15-17th April 2008, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

A collaboration between the University of Strathclyde’s Departments of Architecture and English Studies.

CALL FOR PAPERS

This interdisciplinary conference investigates the relationships between architectural and literary constructions of space. It will explore the influence of spatial theories within literary texts; consider how writers evoke and represent a sense of place; and invite new perspectives on the aesthetic, physical, and social functions of texts in the design, production and consumption of the built environment. The conference also aims to discuss these insights within the context of Glasgow. The social and performance events - to include a champagne reception at the City Chambers, a walking tour of the Necropolis, a trip down the Clyde, and visits to the old industrial and residential areas of the city - will encourage participants to reflect on the connections between their “academic” and other uses of text and space.

We welcome a wide range of disciplinary theorisations of the concepts of text and space, literature and architecture. This international event aims to bring together scholars, artists, architects, writers, urban planners and filmmakers and many other interested individuals and organisations. We are happy to accept contributions in any media but proposals for 20-minute presentations and 10-minute A2 poster sessions, focused around the following Architextural themes are invited.

Abstracts of Papers (300 words max.) should be submitted by 30th January 2008, by email to c.p.mclean@strath.ac.uk. Final draft of papers submitted for publication by Monday 13th August 2008.

The accompanying questions are merely suggestive of some of the themes that could be addressed:

DIFFERENT GENRES

What are the differences in the way in which novelists, poets, journalists, and travel writers treat the subject of space in their work? How do the attempts of architects and planners to construct a narrative of space differ between urban, suburban and rural contexts? What if any are the methodological similarities between the ways an architect or writer works when constructing a spatial narrative?

HISORICAL MOVEMENTS

Movements like classicism, modernism, romanticism, and post-colonialism are categories that are common to both architectural and literary history. How do they relate to each other and how are notions of space dealt with within each movement? What for instance are the connections between modernism in literature and in architecture? How does nineteenth century romanticism relate to eclecticism in architecture?

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIVES

The distinctions between what we understand by private and public space are often confusing. How do architects, planners and writers tackle issues like domesticity and the creation of private worlds? How do they tackle the development of narrative forms in the public realm in places devoted to retail or tourism? How have designers and writers addressed issues of memory and identity?

NOTATIONAL SYSTEMS

How have the development of new technology and communication systems blurred the boundaries between different creative disciplines? How are texts and narratives transcribed from one discipline into another? Are there parallels between the ways in which writers and architects experiment with form and meaning?

CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Jonathan Meades (Broadcaster and Author)
Prof. Thomas Markus (University of Strathclyde)
Prof. Victoria Rosner (Texas A & M University)
Dr Vesna Goldsworthy (Kingston University, London)

For more information and updates email: c.p.mclean@strath.ac.uk
Craig McLean, Doctoral Student, Department of English Studies.