PRESENTATION UOU scientific journal #09
https://vertice.cpd.ua.es/298699
- 25th Nov 2024: OPEN CALL, 6pm at WEBEX:
https://ua2.webex.com/ua2/j.php?MTID=md8ea9aaea10755b4b48756d1eda61b5b
- 15th January 2025: FULL PAPER Submission DEADLINE
- 21st February 2025: notification of PEER REVIEW Evaluation
- 15th March: Final Submission DEADLINE
IN-PRESENCE
The Body and The Space: The Role of Corporeity in the Era of Virtualization
In an era in which many aspects of our society, lives, and disciplines are shifting ─ sometimes subtly, other times forcibly forcefully ─ from the physical to the immaterial, from the corporeal to the virtual, we need to reflect on the current and future role of corporeality. This reflection entails examining what has changed and is changing, what remains irreducible from the material to the virtual intangible dimension and what is gained or lost in this shift in terms of values and experiences.
This Call is directed at researchers and professionals in the fields of spatial studies, from architecture to urban and environmental design, planning and policies, as well as artistic disciplines and experimental practices. It invites them to reflect on the conditions, practices, and tools that require the presence of a body ─ or multiple bodies ─ in a space, whether small or large, indoor or outdoor, to be authentically lived, experienced and realised. It further asks how the embodied practices differ from, and why they may be crucial compared to, technologically mediated, non-corporal, immaterial, or even non-human experiences.
Considering diverse viewpoints, corporeality appears intimately connected to architecture and urbanism in many ways and across various approaches developed over time. This vital link is evident when we consider the various perspectives from which space can be understood: from its uses and interpretations through ‘practices’ and culturally-mediated perceptions to its role as a source of sensory and environmental stimuli, to the production of space through design, or even its social usability as a container for practices and events.
Following this perspective, architectural, urban and environmental spaces can be inhabited thanks to, by and through the body and its physical extension. The body mediates the relationship between design and space, practices and society. Placing bodies at the core of our disciplinary discourses means engaging with their material, organic and affective narrative, embracing their uncertainties and contingencies, and addressing the consequences. Bodies are traces of a creative multiplicity woven into the possibility of an open, continuous dialogue with the world.
This multifaceted relationship unfolds in two principal ways: as ‘acting bodies’ ─ bodies that touch, act, and serve as agents of practices and actions, and as tools for transformative reflection on space ─ and as ‘acted bodies’ ─ bodies as filters, affected by the physical, spatial, and environmental conditions of space. This dialectic, which sees the body as both an active medium and passively exposed, draws on Gilles Deleuze’s reading of Spinoza, which holds that “the body is the world, is made of the world, is at one with the world.”
Intending to investigate the relationship between space and the body, as well as its modifications and resistances, the fundamental questions this Call for Papers seeks to explore are as follows.
Is this condition still actual? How much has it changed, and how might it continue to change in the coming years?
What aspects of this relationship are effectively irreducible from the material to the virtual?
How has the body-space relationship evolved with the advent of new technologies?
What can only a body do, and what still requires the presence of a body?
What is the added value of a body-centered approach in our disciplines?
This topic invites a bold re-examination of recent or well-known assumptions from various fields, all united by a central theme: the co-presence and relationship of bodies in space. Furthermore, in our current global conditions − full of innovation but marked with multiple crises that must be overcome through collaboration and research-driven pathways towards a different future − researchers and professionals are increasingly urged to reconsider the fundamental traits of our disciplines. Indeed, what the recent crisis, starting with COVID-19, has underscored is the centrality of individual bodies and bodies interacting in space.
Amid the many current international initiatives – such as the European Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which emphasize sustainability, justice, equality, freedom, hospitality, health, a new and fairer economy, care for the most fragile people and territories, memory, beauty and socio-spatial transition – this Call for Papers also highlight and seeks to integrate the theme of ‘togetherness’: a concept encompassing being together, sharing practices and values, and forming bonds – physical and non-physical – within shared spaces.
The Call seeks contributions that explore the body-space-architecture relationship, delving into the tapestry of this relationship within five thematic areas:
/ CONCEIVED / INTER-ACTIVE / AFFECTED / VULNERABLE / AUGMENTED.
As descriptors of the body and space, these five themes served as facets of a unique narrative that was brought into focus by exploring each area. Cross-reading these themes provides a comprehensive lens through which to investigate the dynamic interplay and the complex layers of the body-space relationship.
Specifically, /CONCEIVED anchors the exploration in the realm of reflective, theoretical, and experiential elaboration and its foundations. Moving beyond body-space relations grounded in proportions, measurements and geometry, this theme opens towards new forms of action, inter-action and reflection.
As per the second theme, contributions are invited to examine /INTER-ACTIVE adjective, which refers to the dynamics of active interaction within the body-space relationship, highlighting how movement, gestures, and sensory engagement contribute to weaving together the materiality of space with embodied experience.
The third theme, /AFFECTED, explores the influences of the environment on the body, encompassing not only artificial urban territories but also natural and climatic domains. This theme underscores the significant impact of external factors on bodily experience.
The theme /VULNERABLE focuses on bodily experience and the effects of climatic and natural forces on space, suggesting the potential role of a design approach that examines the relationship between fragile bodies and space. This theme is dedicated to the manifold layers of vulnerabilities in bodies within space and their role as a critical contribution to refocusing our disciplines.
The thematic area, /AUGMENTED, explores and informs the design and reflection of inclusivity, focused on modified and enhanced bodies and the interaction between the physical body and virtual space or artificial intelligence. It examines the evolving landscape of technologically mediated interactions and contemporary art interventions.
Authors are invited to submit papers for Issue #09, In-Presence / The Body and The Space, in the UOUsj published by the University of Alicante (Spain). UOUsj #09 represents the culmination of a research journey that originated with the EURAU Milan 2024 congress, held in June at Politecnico di Milano (https://www.euraumilano.polimi.it). This congress provides the framework for the discussions and reflections we sought to foster through the Journal.
UOUsj is the scientific peer-reviewed journal of UNIVERSITY of Universities and investigates the sharing of intercultural interests explored in international architecture schools in close connection with the arts. Every issue underlines a specific topic addressed by one of the universities involved in the Research Project.
Therefore, we encourage contributions related to the result of pedagogical experiences and contributions that have emerged from research that engages with the topic of the body-space-architecture relationshipin the disciplines of both conceptual and applied architecture, urbanism and environmental studies, art, and associated areas of study.
The Editorial team includes professionals based in different institutions and countries:
Guest Editor Issue #09
- Marco Bovati, Associate professor, Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
- Anna Moro, Assistant professor, Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
- Daniele Villa, Associate professor, Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
Associate Editors:
- Joaquín Alvado Bañón, Alicante University (Spain)
- Michael Devereux, University of the West of England Bristol (UK)
- Angela Kyriacou Petrou, University of Nicosia (Cyprus)
- Miguel Luengo Angulo, Universidad Europea de Madrid (Spain)
Editorial Director
- Maria Luna Nobile, Umeå University (Sweden)
Editor-in-Chief
- Javier Sánchez Merina, Alicante University (Spain)
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
https://revistes.ua.es/uou/author-guidelines
PEER REVIEW PROCESS:
https://revistes.ua.es/uou/peer-review-process
INDEXINGS
Multidisciplinary databases
Specialized databases
Evaluation resources
- Latindex
- ERIH PLUS
- Agenzia Nazionale di Valutazione del Sistema Universitario e della Ricerca (ANVUR), Italia
- NORWEGIAN REGISTER FOR SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS, SERIES AND PUBLISHERS
- Sherpa Romeo
Other quality indicators
- Google Scholar
- Matriz de Información para el Análisis de Revistas (MIAR)
- Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Alicante (RUA)
- Redalyc
- WorldCat
For any information, you can contact the Guest Editors, Marco Bovati, Anna Moro, Daniele Villa, at:
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Amin, A., & Thrift, N. (2002). Cities: Reimagining the Urban. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
- Bianchetti, C. (2020). Between Space and Design. Berlin: Jovis.
- de Certeau, M. (1980). The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Gallagher, S. (2005). How the Body Shapes the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Hall, E. T. (1961). The Hidden Dimension. New York: Anchor Books.
- Pallasmaa, J. (1996). The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses. London: Academy Editions.
- Pasqui, G. (2018). La Città, i saperi, le pratiche. Roma: Donzelli.
- Rendell, J. (2007). Art and Architecture: A Place Between. London-New York: I.B. Tauris
- Tschumi, B. (1994). Architecture and Disjunction. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Dear UOU team,
We have a new UOUsj issue!!!
Dear friends, colleagues, The UOU Scientific Journal's 3rd Issue is ready! We would like to have an overview of the issue under the theme of representation together with the authors of the articles and essays and celebrate it together on 28th of June, 2022 on Tuesday at 18:00 (CET) via Zoom. Please join us! Here is the Zoom invitation: Join Zoom Meeting
