MAPPING
IMPORTANT DATES
CALL
We are pleased to invite submissions for the CA²RE Conference, hosted by the University of Évora under the theme MAPPING. The event welcomes researchers and practitioners from diverse fields engaged in Design-driven and Artistic Research to share and discuss their projects through intensive peer review and critical dialogue.
THEME – MAPPING
Traditional mapping has long been a tool to delineate physical spaces, often reflecting prevailing power structures and control mechanisms. However, mapping as a concept now seeks to transcend these conventional boundaries by incorporating both methodological and instrumental dimensions, as well as symbolic, cultural, aesthetical, and ecological aspects.
This edition of CA2RE suggests this expanded approach goes beyond traditional mapping providing an open and diverse debate that welcomes examples of multi- and trans-disciplinary thinking and doing.
It challenges established means and narratives imposed on space and territory, offering more holistic and inclusive understandings of the environments we inhabit. It stimulates alternative ways of analysing, interpreting, and researching architectural and artistic domains.
By embracing performative and critical cartographies, mapping enables the deconstruction of spaces shaped by dynamics of appropriation and control. It questions pre-existing spatial narratives while empowering communities to reclaim and reinterpret their environments through collaborative practices.
The integration of digital and physical networks of control into mapping processes further expands the field, offering a comprehensive view of how technologies shape our perceptions and interactions with space. By documenting these often-invisible forces, mapping can develop critical visualisations that reveal how territories are structured and transformed.
Drawing as a critical methodology serves as a bridge between artistic expression and spatial analysis. This hybrid form of representation fosters innovation in artistic and architectural practices, encouraging a (re)imagination of space that prioritises cultural significance and ecological sustainability.
Mapping, therefore, offers not only a method but a theoretical framework for exploring the complex relationship between human interventions and the environment. It prompts a re-evaluation of how we design, inhabit, and perceive spaces, advocating for practices sensitive to cultural narratives and environmental imperatives.
By adopting mapping concepts, researchers and practitioners can contribute to the transformation of cultural and social landscapes, promoting resilience and sustainability. This aligns with contemporary movements in architectural research that emphasise interdisciplinarity, inclusivity, and innovation.
Mapping establishes itself as a fundamental conceptual tool in the (re)imagination of spatial representation, opening pathways for more equitable and sustainable (inter)actions with our environments.
LINES OF RESEARCH
Following Christopher Frayling’s seminal text «Research in Art and Design», the conference proposes three lines of research, offering three different frameworks for discussion:
1st STAGE SUBMISSION
For the submission, the applicants are asked to provide the following:
2nd STAGE SUBMISSION
Layout specifications will be sent with the email of acceptance.
IN-PERSON PRESENTATIONS
Each participant will have 60 minutes to present and discuss their work. This session with international reviewers will be regarded as a second peer review.
During the in-person presentation, participants are encouraged in experimental presentation formats through live performances, live reports from construction sites, office and research environments, movie clips, virtual 3-dimensional meeting places, etc.
PUBLICATION
Participants’ essays will be published in the conference book of abstracts.
Selected applicants will be invited for publication, depending on the focus of the planned presentation and discussion with international reviewers. (Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license).
VENUE
University of Évora Colégio do Espirito Santo
FEE
Registration fee:
ORGANISING COMMITTEE
Pedro Guilherme (UÉ)
Sofia Salema (UÉ)
Edite Rosa (UBI)
Joaquim Almeida (UC)
João Menezes Sequeira (UBI)
Ana Telles (UÉ)
Maria Conceição Freire (UÉ)
CONTACT: ca2re@evora.pt
Images: @ Álvaro Siza, page 19, Sketchbook 009, October 1977; @ Álvaro Siza, page 13, Sketchbook 014, January 1978