CALL FOR PAPERS:

Interstices Journal of Architecture and Related Arts
Issue 20:2020 Political Matters: Spatial Thinking of the Alternative

Issue Editors: Farzaneh Haghighi (University of Auckland) & Nikolina Bobic (University of Plymouth)
Deadline for paper submission:  9^th December 2019 – 5:00pm NZT
https://interstices.ac.nz/index.php/Interstices/announcement/view/2

At a time when the Western political climate is synonymous with Brexit, Donald Trump and Boris Johnston, the Christchurch terrorist attack, Australia’s Manus Island detention centres, the US-Mexico border and the global refugee crisis, the urgency of addressing the relationship between politics and space is more pressing than ever. To answer the question of what it means for space to be political beyond it merely being an expression of hegemonic orders, we follow Hannah Arendt’s celebration of political action, and her stance that political questions are far too serious to be left to politicians (1970). We draw upon Chantal Mouffe’s concept of agonism and the impossibility of a final reconciliation in thinking the political (2013). We acknowledge Paul Virilio’s thinking on negative horizon whereby perception is not just dependent upon the framing and mastering of the rhetoric of media and memory, but rather this mastery is also framed and dependent upon seeing abysses (1989, 2005, 2009). Finally, we emphasise Michel Foucault’s reconceptualisation of power as being productive rather than oppressive (1980). To make sense of, and come to grips with, this contemporary landscape requires a detailed reflection and analysis at different levels – individual, social, cultural, environmental, technological, medical, economic or legal.

Comprehending the complex forms of surveillance and governance in the age of contemporaneity requires one to problematise the limits of spatial politics in the society of control (1995). Indeed, it may require a different placing and questioning of ideas, events and spaces than the norm. Questioning and disrupting the limits of the norm may enable frictions and generate new knowledge. This issue of Interstices seeks papers that address the complexity at the nexus of architecture, urbanism, sociology, human geography and political philosophy, and focuses on the following themes:

• Power, Memory and Identity
• The Spectacle and the Screen
• Housing, Urban Commons and the Social
• Events, Flows and Public Space
• Territories, Walls and Peripheries

Discussion on the convolutedness of control societies are also oriented towards formulating the hopeful, active and productive role space may have in the formation of social movements and in transforming everyday life – in other words, where we become active participants in the cities we live in, rather than passive designers or consumers serving the interest of market economies. It is where liberating spaces for thinking differently can thrive. Likewise, it is where access to, and dwelling in, space is enabled. It is where we can engage with questions of conflict, security and territorial stability, however, not at the expense of dehumanising the Other. Moreover, the implication of these explorations for architectural pedagogy remains a fruitful opportunity for political agency and we encourage submissions on this topic as well. The thematic call on Political Matters: Spatial Thinking on the Alternative for Issue 20 of Interstices: Journal of Architecture and Related Arts seeks ambitious, innovative and rigorous scholarship of 5,000-word papers. The proposed schedule is outlined below:

14^th August 2019: Call for 5,000-word papers issued
9^th December 2019: Deadline for 5,000-word paper submissions
July 2020: Estimated journal publication

Please submit all papers to: susan.hedges@aut.ac.nz

For journal submission guidelines see: https://interstices.ac.nz/index.php/Interstices/Style_Guide
For all Interstices matters see: https://interstices.ac.nz/index.php/Interstices

 

CALL FOR Creative Design Research Projects:

Interstices Journal of Architecture and Related Arts
Issue 20:2020 Political Matters: Spatial Thinking of the Alternative

Issue Editors: Farzaneh Haghighi (University of Auckland) & Nikolina Bobic (University of Plymouth)
Deadline for submission: 31 January 2020- 5:00pm NZT
https://interstices.ac.nz/index.php/Interstices/announcement/view/3

Continuing our commitment to publishing the work of emerging designer researchers, Interstices: Journal of Architecture & Related Arts invite postgraduate or recently graduated researchers in architecture and related art and design fields to submit projects for the journal’s peer-reviewed, creative design research section. Projects should be complete at the time of submission and are to include an explanatory synopsis of 1,500 words. Project documentation and the synopsis should conform to the following requirements:

• Be original and unpublished previously
• In the case of visual material, include no more than eight indicative views of the proposal
• In the case of moving image, animated sequences, or audio works, not exceed four minutes duration
• Include a scholarly and critically situating synopsis for the project coauthored by both the project’s creator and the supervisor(s) involved (if applicable). The synopsis should bear the name of the researcher as the primary author and the supervisor (if included) as the secondary author
• Exhibit, if feasible, a relationship with the journal issue theme. See – the current call for papers for Issue 20 | Political Matters – https://interstices.ac.nz/index.php/Interstices/announcement/view/2

Submissions will be considered for inclusion in Issue 20 of Interstices: Journal of Architecture & Related Arts, scheduled for publication in mid – 2020. All submission will be blind refereed by an invited panel.

Visit our website to view the Guidelines for Submissions for details about the reviewing process, copyright issues and formatting: https://interstices.ac.nz/index.php/Interstices/Style_Guide.
Please submit all Creative Design Research Projects to: andrew.douglas@auckland.ac.nz