Call for Papers: Dream – Play – Challenge: The Future of Residential Living. Berlin, 25–26 June 2020
Call for Papers, Projects, and Provocations
Practice & Research in Architectural Design, Production, and Theory
A symposium as part of the festival Women in Architecture, Berlin 2020
What does it mean today to reside, to be a (non-)resident, to be in residence or to build a residence? The traditional concept of the “residential” has been thrown into question by the challenges of the 21st century. Residing – an act so fundamental to humanity – is contested by socio-economical and cultural uncertainties, be it by precarious ecological conditions, forced uprootedness, re-defined concepts of gender and family, or by culturally diverse models of domesticity. At the same time, the concept of the “residential” continues to lure us with its echoes of stability and permanence, as a term which conjures the desire for a home within societies that often find it more and more difficult to provide one.
Are traditional notions of the “residential” still tenable and generative? In what form can ways of residing that challenge traditions and respond to current pressures be built or imagined today? In the past, architects have contributed innovative though often prescriptive proposals to such questions. The symposium is specifically interested in contributions that use contested situations as a starting point to Dream – Play – Challenge the production of residential space.
Projects and research may work through (but are not restricted to) the following approaches:
• the playfulness of dwelling
• cooperative, collaborative, and performative residential practice
• the language of residential place-making
• fictional residential space, dreams of residing
• antagonism, provocation or persistence in the residence
This call is addressed to architects and researchers including PhD fellows, graduates in architecture, planning and related fields, as well as to actors and initiatives exploring new strategies of residential living. The symposium organizers welcome a range of presentation formats including research papers, project presentations both built and unbuilt, drawings and film. Selected contributors will be invited to submit a paper to be included in the planned publication, Dream – Play – Challenge: The Future of Residential Living.
Symposium organisers: Sarah Rivière and Wiltrud Simbuerger on behalf of n-ails, the Berlin Network for Women Architects, Interior Designers, Engineers, Landscape Architects and Urban Planners.
Submission guidelines: Please email your abstract of 400–600 words addressing the objectives, content, methodology, and results of the work to: FutureOfResidentialLiving@gmail.com. Please include the title of the project, 1–3 images, and a short CV including affiliation and contact details.
Deadline for abstracts: 17 February 2020
For further information please contact:
Sarah Rivière, info@sarahrivierearchitect.com, tel: +49 (0)176 303 466 15
Wiltrud Simbuerger, wiltrud.simbuerger@gmx.de, tel: +49 (0)176 84 81 89 67
The call for papers can also be downloaded here.