COMMUNITY SPACES: CONCEPTION – APPROPRIATION – IDENTITY
\nNetwork 45plus: Post-War Architecture in Europe
\nDarmstadt, Germany, September 7-8, 2012.<\/p>\n
Deadline: 22 April, 2012<\/p>\n
Large housing estates of the post-war era have shaped the face of many
\ncities throughout Europe. In the original plans of the 1950s-1980s they
\nwere to amend the urban structure and in many cases they were expected to
\nenable a superior form of communality and urbanity. The estates were built
\nto ease the housing shortage, but were also thought to quite literally
\nbecome the home for a \u201cnew society\u201d, be it under socialist regimes or the
\ndemocratic welfare state. The reformation of society was linked to plans
\nfor a constructed environment and was expected to be supported by the
\nenvironment of the estates and, most crucially, their community spaces.
\n
\nBy focusing on community spaces, such as community centers, schools,
\nchurches, hospitals, shopping districts but also parks, open spaces and
\nsport-grounds, this 45plus conference addresses spaces that were thought to
\nbe a particularly important points of identification for the \u201cnew
\nsocieties\u201d these estates were expected to foster. Community spaces were
\nplanned in order to hold the housing estates together \u2013 as well designed
\nand attractive built environments, as social hubs and especially as
\nsymbolic anchors. Quite often, they boasted prominent design features,
\nintended to serve as recognisable markers of the estates and their
\nprogrammatic subtexts. While planners and politicians conceptualized
\ncommunity spaces with their potential to shape identification in view,
\ncommunities tended to appropriate such spaces in different ways and to
\nreinterpret their meanings. In short, local inhabitants \u2013 as well as the
\nbroader public \u2013 possibly identified with community spaces, their
\nindividual features and with the ideas and practices they associated with
\nthem in significantly different ways than originally intended. Today, the
\ncontinuing tension between intention and appropriation of community spaces
\ncan be understood as an indicator of identification processes and appears
\nto be one of the major challenges in the redevelopment of large housing
\nestates, but might also provide unexpected opportunities.<\/p>\n
For the conference we are seeking papers on community spaces in large-scale
\nhousing estates of the 1950s-1980s that either explore the original
\nconceptualization or the subsequent appropriation in their relevance for
\nthe development of and especially the identification with the estates. We
\nspecifically encourage contributions that compare and contrast intended and
\nactual processes of identification and appropriation. As an
\ninterdisciplinary endeavor, the conference aims to draw together
\narchitectural analyses of individual buildings, public spaces, the
\nmorphology of the estates and their urban design on the one hand and
\nresearch on the conception, the public perception, and the use of
\nindividual features as well as complete ensembles of community spaces from
\nhistorical, sociological and political backgrounds on the other hand.<\/p>\n
Proposals should be submitted to 45plus@fgstadt.org by April 22, 2012.
\nWe will notify accepted paper-givers by May 6, 2012.<\/p>\n
The organizing committee:
\nMaren Harnack, FH Frankfurt am Main
\nSebastian Haumann, TU Darmstadt
\nMario Tvrtkovic, TU Darmstadt
\nTobias Michael Wolf, Landesamt f\u00fcr Denkmalpflege Hessen<\/p>\n
Sebastian Haumann
\nTechnische Universit\u00e4t Darmstadt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
COMMUNITY SPACES: CONCEPTION – APPROPRIATION – IDENTITY Network 45plus: Post-War Architecture in Europe Darmstadt, Germany, September 7-8, 2012. Deadline: 22 April, 2012 Large housing estates of the post-war era have shaped the face of many cities throughout Europe. In the original plans of the 1950s-1980s they were to amend the urban structure and in many … <\/p>\n