Architecture + Urbanism recommends 'Designing Place'

Designing Place - International Urban Design Conference

5th & 6th April 2012

Designing Place is an International Urban Design Conference organised by the Urban Design Research Group at the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, The University of Nottingham.

Over the past twenty years, place has emerged as the key concept for urban design. The concept of place is loosely defined as the interrelationship between the formal and spatial organisation of buildings, groups of buildings, streets, spaces and landscapes; the activities taking place within it and the meaning associated with it. The agency assigned to each of these components of place varies according to different traditions of thought and design theory. By definition, the triad of space, activity and meaning cannot be captured in a fixed theoretical framework.

The conference seeks to revisit and clarify place as a concept for current urban design theory and practice. It invites papers that examine the definition, scope and instrumentality of place as a tool for design.

Keynote Speakers:

Amanda Reynolds, Chair of the Urban Design Group

Ali Madanipour, Professor of Urban Design, Newcastle University

Themes:

• Theoretical definitions and the conceptual components of place

• Methodological studies that suggest a form of analysis or pedagogy

• Case studies that examine the specificities of place

Contributions will be organised in thematic sessions. Selected texts will be published in an accompanying book.

Submissions:

Abstracts should not be longer than 400 words, and sent by e-mail as Word (doc) or Adobe Acrobat (pdf) files to katharina.borsi@nottingham.ac.uk by 30th September 2011. Abstract proposals will be reviewed by the conference advisory board. Abstracts need to indicate:

• Paper Title
• Name, Surname and Affiliation of all authors
• 150 words biography of all authors
• Email address for corresponding author
• Keywords