23rd Annual Conference of the Society of Architectural Historians Australia and New Zealand.

Title: "Contested Terrains"

From the Call for Papers:

‘Contested Terrains’ describe the diverse and competing array of perspectives that converge around any given historical subject of architecture. The theme builds on the complex interplay and tensions that derive from the varied range of histories, theories, meanings and values surrounding our sense and understanding of architectural and urban form. It accommodates the controversial, problematic, volatile, contradictory and ambiguous and asks what this implies for the history of architecture and related fields. In what ways, furthermore, can we begin to think, see and frame architecture and urban space as particular sites of contestation, as terrains inhabited and overlaid by the conflicting imperatives of history and theory or demands of academy, profession and community? To what degree should we celebrate or limit the conflict of such narratives and counter-realities? And does the idea of ‘Contested Terrains’ represent an opportunity or threat to our comprehension of architecture’s identity, purpose and significance? ‘Contested Terrains’ pronounce on the profound and multiple collisions of narratives that impact on the way we historically experience, interpret and critically engage with architecture and the urban realm.