Traditionally, architecture has been aimed at defying time. The very basis of architectural culture rests on the pre-modern hypothesis that architecture should last, that buildings outlive their makers, bearing over time the prowess of their authors and the greatness of their patrons.
Is this only a vain aspiration to immortality that modernity has disavowed?
The journal studies in History and Theory of Architecture, published by the Department of Architectural History &
Theory and Heritage Conservation at «Ion Mincu» University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest, Romania,
invites submissions for the 2022 issue.
EPHEMERAL. BUILT NOT TO LAST
Traditionally, architecture has been aimed at defying time. The very basis of architectural culture rests on the pre-modern hypothesis that architecture should last, that buildings outlive their makers, bearing over time the prowess of their
authors and the greatness of their patrons.
Is this only a vain aspiration to immortality that modernity has disavowed?
Modernity, with its programmatic rejection of the past and
incessant quest for renewal, has left an indelible mark of
transience on architecture. Sant’Elia proclaimed in 1914 that
buildings will last less than us. Again, in the 1960s, Frei Otto
suggested that buildings should not apply only for construction
permits, but also, every five years, for permits to remain.
Whenever an established architectural stance was questioned by a
revolutionary vein, the former’s inadequacy was to be replaced by
the latter’s convenience, while age and permanence were being
perceived as obsolete. Have any of these instances come up with a
theoretical model to replace “permanence”?
Despite its anticipations, the twentieth century has not
transformed this model; on the contrary, its architecture is also
built to last, but ages faster, quickly becoming out-of-date, while
producing more waste than ever. Maybe, the twenty-first century’s urge for sustainability would reveal that architecture’s
durability resides precisely in its ephemeral nature.
Thus, the relationship between architecture and time — be it the
impersonal and continuous time flow or time experienced as
present, past, and future — remains a matter to be reflected on.
Architectural time can multiply in alternate perspectives and it
can also end. How are diferent aspects of temporality acknowledged in architecture today?
For the tenth issue of sITA, we invite contributions willing to
reconsider history and theory by focusing on the topics that
emerge from architecture’s correlation with time:
— Reflections on architecture’s claim to permanence or
transience;
— The less conspicuous presence of ephemeral architecture, and
architecture designed not to last;
— Historical accounts of changes that de ne distinct layers of
architecture — solid/durable and light/shifting;
— The contemporary need for the ephemeral: programmatic
flexibility, user interventions adjusting and revising more rigid
projects, projects aimed to be complemented by usage, architectural emergencies that channel invention and imagination;
— Critical examples of fleeting architecture aimed at either
illustrating or probing new technologies, ways of life, new
attitudes concerning architecture and time, etc.
A preliminary abstract of 200 – 250 words should be submitted
by March 7, 2022 at https://sita.uauim.ro/call-for-papers.
Selected contributors will be notified by e-mail on March 21. The final article should be submitted for review by June 6.
Contributions will undergo a double-blind peer review procedure.
Reviews of current events (conferences, recent publications,
exhibitions) which are of interest for the fields of architectural
history and theory are also welcome. Reviews should be submitted by June 27, 2022.
All correspondence will be addressed to sita@uauim.ro, to the
attention of Andreea Chircă (assistant editor of the current
issue).
Guidelines for authors
Manuscripts are to be submitted in US English and should range
between 5,000-8,000 words, including references, tables, and
bibliography. Reviews should range between 1,000-2,000 words. The title page should include the contributor’s name, affiliation and e-mail address, 5-7 keywords, as well an abstract of 200-250
words. An extended summary ranging between 700 and 1,000
words (to be published in Romanian) must also be submitted.
Romanian authors are kindly asked to send in the extended
summary in Romanian; our staff will undertake the translation
for foreign authors. Reviews should not be accompanied by
abstract, summary, or keywords. Contributors are asked to send a
Microsoft Word compatible document, with minimal formatting.
For notes (as footnotes) and reference list, please use the Chicago
Manual of Style, “Notes and bibliography” style (for details and
examples, see https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/
tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html).
A reference list will be included at the end of the paper. Illustrations (.tiff or .jpg format, min. 300 dpi at printed size) must be
provided separately, and their location must be indicated clearly
throughout the paper. A full list of figure captions is to be
provided at the end of the article (including figure number,
description, and source). Authors are responsible for securing the
rights to reproduce and publish all graphic material.
For full details, see please Instructions for authors at sita.uauim.ro.
