ARCHITEKTUR: GESTALTETE LEBENSWELT – BEDEUTUNGSTRÄGER – ZEITSPEICHER
BEITRÄGE ZU EINER ZEITGEMÄSSEN ARCHITEKTURGESCHICHTE

Internationale Konferenz 12.–14. Mai 2022, Universität Bern,
Hochschulzentrum von Roll, Fabrikstrasse 6, 3012 Bern Hörsaalgebäude, Raum 003

Universität Bern, Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Abt. Architekturgeschichte und Denkmalpflege
University of Bern, Institut of Art History, Dept. Architectural History and Cultural Heritage
Dr. Laura Hindelang, Prof. Dr. Bernd Nicolai, Dr. Sarah M. Schlachetzki

Um Anmeldung wird gebeten unter: vanessa.mercuriunibe.ch

Architectural History is an integral part of Art History and explores the built environment from past to present. This is specifically significant in increasingly urbanized societies. It is further linked to the eternal question: under which conditions would we like to live? With its longevity over time, architecture serves as an outstanding material archive. To decipher and contextualize architecture – also in campaigning for its preservation – creates complex insights, even for the burning questions of our present time. Tackling these challenges is an interdisciplinary endeavor, where among other disciplines, Building Archaeology, Monument Preservation, Archaeology, History Politics, and Literature collaborate.
Architecture has always been the product of negotiation and collaboration. Normative principles, claiming universality, were superseded by radical changes oftentimes reclaiming a new norm. At the same time, despite its generally static nature, architecture has always been characterized by mobility and flexibility: a quality mediated by clients, architects and users. Thus, it became a focal point of societal interests, mirroring the respective social, material and political conditions.
This conference focuses on the negotiation processes around architecture, its intercultural dimensions, criticism of the canon and its diversification. It aims to critically contribute to Architectural History as a relevant contemporary practice.

PROGRAMM/PROGRAM

Donnerstag/Thursday 12. Mai 2022

PANEL 1: NEW APPROACHES / NEW CANON
In assuming new perspectives and including marginalized regions, the art historical canon is currently being modified, although German-speaking Art History still focuses mostly on Western Europe and the United States. A remapping of Architectural History, which is long overdue, reveals new intercultural networks and previously ignored lines of transfer. This further indicates the necessity to redress national art historical narratives, specifically in the era of rising renationalization.

14.30 Begrüssung durch die Vizerektorin Entwicklung der Universität Bern (Virginia Richter), Intro (Bernd Nicolai, Bern)
14.45 Art in Translation: Contesting the Canon (Iain Boyd Whyte, Edinburgh)
15.15 Nachkriegsmoderne als Argument. Szenographie deutsch-deutscher Spielfilme der 50er/60er Jahre (Annette Dorgerloh, Berlin)
15.45 Diskussion/discussion
16.00 Pause/Break
16.30 Silesia, Poland, Postcolonial: Prussian Architecture Beyond National History (Sarah M. Schlachetzki, Bern)
17.00 «Neue Seidenstrassen». Sind Chinas Infrastruktur- und Smart-City-Modelle exportierbar? (Sebastian Heilmann, Trier)
17.30 Diskussion/discussion
18.00 Über die Erweiterung der Speicherkapazitäten. Das Museum im 21. Jahrhundert als (Bau)Aufgabe (Hartmut Dorgerloh, Berlin)
18.45 Apéro

Freitag/Friday 13. Mai 2022

PANEL 2: RESILIENCE AND “BAUKULTUR”
“Resilience is the systemic capacity to deal with changes and develop further.” What is today an en vogue expression everyone is talking about, when applied to architecture, describes centuries-old practices of extension and adaption. This collides with the normative, currently one-sided debate on sustainability. “Baukultur” (Building Culture) in Switzerland seeks a high-quality architectural practice, including the historic building stock. “Baukultur” seen in the light of monument preservation regards standards for renovation, but also aspects like the conservation of resources, sustainable building and regenerative concepts.

09.15 Intro (Nott Caviezel, Bern/Wien)
09.30 Baukultur – Neue Perspektive auf den Umgang mit dem Raum (Nina Mekacher, Bern)
10.00 Heimliche Liebhaber: Denkmäler und Nachhaltigkeit (Reto Nussbaumer, Zürich)
10.30 Diskussion/discussion
10.50 Pause/break
11.20 Das Ideal von Baukultur im Abgleich mit der Realität (Eva Schäfer, Bern)
11.50 Kulturen des Bauens, Bewahrens und Transformierens (Hans Rudolf Meier, Weimar)
12.20 Diskussion/discussion
12.45 Mittagspause/lunchbreak

PANEL 3: THE MENA-REGION: HUB AND PROJECTION SPACE
The Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf Region have long been crucial areas of creation, transfer and transmission processes, but also as projection spaces whose role has constantly changed. Viewed from a European perspective, sometimes common cultural heritage was emphasized; then again, the focus was set on the dividing lines. Colonial practices merged with Orientalist constructions, resulting in stunning architectural utopias as well as encyclopedic collecting efforts. The twentieth century “oil-culture” with its striking transformation of land and cityscapes evolved in the tension between national emancipation and reliance on global players. The present day is dominated by neoliberal practices, geopolitical conflicts and nostalgic as well as futuristic visions.

14.15 Intro (Nadia Radwan, Bern)
14.30 Das Jupiterheiligtum in Baalbek als Projektionsraum politischer Umbrüche (Klaus Rheidt, Berlin)
15.00 Looking East: Islamic Stucco Glass Windows and the Western Exploration of the Peacock Motif (Francine Giese, Romont)
15.30 Diskussion/discussion
15.45 Pause/break
16.15 Bruno Taut’s Istanbul Journal: A Mirror on Emigration (Zeynep Kuban, Istanbul)
17.45 Fuel! Architectural Trajectories across the Arabian Gulf (Laura Hindelang, Bern)
18.15 Diskussion/discussion

Samstag/Saturday 14. Mai 2022

PANEL 4: CONSTRUCTIONS AND NARRATIVES OF EPOCHS
Our Eurocentric designations of epochs hark back to the nineteenth century. It is questionable whether they are still suitable today, particularly as they vacillate between norms and arbitrariness. Apart from debates on the Middle Ages, discussions on the character of modernity reveal the limits of our categorizations. To reflect the designations of epochs will help to realize their boundaries and transitions, and open perspectives on new phenomena.

9.15 Intro (Carola Jäggi, Zürich)
9.30 Longue Durée: Architektur und Geologie (Philip Ursprung, Zürich)
10.00 Der «organische Stil» des Mittelalters. Zu einem Epochennarrativ im 19. Jahrhundert (Christian Freigang, Berlin)
10.30 Diskussion
10.50 Pause
11.20 Durch alle Stile und Epochen: Dom, Baptisterium und Campanile in Florenz (Michael Viktor Schwarz, Wien)
11.50 Mittelalter und Moderne (Magdalena Bushart, Berlin)
12.20 Diskussion
12.40 Pause
13.00 Die undogmatische Moderne (Matthias Boeckl, Wien)
13.30 Modernekonstruktionen im Rückspiegel (Anna Minta, Linz)
14.00 Schlussbemerkungen/Final Remarks