Docomomo announces the Call for Papers of the 13th International Docomomo Conference that will take place in Seoul, South Korea, between 24-27 September 2014.
More information will be added in the next days at http://docomomo-seoul2014.org/eng/ and http://www.docomomo.com/.
Dates to remember:
Call for Papers:
The Modern Movement challenged a millennium of classical values through a collective global revolution in technological, social, political and aesthetic spatial values. The magnitude and complexity of this confrontation between epochs multiplied when Modernity’s western values expanded into the Asian sphere.
The diasporas of Modernity and the resultant local interpretations of the movement are well documented and known. Even the moniker “International Style” presumed a singularity on a global scale, only to be tweaked and usurped by regional modern architects who would integrate modern values with regional sensibilities. But it is important to remember these exchanges and re- calibrations took place on the shared stage of a singular western culture.
The 2014 International Conference re-measures this expansion of the Modern ethos within a wholly different context of Asia. Instigated by a geo-political expansionist policy, these colonial expansions produced violent confrontations and challenged the very cultural and heritage foundation of Asia. As a result, the relevancy of the Modern Movement—not as a style but as a way of thinking, a harbinger of contemporary values—was tested and fortified. Predictably, Modernity in Asia grew and matured through this process of conflict and expansion and intrinsically took on very distinct identities in different regions. To comprehend the variety of Asian Modernism, it is vital to map a comparative analysis of each country´s Modern roots and major achievements.
The theme of Expansion and Conflict fundamentally interrogates the values and relevancy of the Modern Movement through the extreme cultural lens of Asia. By this interrogation, we hope to secure its aspirational role in any culture and society. We would declare that conflict is not necessarily a pejorative but maybe a challenge for the future. It signifies a vigorous recognition of each culture’s robust and intrinsic values—the existing culture and modernism’s raison d’être. As Modern Movement is asked to earn a space of its own by clashing with the existing intrinsic order, it does so by forming a new value system. Through this process, it grows to become a regional phenomenon and eventually gains the momentum necessary to develop and expand on its own.
The 2014 Call for Paper is ultimately, about the resilience of Modern Movement.
For online submission of abstracts and guidelines: http://docomomo-seoul2014.org/eng/call/call01.php