Reference and Contemporaneity in Architecture

The conference is dedicated to the difficult relationship between reference and contemporaneity in architecture. It addresses the conflict between both ideas. This conference hypothesizes that the narratives of reference often disentangle the actual dialectic of reference and contemporaneity in favor of a radical opposition: While reference relates in large part to the past, contemporaneity is focused primarily on present and future references of originality, actuality, innovation, and problem-solving. Both concepts each have different narrative and legitimation contexts and justifications. Methodologically, the papers called for by this conference should introduce reference and contemporaneity as two normatively understood concepts that are different, but relate to each other at a critical distance – references only become problematic in their relation to actuality, while conversely contemporaneity comes into conflict with references that necessarily refer to conventions and to canonized knowledge. The call for papers is addressed to scholars of cultural studies disciplines, in particular to architecture and art historians, media scholars and architects.