CfP: Universities and Architectural Heritage. Singapore, 7-9 November 2020

Call for Papers: Universities and Architectural Heritage. Singapore, 7-9 November 2020

The Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) is a network of universities from Asia, Australasia and the Americas. The association established the APRU University Museums Research Symposium in 2012 to bring participants together for the sharing of research and education initiatives concerning their universities’ cultural and scientific collections.
This year, APRU will reflect on the architectural heritage of universities, their deployment for the activities of the institution, the potentials of these historic structures in fostering academic research and education, and the challenges they present to their owners.
The sub-themes of the symposium are developed to encourage personnel from across the university – faculty, undergraduate and postgraduate, estate management, development office – to participate in discussion, debate and reflection:

  • Architectural heritage as a pedagogical resource. Historical architecture on campus are landmarks in the institution’s history; steeped in the collective memories of students across generations, they enhance the sense of place while also serving as markers of the nation’s educational, social and political evolution. In what ways have the continued presence of these buildings sustained the traditions of the institution? How have they inspired studies across a range of disciplines?
  • Architectural preservation on university campuses. With newer available technologies for teaching and learning as well as more demanding users for spaces equipped with up-to-date climate control, acoustics and furnishing, what are the challenges that universities encounter in retrofitting their historic buildings to suit contemporary needs? In a setting where human resource capacity building is tuned towards modern construction materials and methods, are there sustainable strategies for the upkeep of architectural heritage?
  • Bequest of estates to universities. Bequest of an estate may take the form of an existent building or funding towards the construction of a purpose-made complex. What are the opportunities and challenges that such gifts present on various fronts such as finance, operations and public relations? How does the university achieve a balance of its own objectives for the estate and the expectations of stakeholders?
  • University archives as research resources. How have archival records about campus planning and architecture been useful as materials for understanding the history of an institution? On an operational level, what insights can architectural archives offer for the ongoing upkeep of built structures?

Abstracts of no more than 300 words, for presentations of 15 mins per presenter, must be submitted in English to apru2020@nus.edu.sg by 26 June 2020. Please include a biography of not more than 150 words. For submissions, please use the template available here. Selected presenters will be notified by the end of August 2020.
More information about the symposium can be found on the symposium webpage.
For other enquiries, please email apru2020@nus.edu.sg.

Share this post

News from the field

Drawing Attention to the Periphery

October 25-27, 2023 Panel session for AHRA conference on Situated Ecologies of Care Portsmouth School of Architecture, UK. Submission deadline for abstracts: June 12, 2023 This paper session asks: How is the periphery reconfigured against collective life, culture,...

Research Assistant in the Field of Architecture and Landscape

Leibniz University Hanover The Faculty of Architecture and Landscape, Institute for the History and Theory of Architecture, Department of Architectural Theory (Prof. Dr. Nathalie Bredella), invites applications for the position of a Research Assistant (m/f/d) in the...

Materia Arquitectura N°25: Out of Place Matter

MATERIA ARQUITECTURA is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes original research, which can be exploratory and speculative. It is also open to visual and imaginative proposals. Its aim is to contribute to the development and questioning of the discipline and...

German Colonial Building Cultures in 100 Primary Sources

Exhibition at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte Munich, Germany, 20 April – 30 June 2023 From about 1880 to 1920, the German Empire was one of the European colonial powers. Its possessions included territories on three continents: in Africa (German South-West...