Call for Papers
Society of Architectural Historians
64th Annual Meeting
April 13-17, 2011
New Orleans, Louisiana

Session: ARCHITECTURE AND GASTRONOMY

Architecture and food have long held analogies. Both can be characterized
by words such as 'tasteful', 'bland', and most prominently in recent
years - 'organic'. Their synergy is embodied by the Latin word colere
('to till, tend'), which is also the root of our modern term 'to
cultivate'. Importantly, cultivation can reference both pragmatic and
symbolic phenomena. Cicero notably fused the concrete and figurative
inflections of the term, proposing that the human mind must be cultivated
in order 'to fruit'. During the Enlightenment this analogy was widened
into architectural theory when J.F. Blondel defined 'taste' as the 'fruit
of reasoning'. Just as chefs designed recipes for fine cuisine,
architectural theorists began to devise rules for good architecture.

While both architecture and gastronomy are disciplines that espouse
fundamental principles and standards, neither can be wholly controlled by
absolute prescriptions or rigid formulae. They rely on a combination of
intuition, inventiveness, and even wonder. This session aims to illuminate
and clarify the reciprocity between building and eating, paying particular
attention to the role of gastronomy in the expression and interpretation
of architecture. Proposals can be from diverse approaches, and those that
reassess the metaphorical relationship between taste and architecture are
particularly welcome. Speakers may also wish to present case studies that
address how the built environment, including landscape, participates in
the experience of a meal. Possible questions to explore might include:
What is the underlying significance of the terms like 'setting' and
'service' within architectural discourse? How do food markets contribute
to the character of a city? In what ways does architecture structure
certain forms of dining, such as ritual meals and communal feasts? How can
tastes and smells help define the memory of particular places? The session
is also open to presentations that examine emerging dialogues between
building and eating, such as how vernacular architecture and regionalism
have been aligned with contemporary movements like Slow Food and Edible
Schoolyards.

The deadline for receipt of paper proposals is 14 August 2010.

Please submit proposals to the session chair: Dr Samantha
Martin-McAuliffe, University College Dublin School of Architecture,
Richview, Clonskeagh, Dublin 14, Republic of Ireland. +353.1.716.2757
samantha.martinmcauliffeucd.ie

Any questions about the session can also be sent directly to the chair.

Further details about the conference and requirements for submitting a
proposal are available on the SAH website:
http://www.sah.org/index.php?src=news&srctype=detail&category=News&refno=83