Organized by Association for the Study of Modern Italy (ASMI), the conference explores architectural and design crossovers between Modern Italy and other countries from circa 1750 to the present. Papers can cover architectural and design cultures and their resulting intersections with politics and society. These crossovers could include travel, collaboration, influence, perception, reception and reaction. Papers could address the relative evolution and standing of architectural and design cultures in the national and regional life of Italy and other countries, with comparative aspects such as professional organisations (including country participation in international organisations such as CIAM), pedagogy and philosophy, media publications. Relevant sectors to consider include industry, housing, urban design and planning, consumer products, and designing for state, commercial, civic and religious settings. Exhibitions and trade fairs, whether national or international in scope, are a particularly rich source for comparing and contrasting Italy and other national and international experiences, relationships and outputs.
Papers can be located within this periodisation:
• From the Grand Tour to Italian Unification, c.1750-1860
• Nationhood, Architecture and Design, c.1860-1920
• Interwar Italy: Empire, Fascism and Modernist presences, c.1920-1945
• Post-World War II: Consumer Culture, Urban Design, Radical Critiques,
• Postmodernism, c.1945-2000
• Current Concerns: National and Transnational, c.2000-Present
Keynote speakers (confirmed):
• Professor Grace Lees-Maffei, Professor of Design History and Heritage, University of Hertfordshire
• Professor Lorenzo Ciccarelli, Professore Associato in Storia dell’Architettura, Dipartimento di Architettura, Universitá di Firenze
The conference will be in person at the ILCS, Senate House, University of London. The keynote speeches will be live-streamed online.
Papers can be presented either in English or Italian.
All proposals for papers or panels (300-word abstract per 15/20 minutes presentations, plus a brief biography) should be sent to asmi.conference.2027@gmail.com by 7 October 2026.
Acceptances will be communicated by 31 October 2026.
Registration details will be announced no later than 1 December 2026.
Accepted speakers will be required to join ASMI and register for the conference by 15 December 2026.
Organising committee:
Martin Brown (Independent scholar, coordinator); John Foot (Bristol University); Patrizia Sambuco (GBS/Oxford Brookes University); Tommaso Zerbi (Edinburgh University); Karen Bertorelli (German Historical Institute in Rome); Amy King (Bristol University); Victoria Witkowski (University of Southern Denmark); Milena Sabato (Salento University); Rossella Merlino (Queen’s University).
More information here: https://asmi.org.uk/