Dear colleagues
As a member of the scientific committee, I am pleased to share the
Call for Papers for the international symposium _Mapping
Architectural Integration (1960–2000): Concepts, Controversies and
Entangled Objects,_9-12 June 2027, in Brussels and Ghent. The full
Call for Papers with a description of the different themes and
submission details can be found on the symposium’s website:
www.mappingarchitecturalintegration.com [1]. It is also downloadable
as a pdf. The short abstract is included here, below. We warmly
invite contributions and would be grateful if you could circulate
this call within your networks.
Call for Papers
Mapping Architectural Integration (1960–2000): Concepts,
Controversies and Entangled Objects
Abstract:
The international symposium _Mapping Architectural Integration
(1960–2000) _aims to critically examine architectural approaches,
projects, and debates in which the sensitive and contextual
integration of contemporary architecture into historic cities
emerged as a contested—and often contentious—issue. Within
historic cityscapes, architects have often claimed expertise and
agency to deliver design solutions that reconciled the contradictory
demands of conservation and urban planning: adapting to historical
contexts, respecting heritage values, contributing to urban renewal,
and producing an architecture “of its time.” Histories and
critiques of architectural integration have often refrained from
questioning the architect’s claim to mediate among diverse
stakeholders and concerns. Today, historical reassessments of these
projects face the challenge of addressing the socio-economic
complexities, governance frameworks, and interdisciplinary
controversies in which they were embedded.
This symposium proposes to re-examine the history of architectural
integration in historic cities through a cartography of previously
understudied cases. We seek papers that contribute to mappings of:
* Theorizations of different strands and degrees of integration
across discursive and cultural contexts.
* The negotiations, debates, and controversies through which
integration projects were constituted.
* The entanglements of these projects with broader environmental,
economic, and infrastructural processes and scales that conditioned
their materialization.
A key ambition of the symposium is to redirect this multidimensional
cartography and historiography toward peripheral urban contexts
worldwide, frequently marginalized within architectural
historiography.
Submission instructions:
Please submit an abstract of 500 words, an academic bio, and an
image, by September 15th, 2026, via the symposium website:
www.mappingarchitecturalintegration.com [1]
For questions, please contact: mapping.arch.integration@gmail.com
The symposium is organized within the framework of the research
project Integration of Contemporary Architecture in Historical
Cities in Belgium (1970–1989) at Université libre de Bruxelles
and Ghent University, funded by the Research Foundation – Flanders
(FWO) and the National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS).