committee), Tuomas Aakala (University of Eastern Finland), Liisa Seppänen (Hämeenlinna city museum), Marko Huttunen (Livady Architects), Miia Perkkiö (The Governing Body of Suomenlinna), Pekka Heikkinen (Aalto University)

Scientific board

Announced in September 2023

Contact

panu.savolainen@aalto.fi

Abstract submission

Submit your abstract (150–250 words) to the submission form on the following link: https://www.aalto.fi/en/events/from-forests-to-heritage-2024-conference
 

International Conference FLORENCE HERI-TECH – The Future of Heritage Science and Technologies

Call for Papers: International Conference FLORENCE HERI-TECH – The Future of Heritage Science and Technologies

Paper Submission Deadline: 8 January 2024

Authors willing to submit an paper can upload your Paper on the online form, following the instructions below for the template.
Papers must be written in English. Papers submitted will be peer-reviewed by the TPC – Technical Program Committee based on originality, technical quality and presentation. Authors will be informed if their paper has been accepted by February 29, 2024. After your paper is accepted, you will be able to proceed with Registration. Authors of accepted paper will receive an email from the conference secretariat with information on full paper submission and the registration procedure

For more information, including topics, visit: https://www.florenceheritech.com/draft-paper-submission/

January 8, 2024 | Deadline to Submit Draft Paper
February 29, 2024 | Paper acceptance notification
March 29, 2024 | Submission of final paper

29-30 APRIL 2024 | Fortezza da Basso  FLORENCE – ITALY| 4th EDITION

Florence Heri-Tech was launched in 2018 by the Department of Industrial Engineering of University of Florence (DIEF) and Florence Biennial Art and Restoration Fair. The idea is to create a synergy between Cultural Heritage and New Technologies. The Conference involves a large number of research projects and scholars from around the world and puts the industry’s current issues under the spotlight, specifically on issues related to innovative techniques and technologies for Cultural Heritage. The Conference is part of the 8th Edition of the Florence Biennial Art and Restoration Fair, an international event attracting prestigious institutions and companies and creating a unique opportunity to bring together the academic word with industry.

The city of Florence will therefore be the international heart of Restoration and Cultural and Environmental assets as well as a forum for meeting and discussing for experts and enthusiasts from around the world. The Conference will be a significant opportunity for exchange between researchers and companies for the promotion of productive excellence, technological evolution, the greater use of culture for younger sections of the population and specialization in the educational field for graduates and PhD students.

VAG Winter Conference 2024 on Dendrochronology

Call for Papers – VAG Winter Conference 2024 on Dendrochronology

The theme of the Vernacular Architecture Group’s next winter conference will be New Developments in Dendrochronology and its Impact on the Study of Vernacular Architecture. The conference will look at the evolution of the field in the past twenty-five years, covering new techniques and their applications to a broader range of aspects of vernacular buildings studies. The emphasis will be on exploring the methods through practical application and case studies. 

The conference will take place at College Court, University of Leicester, on 6-7 January 2024. A Call for Papers is attached and we would be grateful if you could circulate this to anyone who might be interested. The deadline for abstracts is 11 September 2023. Information about the Group’s conferences can be found at https://www.vag.org.uk/conferences.htm

European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards

The Call for Entries for the European Heritage Awards / Europa Nostra Awards 2024 is now open!

Download and read the Call for Entries for detailed information about this year’s edition. The deadline to apply is Friday, 13 October at 23:59 CET.

Entrants are invited to submit their entries via european-heritage.awardsplatform.com.

By creating an account on european-heritage.awardsplatform.com, you can also download a handy overview of questions for each category of entry.

See here for more details.

36th World Congress on Art History (CIHA)

SESSION: MATERIALITY IN HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN PLANNING: EVOLUTIONS OF TECHNIQUES, PERCEPTIONS AND ANALYZES

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Deadline for submission: September 15, 2023

The session questions old and new virtual materialities in the History of Architecture and Urbanism: architectural surveys of building archaeology, photogrammetry, laser scanning, geomatics, etc. This materiality influences the perception and analysis of space, but to what extent?

The first axis focuses on the history of the dematerialization of space for analytical purposes. While researchers specialising in the study of the Medieval period (especially building archaeologists) traditionally use reconstruction techniques, various Cultural Heritage study centres (within academia or not) have in particular used these techniques, essentially up to the limit of Modern and contemporary times. How, over the long term, have these techniques influenced the perception of space and therefore conditioned the analysis of buildings? Where (university departments, local authority heritage services, heritage conservation organisations, etc.) and by whom (photographers, surveyors, draftsmen, etc.) have these techniques been implemented? Finally, can we establish correlations between the evolution of these techniques and that of historiography?

The second axis focuses, always for analytical purposes, on the extension of the dematerialization of space since the ‘digital revolution.’ Medieval buildings are thus no longer the only concerned, but also those of later periods, as well as an entire area, whether urban, peri-urban or rural. The advent of digital technologies has brought a revolution in the perception of space, creating new methods of analysis. Which new materialization techniques have mostly influenced researchers in the history of architecture and urbanism? Have these techniques constituted a real revolution in analysis or are they only incidental tools for materializing space? Where and how are these techniques applied? What new techniques should evolve in order to further improve the analysis of buildings?

This session is intended for historians of Architecture and Urbanism, but also for technicians: photographers, draftsmen, surveyors, geomaticians, etc. For each axis, it consists of three 15-minute contributions presenting case-studies or overviews, followed by two 30-minute roundtables bringing together participants and specialists.

All proposals (short communications and roundtables) will be subject to a double-blind evaluation by the International Scientific Committee.

Research Questionnaire – Application of the Digital Twin Concept to the Maintenance of Historic Buildings

I am a master student from Loughborough University, and I am conducting a research study as part of my master’s degree requirements. My study is entitled, Application of the Digital Twin Concept to the Maintenance of Historic Buildings. This is a letter of invitation to participate in this research study. The purpose of this study is to gain information relating to the adaptation of the digital twin concept in historic buildings. In addition, the study aims to identify the data sets required to facilitate ongoing preventive conservation and restoration activities in historic buildings using the digital twin, and to elucidate the approaches needed in the future to facilitate the implementation of the digital twin.

The survey will last no more than 10 minutes. Please click the link below to go to the survey Web site (or copy and paste the link into your Internet browser). Your participation will contribute to the current literature on the subject of the digital twin in historic buildings. No compensation will be offered for your participation.

Survey link: https://lboro.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/survey-of-the-application-of-the-digital-twin-concept

My research does not require any experience in the digital twin applications.

In this study, I want to identify what data needs to be recorded and collected if the digital twin can be used as a digital tool to assist in the conservation of historic buildings. Therefore, I would like participants to indicate, by answering the questionnaire, what data and information they think needs to be recorded if a digital tool can be used to help us, based on what participants do in their normal historic building conservation activities.

The experience of conventional conservation and maintenance of historic buildings would help this research.

I want to prevent people from thinking that they are not the subject of the study because of the term digital twin, which is in the title of the study.

Your participation in the survey is completely voluntary and all of your responses will be kept confidential. No personally identifiable information will be associated with your responses to any reports of these data. Should you have any comments or questions, please feel free to contact me at C.Miyata-22@student.lboro.ac.uk.