61st Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America
Berlin, 26-28 March 2015
Session sponsored by the European Architectural History Network
The Renaissance is commonly characterized as a period of technological advances that entailed the application of knowledge from diverse and evolving disciplines to solve problems and achieve particular ends. Renaissance technologies include but are not limited to manual, mechanical, architectural, spatial, and other inventions that addressed logistical, structural, representational, cultural, social, military, and other challenges.
We invite papers that critically examine how Renaissance technologies affected architectural and urban culture. How did new technology and science inform building practice, planning, or the use of materials? Did technological innovation instigate new dialogues between hitherto separate discourse and practices? As a result, were the role of building and architecture in society redefined?
Moreover, today, we are experiencing a technology boom, with digital tools inspiring new ways of studying, explaining, and understanding Renaissance histories. Do these tools provide new access or perspectives on the interaction between technology, architecture and urban culture in the Renaissance?
Please submit a paper title; abstract (150 words maximum); keywords; and a brief C.V. (300 words maximum) by June 2 to Saundra Weddle (sweddle@drury.edu) and Maarten Delbeke (maarten.delbeke@ugent.be). Membership in the EAHN is encouraged.
Source: http://www.rsa.org/blogpost/1134779/187636/Renaissance-Technologies-and-the-Built-Environment
Architecture and the Power of Bureaucracy
The term "bureaucracy" refers to the organisation of people, processes, and to paperwork. Bureaucracy is often used as a synonym for inefficiency and disinterest, as the so-called "fifth form of rule by irresponsible officials who are not at risk" (Männle 2023)....