From 20 - 22 october 2017, the international symposium Standard Architecture will be held at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt am Main. With this open call, we are soliciting lecture proposals for the Young Researcher Forum on 20 October 2017. To submit a proposal, please email your abstract and CV in PDF form (max 5 MB) by 1 June 2017 to [email protected]. We will select around five proposals from the different submissions by mid of June. We can offer a grant for part of the travelling costs.

We especially welcome contributions that address how standardization influences architectural design and the role of architects. We're interested in diverse approaches to the topic--whether the proposal undertakes a critical analysis of technical developments and their ramifications, or instead engages with something like the associative cultural resonances of standardization processes in the designs of O.M. Ungers and Superstudio.

About the symposium's theme: 

Standardization has played a key role in architecture and construction since the Enlightenment. It accelerates building production, reduces costs, and assures quality control, at least in theory. The classical modernists of the 20th century treated standardization and normalization as engines of social and technical progress. Even though concepts for mandatory, form-giving standards--like those proposed by Ernst Neufert--never established themselves, there are more standards today than ever before. Despite appeals to cultural specificity, standards shape processes and products all around the world through the digitization and rationalization of cognitive processes. With the introduction of BIM (Building Information Modeling), these processes are becoming increasingly relevant Both building elements and processes of design and production are undergoing standardization:

Standardized Design Processes

Modernity has given rise to processes that rationalize, systematize, and accelerate the designing of buildings. More structures need to be built more quickly all the time. Designs are often executed by unskilled or semi-skilled workers. Buildings are being erected in disparate places around the world through the use of identical specifications. To make all this possible, design tools have been created that enable people to generate and implement a great number of design-related tasks simultaneously. Today, Building Information Modeling Systems (BIM) use standardized forms of information to automate planning and design and to supplement human with artificial forms of intelligence.   

Standardized Building Elements

Ernst Neufert tried to standardize architecture at all scales, from the very small to the very big. Adopting paper formats as his model, he sought to systematize building components using (among other means) his octametric system of dimensional coordination. This project reached its climax in the 1970s, but lost a good deal of its currency in the years thereafter. Today, there are more standards than ever--and they often operate on a national and international level--but their influence on form-making has proven harder to trace. It goes without saying that they continue to shape the design of spaces that have a great number of technical needs and requirements (kitchens and offices, for example), as well as temporary buildings and storage facilities (containers and container ports, for example).  

Standardized Building Processes 

While knowledge rested squarely with the individual producer in premodern societies, it can be said that it is anchored today in objectified rules and specifications, many of which are sanctioned by liability concerns and multi-national contractual agreements. Arguably, standardization ensures that products that are manufactured by different companies are in fact compatible. This is important where the manufacturing of building components is concerned.  According to some, however, it can also stifle innovation and compromise the exercise of know-how and common sense.   

Speakers will include:  Keller Easterling (Professor of Architecture at Yale University), Manfred Grohmann (Universität Kassel, Professor for Structural Design),  Alexander Klose (Author/ Container Researcher); Markus Krajewski (Universität Basel Professor für Medienwissenschaft), Antoine Picon (Harvard University, GSD, Director of Research), Christina Sonderegger (Swiss National Museum, Zurich) Gernot Weckherlin (BTU Cottbus, Professur für Architekturtheorie), Aashish Velkar, (University of Manchester, Lecturer in Economic History), Nader Vossoughian (New York Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Design), Georg Vrachliotis (KIT-Karlsruhe, Professur für Architekturtheorie), Christine Wall (University of Westminster, Reader in Architectural and Construction History) Detailled program soon at http://www.uni-kassel.de/go/standard

Drawing on the results of the symposium, ARCH+ will publish a special issue dedicated to the topic.

Supported by Forschungsinitiative Zukunft Bau - BBSR/  BMUB (Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung / Bundesministerium für Umwelt, Naturschutz, Bau und Reaktorsicherheit), Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG, Wüstenrot Stiftung and Pfeiffer Stiftung Organized by the Department of Architectural Theory and Design, University of Kassel in cooperation with ARCH+ , Deutsches Architekturmuseum and project Bauhaus.