The conference aims to bring together research on Hansen’s work and his reception in different regions – from his native Denmark, to Central and South-Eastern Europe, to Greece, where the architect spent formative years and helped shape the capital of the young kingdom.

Spanning a broad temporal range and extending to various geographies, the organizers invite doctoral students working on the built environment in any discipline to rethink ways of utilizing land as a method in transnational and transimperial histories of architecture.

The editors of sITA are hopeful that Jean-Louis Cohen’s generosity, humanity, and essential optimism will be suitably honoured by our discreet attempt to further some of the questions he raised.

Topics may range from landscape, urban design and architecture to materials and building systems. Qualitative approaches are expected, taking into account the impact on the perceived comfort of spaces resulting from factors such as the active posture of the user, the thermal sensitivity of different cultures, clothing, the physical properties of materials, specific microclimates, cultural habits, regional economies, material availability, and specific labour, among others.

This conference proposes to examine the challenges, contradictions, and aporias inherent in progressive architectural practice and teaching within and against capitalism, tracing its trajectory since the mid-nineteenth century.

One hundred years after his birth, the Department of Architecture of the University of Florence aims to celebrate Giovanni Klaus Koenig by promoting an international symposium that discusses his figure and work through original contributions by scholars belonging to different disciplines, at whatever stage of their careers.