International Conference

THINKING THE CONTEMPORARY LANDSCAPE - POSITIONS & OPPOSITIONS

20-22 June 2013 Herrenhausen Castle, Hanover, Germany

Landscape finds its roots in the Old Dutch word "Landskip", which designates a stretch of cultivated land. Similarly, paysage in French stems from the Latin word "pagus", meaning peasant, which designates an extent of land made by that same person. In other words landscape is the belaboured making of humans, and has nothing to do with the ideal of an untouched wilderness. This plain definition of the word can help frame a potential for discussion with respect to a long standing tradition of form-giving on the land. It is essentially by questioning and bringing symbolic expressions of nature back into focus that landscape will resolve the inherent contradiction of its being, namely that of offering the promise of a wilderness where there is none. In light of this situation, it is interesting to discuss what constitutes the immanence of landscape in our age, to better understand the assigned role of design disciplines. The conference entitled "Thinking the Contemporary Landscape", which will be held in Herrenhausen in June 2013 under the auspices of the Volkswagen Foundation, is looking for a critical debate about the contemporary intelligence of landscape at a time of relentless conceptual oscillation and uncertainty. We invite outstanding thinkers and actors gravitating around this subject to share their thoughts and convictions with us, to help shed light on a multitude of issues, on one of the most ill-defined concepts of our age; call it landscape if you will.

Lectures and discussions will gravitate around the following three main topics:
Science and Memory – Power and Terrain – Method and Design

Confirmed speakers:
James Corner, Georges Descombes, Anette Freytag, Adriaan Geuze, Christophe Girot, Kathryn Gustafson, Kristina Hill, David Leatherbarrow, Vittoria Di Palma, Saskia Sassen, Hille von Seggern, Charles Waldheim, Kongjian Yu

Commentators:
Barry Bergdoll, Sonja Dümpelmann, Dorothée Imbert, Michael Jakob, Sébastien Marot, Alessandra Ponte, Jörg Rekittke

Moderators:
Stanislaus Fung, Albert Kirchengast, Martin Prominski, Bianca Maria Rinaldi, Antje Stokman

Organisation:
Chair of Professor Christophe Girot, Institute of Landscape Architecture, ETH Zurich
Volkswagen Foundation, Hanover, Germany

Registration: landscapevolkswagenstiftung.de (restricted number of places, no participation fees)

Call for Posters: Young Researchers Thinking the Contemporary Landscape

Landscape architecture professor Christophe Girot from the ETH Zurich and the Volkswagen Foundation want to support young graduates of spatial design disciplines such as landscape architecture, architecture, and urban planning, as well as those of environmental and natural sciences, the humanities, and sociology programs who are interested in participating in the conference. To this end, 10 to 15 grants will be awarded. These will cover participation in the conference, meals, travel costs, and accommodation for three nights.

The graduates who are selected to participate will be asked to make a poster presenting ideas about what they consider to be the most pressing desiderata with regards to research and/or the design of the contemporary landscape. All posters (format A0) must be finished by 20 June 2013, when they will be presented to a jury by the graduates themselves. The posters will be made accessible to all participants until the end of the conference. Three winners (two selected by the jury, one selected by the conference’s participants) will then have an opportunity to present their thoughts to the general public at a science slam and will also be given a chance to publish their work.

We ask those interested in participating to submit a project outline and a letter of motivation in English. In your letter, please describe where you feel urgent action is required with regard to the design of the landscape and urban open space. What do you think is currently the biggest problem and/or deficit? What types of content, and which forms of analysis and design should be addressed more vigorously in the future? Why do you wish to participate in the conference? What issues are important to you and should be discussed at the conference? In answering these questions, please try to refer to the three main topics of the conference: Science and Memory – Power and Terrain – Method and Design (please see programmatic texts: http://girot.arch.ethz.ch/welcome-posts/thinking-the-contemporary-landscape)

Please send the following documents in English per email:

1. Letter of motivation (max. 1 page)
2. Abstract of your research proposal (project outline) or of your design project (max. 1-2 pages)
3. CV (max. 1 page)
4. Full email and postal address

Please send a PDF document by 10 May 2013 at the latest, to dora.imhofarch.ethz.ch
Keyword: Young Researchers Thinking the Contemporary Landscape
Contact: dora.imhofarch.ethz.ch
Submission deadline: 10 May 2013