International Conference
CROSS-DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN SPACE

Florence, Italy
CALL FOR ABSTRACT DEADLINE: Monday, 15.02.2016
• Cross-Disciplinary Urban Space Research Network
• Università degli Studi di Firenze | DIDA Dipartimento di Architettura
• University College Cork, Ireland 



CROSS-DISCIPLINARY PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN SPACE
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Florence, Italy, June 27th - 28th 2016 

THEMES
Urban space is the physical continuum on which human existence and social life unfold, with their complexities and contradictions, conflicts and fights, passions and needs. However, urban space is not a simple container for human and social life, neutral like an empty theatrical scene which waits to be used by actors and performers.
Although inert and difficult to transform, urban space has a natural tendency to form an indistinguishable whole with the society which inhabits and shapes it. Social structures, as well as power relations, inhabiting cultures, and modes of production, are variously encoded in it. Spatial transformations signify social dynamics and changes which are often conflicting and contradictory.
Urban planners and designers tend to ignore their controversial and problematic role, hiding themselves behind the supposed neutrality of technical expertise. This is one of the reasons why it is important to critically reconsider the notion of urban space from different disciplinary perspectives, in order to gain a better awareness of the many implications of urban design.
The conference is conceived as an opportunity for critical discussion on the topic of urban space from different disciplinary perspectives. It aims to bring together scholars from a range of disciplines including urban design, literary studies, urban and architectural history, urban sociology, urban ethnography, cultural geography, environmental studies, philosophy and aesthetics.

ORGANIZERS
• Giulio Giovannoni, University of Florence
• Silvia Ross, University College Cork

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
• Marco Cenzatti, UCBerkeley
• Leonardo Chiesi, University of Florence
• Giuseppe De Luca, University of Florence
• Giulio Giovannoni, University of Florence
• Richard Ingersoll, Syracuse University
• Medina Lasansky, Cornell University
• Andrea Mecacci, University of Florence
• Saverio Mecca, University of Florence
• Raffaele Paloscia, University of Florence
• Davide Papotti, University of Parma
• Silvia Ross, University College Cork

ORGANIZATION:
The Conference will be held at the University of Florence, Department of Architecture. Details about the conference venue will be confirmed shortly. It is not the intention of the organizers to use the conference as a way of collecting funds. Conference fees will be low, aimed at covering organizational costs and conference proceedings costs. A reduced fee will be foreseen for PhD students. Organization costs will include the invitation of a limited number of keynote speakers. 

CALL FOR PAPERS
• The organizers invite submissions for 20-minute presentations to be delivered in English.
• Please send a 300-word abstract, contact details and a brief bio by Monday, 15 February 2016 to the session organizer(s) and to the conference email address conference@crossdisciplinaryurbanspace.com.
• The organizers anticipate that a peer-reviewed collection of selected essays, to be published with an academic press, will result from the Conference.

CONFERENCE SESSIONS:
• Session 1 | Literary and cinematic portrayals of a city: narratives as interpretative tools for contemporary Italian urban environments
Organizers: Davide Papotti (University of Parma) and Dr Silvia Ross (UCC).
• Session 2 | Identity, History, and the Production of Urban Space
Organizer: Giulio Giovannoni (University of Florence).
• Session 3 | Spaces of Conflict in Modern and Contemporary Italy
Organizer: Silvia Ross (UCC).
• Session 4 | Heterotopias of Difference
Organizer: Marco Cenzatti (University of UCBerkeley).
• Session 5 | Urban Space as Art Fake
Organizer: Andrea Mecacci (University of Florence).
• Session 6 | Designed Space Versus Lived Space
Organizers: Leonardo Chiesi (University of Florence) and Giulio Giovannoni (University of Florence).
• Session 7 | Ethnographical approaches in "peripheral" areas: intersections with planning and urban design in a time of crisis
Organizers: Paola Briata (DASTU, Polytechnic of Milan) and Barbara Piga (DASTU, Polytechnic of Milan).
• Session 8 | Regulating and designing urban space for pluralism
Organizer: Francesco Chiodelli (Gran Sasso Science Institute). 

CONTACTS:
• Conference Website
• Conference Email Address
• Prof. Giulio Giovannoni: giulio.giovannoni@unifi.it