[Athena] Fwd: TR : CFP: ANALOGOUS SPACES - Architecture and the space of information, intellect and action Ghent University 15-17 May 2008

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De: Noiret, Serge
Date: mar. 15/05/2007 10:29
À: DL_HEC
Objet : CFP: ANALOGOUS SPACES - Architecture and the space of information, 
intellect and action Ghent University 15-17 May 2008




Call for Papers 

International Conference 

ANALOGOUS SPACES - Architecture and the space of information, intellect and 
action Ghent University 15-17 May 2008 

The deadline for abstracts/proposals is 31 July 2007. 

The International Conference on Analogous Spaces interrogates the analogy 
between spaces in which knowledge is preserved, organized, transferred or 
activated. Although these spaces may differ in material, virtual, or operational 
ways, there are resemblances if one examines their 'structure,' 'form' and 
'architecture'. How do these spaces co-exist and interrelate?

The conference seeks papers on the following types of spaces: 
* architecture and elements of the built environment (museums, libraries and 
archives, warehouses, ministries, administrative towns, world capitals, physical 
infrastructure, functionalist urbanism, etc.); * information storage and data 
processing (databases, information retrieval, data mining, conceptual maps, 
scholarly communication, search engines, etc.); * the architecture of "the book" 
(contents and layout of atlases, scientific and scholarly treatises, 
encyclopedias, guides, manuals, children's books etc.); * organizational schemes 
and diagrams (organigrams, functional diagrams, visual language, interfaces, 
artificial intelligence, taxonomies, classification systems, itineraries, etc.).

Conference papers should examine analogical relationships between these types of 
spaces by investigating how they produce, accumulate, order, conserve, 
distribute, classify, and use knowledge.

The conference will be organized around three main themes: 
1. The first theme explores spatial analogies in terms of social and 
intellectual networks. What are the geographic relationships and/or 
technological affordances that support or inhibit the development of such 
networks? What constrains their development and effectiveness and how do 
different kinds of network models help in understanding their formation, 
evolution and dissolution. 2. The second theme deals with the space of knowledge 
and memory. How can we compare the encyclopedia and the museum, the book and the 
library, the diagram and the database? How do they use architecture to structure 
knowledge and how is architecture used as a metaphor of memory? 3. The third 
theme explores the space required for speed, action and decision making. In 
modernity, fast and effective action generates its own space of organization, 
intelligence and feedback. What does this space look like, and what are the 
different ways in which it can be represented?

The Paul Otlet Case Study > The conference considers Paul Otlet (Brussels 
1868-Brussels 1944), Belgian intellectual, utopian internationalist and 
visionary theorist about knowledge organization, as a stepping stone. The life 
and work of Otlet are an inspiring case study, however they certainly do not 
delimit the issues addressed in this colloquium. Otlet, together with Henri La 
Fontaine, developed the Universal Decimal Classification system for bibliography 
and documentation, and founded the International Institute for Bibliography and 
the Union of International Associations. He and La Fontaine were also 
influential in the movement that led to the creation of the League of Nations. 
Otlet was also the co-founder of the Union Internationale des Villes. In the 
field of architecture he is especially known for his collaboration with Le 
Corbusier in creating plans for a Mundaneum or an international centre for 
information, education and science in Geneva. He was also a leading figure in 
the architectural design and urban planning of a model seaside community at 
Westend before World War I. All of his endeavours aimed at the international 
development and centralization of scientific and cultural networks.

Session Themes 
1. Spaces of Intellectual Networks > Papers in this session of the conference 
will examine theoretical and historical perspectives on intellectual networks. 
The focus is on (but not limited to) the early twentieth century when European 
intellectuals such as Paul Otlet, Edmond Picard, Emile Vinck, René Worms, 
Patrick Geddes, Wilhelm Ostwald, Otto Neurath and Le Corbusier not only 
participated in, but also founded and developed different (trans)national 
networks. How are we to capture the dimensions and interconnections of the 
networks in which figures such as these were involved? And how do other 
intellectual and cultural networks centered in different nations function in 
terms of cooperation or competition? How can we map or describe the space of 
these networks which was often physically operationalized by the creation of 
institutions and associations, scholarly journals or bibliographical services, 
conferences, lecture series, and (world) exhibitions, but which also had an 
informal, interpersonal dimension? What was the impact of geographical scale on 
the development of these networks (local, national, transnational, 
international)? How were they influenced by changing technologies of 
communication (rail networks, the telephone, the telegraph, postal services, 
periodical publications, news bulletin, etc.)? How did individuals position 
themselves within these networks? Papers may utilize new conceptual tools to 
help us understand the modern physical and organizational spaces of intellectual 
networks, and authors are encouraged to include more recent theories of network 
analysis and social transformation stimulated by the virtual and online 
technologies of information.

2. Space of Knowledge and Memory > Papers in this session of the conference will 
examine spatial analogies related to the architecture of accumulation (archives, 
warehouses, etc.), the document as a space of knowledge (books, objects, images, 
documents, statistical data, etc.) and the space of memory (libraries, museums, 
databases, records, etc.). The museum can be considered as an atlas or an 
encyclopedia. The space of the library is organized in part by systems for the 
classification and arrangement of documents. The space of the book is like that 
of a library where knowledge, texts and images are differentially situated and 
interrelated physically by conceptual structures (indexes, lists of figures, 
tables of contents, footnotes, bibliographies, and so on). The architecture of 
databases is made comprehensible by means of diagrams. Architecture can be used 
in all of these cases both as a means of and a metaphor for storing and making 
information accessible. As a means, architecture expresses the function of an 
archive: the structuring, putting and holding of things in place and providing 
routes of access to and between them. But buildings and towns are also metaphors 
for information space, as reflected in, for example, Castells's concept of the 
informational city, information highways, and modern notions as information 
architecture or website architecture. Moreover, architecture, the city, 
information, and even philosophical texts and psychological theories have been 
represented in spatial terms by maps, guides, diagrams, classification and index 
systems, etc. How do requirements for the storage, management and accessibility 
of knowledge produce their own spaces? How are these spaces represented? What 
has been the impact of the development of artificial memory sciences and 
computer technology on the art and discipline of architecture itself?

3. Space of Action and Decision Making > The third session addresses the space 
of action, speed and decision making in the city. In order to govern the city or 
to make decisions on urban processes, procedures or mechanisms that guide these 
decision processes are needed. Not only are these processes themselves subjected 
to permanent managerial controls, but so are the different data networks on 
which they are based, such as those for water, electricity, telephony, traffic, 
meteorology, sewage, roads, land ownership, police, etc. To develop these 
networks with high precision, to legitimate choices in town planning practice or 
to develop effective urban planning policy, information and data must be 
gathered from different places, practices, institutions and disciplines. The 
descriptive tradition of the survey in the history of town planning for example, 
illustrates the importance of accumulating documented evidence. Its aim is not 
only to amass extensive knowledge about the city, but to synthesize and organize 
it in a goal-oriented way in order to be able to take action. The speed of 
information processing becomes a strategic dimension of decision making. 
Government bodies and administrative institutions look for ever more rapid and 
effective monitoring tools and expert systems. The papers in this session will 
deal with such questions as: How do these systems influence the organizational, 
legislative, bureaucratic and political structures responsible for city 
planning? How is this space of action and decision making supported, organized 
and represented?


Abstracts > 
Papers: Participants in the conference will submit abstracts for the papers they 
wish to present. Abstracts will normally be not more than 750 words. Abstracts 
will explain the methodological or conceptual goals of the papers and may use a 
combination of text, diagrams, illustrations, schemes, etc. to do so. Posters 
and multimedia presentations: however this call is not only for formal papers 
but also for abstracts for posters, slideshows, movies, installations or other 
types of visual media relevant to the themes of the conference. Provision will 
be made for their display and presentation in the conference venue and for their 
authors to explain their work to the public. The International Conference on 
Analogous Spaces aims to provide an interdisciplinary forum for researchers and 
practitioners from different disciplines such as Art and Architectural History, 
Urban Planning, Library and Information Sciences, Computer Science, Cultural and 
Urban Studies, Cultural History, Sociology, Knowledge Visualization, Information 
Architecture, and Cognitive Art.

Calendar > 
* 31 July 2007     Deadline submission of abstracts 
* 31 October 2007  Selection of papers 
* 31 March 2008    Submission of final papers and other contributions 
* 15-17 May 2008   Conference Analogous Spaces 

Practical Information > 
* Conference language: English 
* Conference venue: Ghent (Belgium) 
* Publication: A selection of conference papers will be published * Information: 
www.analogousspaces.com * E-mail: analogousspaces AT architectuur.ugent.be

Conference Committee > 
Alistair Black, Koos Bosma, Pierre Chabard, Pierre Delsaerdt, Guy De Tré, 
Steffen Ducheyne, Bernd Frohmann, Giuliano Gresleri, Janusz Kacprzyk, Gert 
Morreel, Boyd Rayward, Dominique Rouillard, Pieter Uyttenhove, Wouter Van Acker, 
Charles van den Heuvel, David Vanderburgh, Herbert Van de Sompel, Sylvia Van 
Peteghem, Nader Vossoughian, Christophe Verbruggen, Hans Van de Voorde, Volker 
Welter, Lofti Asker Zadeh, Slawomir Zadrozny

Organizing Committee > 
Guy De Tré, Pieter Uyttenhove, Wouter Van Acker and Sylvia Van Peteghem of Ghent 
University. The International Conference on Analogous Spaces is an initiative of 
the Department of Architecture and Urban Planning in cooperation with Ghent 
University Library and Computer Science Laboratory, Ghent University.

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