CONFERENCE „ARCHITECTURE AND IDENTITY“
House of World Cultures
HABITAT UNIT, Prof. Dr. Peter Herrle, Berlin University of Technology
in cooperation with the House of World Cultures
funded by VolkswagenStiftung
Registration & Information: www.architecture-identity.de
How does architecture define the “own“ in a context of globalization vs. regionalization? What is the influence of the “foreign” in the construction of culural identity in architecture? These are questions an international group of academics and practitioners of architecture and the social sciences will explore during the Berlin conference “Architecture and Identity,” December 6 – 8, 2004.
The HABITAT UNIT of Berlin University of Technology has invited more than sixty experts from thirty-six countries to participate, including the architect Rasem Badran (Jordan), the sociologist Anthony King (USA), the theoretician Liana Lefaivre (Austria), and the historian Dogan Kuban (Turkey), all key protagonists of the world-wide debate. The conference is chaired by Prof. Dr. Peter Herrle of the HABITAT UNIT, a research division of the department of architecture at Berlin University of Technology focusing on socio-economic aspects of architecture and urbanism. Part of a one-year research project on the making of the “own” and the “foreign” in architecture, the conference is funded by the VolkswagenStiftung (Volkswagen Foundation). Three hundred participants from around the globe are expected.
The conference is structured both by regions and by topics. The first session will specifically consider the research project’s regional studies in Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, India and Singapore; the second session, divided into five parallel discussion panels structured around topics, will discuss themes such as “The Making of Local Identity” and “Identity and (Invented) Traditions.”
Registration & Information: www.architecture-identity.de
TENTATIVE PROGRAM
MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2004
9:00
Welcome and Opening
Prof. Dr. Peter Herrle, Berlin University of Technology
Prof. Dr. Kurt Kutzler, President, Berlin University of Technology
10:00 – 18:00
Regional Reports from the Research Project „The Own and the Foreign in Architecture“
The Making of Identity in Brazil
Prof. Ruth Verde Zein, Sao Paulo
The Making of Identity in India
Prof. Rahul Mehrotra, Bombay / Ann Arbor
The Making of Identity in Mexico
Susanne Dussel, Mexico City / Berlin
The Making of Identity in the Middle East
Prof. Khaled Asfour, Kairo
The Making of Identity in Singapore
Prof. Robert Powell, London (in cooperation with William Lim, Singapore)
20:00
Evening Lecture by Prof. Dogan Kuban, historian, Istanbul, Turkey
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2004
9:00
Morning Lecture by Prof. Anthony King, sociologist, Binghamton, USA
10:00-18:00
Five Parallel Panel Discussions on Cross-Regional Topics:
Panel I: The Making of Local Identity
This panel focuses on the question of how local identity is currently being made.
Panel II: The Global and the Local
This panel deals with the impact of globalization on local architecture and related discourses.
Panel III: Theoretical Concepts – Revisited
This panel discusses the validity of concepts that have been developed over the past 20 years to explain contemporary phenomena in architecture.
Panel IV: Diversity as a Pattern of Local Architecture
This panel focuses on the diversification of styles and architectural languages.
Panel V: Identity and (Invented) Traditions
This panel discusses the role and meaning of tradition in the making of identity in contemporary architecture.
20:00
Evening Lecture by Rasem Badran, architect, Amman, Jordan
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2004
9:00
Morning Lecture by Prof. Liane Lefaivre, theoretician, Austria
10:00 – 14:00
Presentations from Panels I – V
Discussion
15:00
Summary and Closing
Registration & Information: www.architecture-identity.de