Is it possible to imagine the future through the interpretation of past?
Or, further ahead, is it possible to critically read the historic city through the project – intended here in its broadest meaning – to turn it into the basis for envisionments to come?
In the book “The culture of Time and Space 1880-1918” (1983), Stephen Kern identifies three relative polarities referred to the nature of time: number, composition, and direction. Concurrently, he introduces us to the search for a “sense of time”, which emerges from the tensions and debates pertaining to the various domains of human culture, where past, present and future arrange the structure of culture through conflict.
The Journal of Architectural Design and History grows out of the need to critically, theoretically, and empirically reflect on the questions related to the reading, interpretation, and enhancement of Heritage Cities.
Drawing on the notion of subtraction, which archaeologists refer to as the underground structure bearing an above building, we can imagine to compare the same – often hidden – bond between “Heritage Cities” and “Project”, hence transforming the usually consequential pairing into a strict dependence (underlined by the conjunction “as”), which redefines the balance among the real and deeper value of the single parts, in their autonomy as well as in their interplay.
The first issue of the journal aims at investigating the visions and the multiple forms of the project as (transformation, enhancement, exhibition, …) intervention in World Heritage Cities. Namely, the research area of the thematic volume “Heritage Cities as Project” is focused on the various types, intentions and outcomes of the design actions that can be applied in these contexts – e.g. in the tangibility of architectural projects (observed in the framework of the different scales and disciplinary fields coalescing in the city), in the processes and means pertaining to knowledge, interpretation and representation (physical as well as theoretic, photographic, etc.), in the images and strategies tackling the relation among true, false and plausible.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
→ The participation to the call is open to national and international structured and independent scholars (PhD students, postdoctoral fellows, research fellows, researchers).
→ The issue will host essays and articles selected through a double-blind peer review process.
→ To apply, please send an abstract of max. 400 words in English and a short CV to adh.journal@polimi.it by 6 June 2022.
→ The outcome of the selection and the judgments of the peer review will be communicated by e-mail to the author of the article.
→ Proposals selected for publication must be developed into unpublished texts, complete with bibliography and images, and sent to the editorial board by September 5th, 2022.
→ Editorial rules and all necessary information can be found here.