International Symposium ARCHITECTURE OF THE PAST: INSPIRATION FOR THE FUTURE

International Symposium - Architecture of the Past: Inspiration for the Future

19th and 20th of September 2024 - Salle Jullian – INHA (Paris)

Call for communications and posters

EUR ArChal and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, in partnership with AHTTEP (UMR 3229 AUSser) and LAVUE (UMR 7218) laboratories, invite you to participate in an international symposium entitled "Architecture of the Past: Inspiration for the Future", which will take place on September 19th and 20th, 2024, at the National Institute of Art History (INHA) Paris, France.

Architecture, in response to universal needs, has developed in various forms, in diverse environments, and consequently offers a multiplicity of solutions. This diversity of construction types is of interest to numerous disciplines that do not often have the opportunity to exchange ideas. The aim of this interdisciplinary event is to bring together archaeologists, historians, architects, artisans, conservators, restorers, and ethnologists to share their work and research on architectural practices and structures that are relevant to approach current and future environmental, social, and economic challenges. This event will also discuss how the architecture of tomorrow is also invented with an eye to the past, whether it be sophisticated or vernacular, regardless of materials, period, geographical and cultural area.

The meeting will host thematic sessions (defined following the proposals) where architecture will be approached from a transversal, diachronic and worldwide angle.

The following list of themes is not exhaustive:

• Adaptation to an unstable environment (seismic, volcanic, flood-prone, etc.); climate change; specific constraints (due to urban layout, topography, etc.); strengthening buildings for durability; addressing major risks, whether natural or anthropogenic; limits and relevance of the approach.
• Integration into a landscape without altering it; preserving, restoring, and renovating buildings rather than demolishing them; conceiving an architecture that is situated in and adapted to its environmental and social context.
• Materials Bio- and geo-sourced, recycled, and reused materials to reduce carbon footprint; use of vernacular materials (earth, wood, stone, plaster, straw, etc.); the challenge of optimizing the physical, chemical, and mechanical properties of materials; how biomimicry, new technologies, and "paleo-inspirations" can be applied; technical, economic, and legal challenges of these materials.
• Individuals, i.e. the place of users and builders in the design and occupancy of different types of habitat; aspects related to the transmission of know-how over time, between continuity, loss, rehabilitation; collaborating with local communities to preserve architectural traditions; the positive and negative perceptions of architectural types.

At the close of the event, a roundtable will synthesize the main issues raised during the symposium. Following this, a discussion addressing the limits and prospects of the “past as a source of inspiration”, issues regarding the future, in terms of tradition and modernity, and more generally to round off the event, the complementarity of our disciplines.

Both craftspersons and theorists from the various professions mentioned above (from Master's level students onwards) are encouraged to participate. Oral presentations should not exceed 20 minutes (+ 10 minutes for questions). They can be delivered in French (with English support) or in English (with French support). Posters may also be presented in either language; they will be subject to a 5-minute oral presentation. The symposium will be held in a hybrid format.

Deadline and Practical Aspects for Proposals

Please download and complete the paper proposal form and return it to us in Word format, to the following address: organisationpassepresentfutur@gmail.com, specifying whether it is an oral communication or poster proposal. To do this, please rename your file as follows:

ColloqueArchitectureEUR_Lastname_poster/communication.

Organizing Committee

• Alberto Brutto (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, Università di Bologna, EUR ArChal, UMR 7041 ArScAn - GAMA)
• Valentin Loescher (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, EUR ArChal, UMR 7041 ArScAn - Aegean Protohistory)
• Clémentine Martal (Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University, EUR ArChal, UMR 8096 – ArchAm)

Scientific Committee (in alphabetical order) 

• Maddalena Achenza (Architect, Associate Professor, Cagliari University, Chairwoman ICOMOS International Scientific Committee on Earthen Architectural Heritage)
• Mounia Bouali (Architect, Assistant Professor, ENSA PVS, UMR 7218 LAVUE)
• Claire Cornu (Architect and urban planner, ICOMOS)
• Andrea Gaucci (Archaeologist, Associate Professor, Università di Bologna)
• Sarra Kasri (Architect, Assistant Professor at Umons, Belgium)
• Maia Pomadère (Archaeologist, Assistant Professor, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, UMR 7041 ArScAn)
• Haris Procopiou (Archaeologist, Professor, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, UMR 7041 ArScAn, EUR ArChal)
• Nadya Rouizem Labied (Architect, Assistant Professor, ENSA PVS, UMR 3329 AUSser)
• Eleftheria Tsakanika (Civil Engineer, Associate Professor, National Technical University of Athens)

Provisional Schedule

• February 2024: Call for Papers
• March 29, 2024: Deadline for submissions (communications and posters);
• May 2024: Program elaboration;
• June 2024: Final program online;
• Symposium on September 19-20, 2024.

For any questions, please contact us via email: organisationpassepresentfutur@gmail.com