Identity

Conference „Architecture and Identity“
Berlin, December 6 – 8, 2004
House of World Cultures

HABITAT UNIT, Prof. Dr. Peter Herrle, Berlin University of Technology
in cooperation with the House of World Cultures

funded by VolkswagenStiftung

Registration & Information: www.architecture-identity.de

How does architecture define the “own“ in a context of globalization vs.
regionalization? What is the influence of the “foreign” in the
construction of cultural identity in architecture? These are questions
an international group of academics and practitioners of architecture
and the social sciences will explore during the Berlin conference
“Architecture and Identity,” December 6 – 8, 2004.

The HABITAT UNIT of Berlin University of Technology has invited more
than sixty experts from thirty-six countries to participate, including
the architect Rasem Badran (Jordan), the sociologist Anthony King (USA),
the theoretician Liana Lefaivre (Austria), and the historian Dogan Kuban
(Turkey), all key protagonists of the world-wide debate. The conference
is chaired by Prof. Dr. Peter Herrle of the HABITAT UNIT, a research
division of the department of architecture at Berlin University of
Technology focusing on socio-economic aspects of architecture and
urbanism. Part of a one-year research project on the making of the “own”
and the “foreign” in architecture, the conference is funded by the
VolkswagenStiftung (Volkswagen Foundation). Three hundred participants
from around the globe are expected.

The conference is structured both by regions and by topics. The first
session will specifically consider the research project’s regional
studies in Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, India and Singapore; the second
session, divided into five parallel discussion panels structured around
topics, will discuss themes such as “The Making of Local Identity” and
“Identity and (Invented) Traditions.”

TENTATIVE PROGRAM

Monday, December 6, 2004

9:00
Welcome and Opening
Prof. Dr. Peter Herrle, Berlin University of Technology
Prof. Dr. Kurt Kutzler, President, Berlin University of Technology

10:00 – 18:00
Regional Reports from the Research Project „The Own and the Foreign in
Architecture“

The Making of Identity in Brazil
Prof. Ruth Verde Zein, Sao Paulo

The Making of Identity in India
Prof. Rahul Mehrotra, Bombay / Ann Arbor

The Making of Identity in Mexico
Susanne Dussel, Mexico City / Berlin

The Making of Identity in the Middle East
Prof. Khaled Asfour, Kairo

The Making of Identity in Singapore
Prof. Robert Powell, London (in cooperation with William Lim, Singapore)

20:00
Evening Lecture by Prof. Dogan Kuban, historian, Istanbul, Turkey

Tuesday, Decembger 7, 2004

9:00
Morning Lecture by Prof. Anthony King, sociologist, Binghamton, USA

10:00-18:00
Five Parallel Panel Discussions on Cross-Regional Topics:

Panel I: The Making of Local Identity
This panel focuses on the question of how local identity is currently
being made.

Panel II: The Global and the Local
This panel deals with the impact of globalization on local architecture
and related discourses.

Panel III: Theoretical Concepts – Revisited
This panel discusses the validity of concepts that have been developed
over the past 20 years to explain contemporary phenomena in architecture.

Panel IV: Diversity as a Pattern of Local Architecture
This panel focuses on the diversification of styles and architectural
languages.

Panel V: Identity and (Invented) Traditions
This panel discusses the role and meaning of tradition in the making of
identity in contemporary architecture.

20:00
Evening Lecture by Rasem Badran, architect, Amman, Jordan

Wednesday, December 8, 2004

9:00
Morning Lecture by Prof. Liane Lefaivre, theoretician, Austria

10:00 – 14:00
Presentations from Panels I - V

Discussion

15:00
Summary and Closing