You are welcome to submit your abstract proposal for a paper in the framework of the session “7.13 The Brutalist City. Concrete as a Tool for Urban and Intercultural Experimentation” at the 12th Congress of the Italian Association of Urban History/Associazione Italiana di Storia Urbana Congress (AISU) at the Department of Architecture of the University of Palermo between 10 and 13 September 2025.
Session chaired by Dr. Giusi Ciotoli, Dr. Marianna Charitonidou and Dr. Marco Falsetti.
Deadline for submission of papers: 3 May 2025
The session aims to investigate the themes of the city and public space through the interpretive lens of Brutalism, to understand its implications and repercussions on contemporary debate, also in light of its recent mainstream “rediscovery” (through cinema with “Blade Runner 2049”, “Dune” and “The Brutalist,” the recent exhibitions at the MoMA on the former Yugoslavia, at the Met on Paul Rudolph, and even through video games and social media).
Despite a rather limited development in time, especially when compared to other seasons of architecture, Brutalism emerged on the post-World War II scene as a technical and formal experience in heterogeneous contexts, becoming a paradigmatic and prefigurative element for the city of tomorrow.
The session aims to propose a debate on the theoretical implications and social spillovers of the large civil and housing complexes built in England, the United States, Japan, Brazil, Italy, France, the former USSR, the Balkans, etc., opening up to a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective that analyzes the phenomenon from different perspectives. In particular, in the processes of post-war reconstruction (especially in Europe and Japan), urban renewal (United States, England), and national identity construction (Brazil, former Yugoslavia, Caucasus, Baltics), which are embedded within a broader cultural context of theoretical as much as technical experimentation. From the CIAM debates to the structural enterprises secured by the availability of new technologies and materials, Brutalism emerges in its radical and contesting essence, as a break with dominant canons and, at the same time, as the last tool available to Modernism to shape entire portions of the city (Barbican Centre, Corviale, Rozzol Melara, Genex Tower, etc.). The Brutalist city is thus an incubator of urban, formal, and technological experimentation at both the large and building scales. Almost 70 years after the beginning of this extraordinary season of architecture, it is also crucial to critically rethink these city forms from a heritage perspective (as in the recent case studies in Kharkiv and other Ukrainian cities), as well as their possible restoration from a technical and sustainable point of view.
You can submit your abstract proposal using the following link:
https://aisuinternational.org/
For more details regarding the session you can contact Dr. Giusi Ciotoli at ciotoligiusi@gmail.com and Dr. Marianna Charitonidou at m.charitonidou@icloud.com