Program

Eastern European Time (EET).

The organizers reserve the right to changes.

You can find detailed operational and technical instructions here.

1.1 ‘Northernness’ – its history in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban design

Widely used to describe and define architecture from the Nordic countries, the term ‘Northernness’ in architectural research and practice is contested by many scholars, and even considered politically incorrect by some. This track reflects the canon of architectural history and the epistemological construction of ‘Northernness’ or the specifically Nordic in and by architecture, architectural education, and architectural research. In what way has this notion, and society’s understanding of it, developed over time? NAF/NAAR has welcomed papers that, in different ways and using different methods and means, deal with the model of Nordic architecture and what it is that makes it Nordic. Papers may focus on case studies, archival studies, literature analyses or reviews, et cetera.

1.2 ‘Northernness’ – its architectural representation and aesthetics

How is ‘Northernness’—or the specifically Nordic—expressed in and by architecture and its representations? This track focuses on ‘Northenrnness’ and its representation and dissemination in various mass media—architectural exhibitions, architectural television programmes, and architectural books, et cetera—which may have an influence on society’s notion of cultural heritage ideologies and collective memory in architecture. It also addresses the aesthetics connected with the so-called Nordic in Northern architecture or, more specifically, how it is—and has been—expressed, interpreted, and cherished in the built environment, in its infrastructure, and also in its arts and crafts traditions and industries.

1.3 ‘Northerness’ – its challenges in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning as a design practice

Above all, does it still make sense to talk about regional architecture, ‘Northernness’, or the specifically Nordic in a globalized world? And, if so, how much so-called Nordic architecture contributes to the understanding of global challenges in society and its built environment? How does the concept of ‘Northernness’ specifically allow for posing and confronting the important questions for design practice today? Or is ‘Northernness’ itself being transformed by actual ways of designing? This track is open to different perspectives on the issues of contemporary design practice in architecture, urban planning, and landscape architecture, such as planning processes, housing issues, sustainability and climate changes, et cetera.

*This can be, for instance, architecture and urban design in cooperation with computer science, information processing science, economics, lighting design and research, industrial engineering and management, innovation studies, education, health studies, social sciences such as geography, cultural anthropology, interaction and communication studies.