Call for Papers – Nordic Journal of Architectural Research

Theme issue: Architectural Transformation of Disadvantaged Housing Estates

Deadline for abstracts: 15 November, 2016

Can architecture pave the way for social change? The Nordic Journal of Architectural Research calls for contributions to a special issue focussing on the architectural transformation of declining and disadvantaged housing estates. The large scale housing estates built in the decades following World War II used new industrial building techniques to improve the living conditions of the masses and represented the heyday of modernism in architecture and urban planning. Nevertheless, many of them soon faced both constructional and social problems, and some are today disadvantaged housing areas undergoing thorough refurbishment, in some cases even demolition. With this special issue of the Nordic Journal of Architectural Research, we invite researchers to submit papers on architectural strategies of refurbishment and regeneration, and particularly to investigate and discuss the social impact of such architectural transformations. While current research suggests that the enclave-like, monotonous and monofunctional character of the large estates may reinforce negative social development, more knowledge is needed as to whether and how social transformation can be initiated by way of refurbishing the built environment and how physical refurbishment can play together with social programmes.

Enquiries about this theme issue, and possible contributions, are welcome, please email the editors Mette Mechlenborg (mme@sbi.aau.dk), Marie Stender (mas@sbi.aau.dk), and Claus Bech-Danielsen (cbd@sbi.aau.dk).

Deadline for the submission of abstracts: 15 November, 2016.

Deadline for the submission of completed manuscripts: 1 March, 2017.

Please submit abstracts as well as papers to: Nsn@sbi.aau.dk.