For the new ANCB programme "New Functions of the Surface. Pushing the Urban Envelope", with events across diverse fields and formats, we call for your proposals, ideas, information, projects and papers from the fields of architecture/design, culture, environment, health, mobility, economy, climate, science, IT, media etc. concerned with the surface, shell, façade or urban skin. Proposals may be considered for the kick-off event entitled "Shell, Skin and the City: New Functions of the Surface" on 31 August and 1 September 2017. This event is part of a long-term enquiry programme conducted at ANCB. We also invite potential partners to join the programme and enable this international and interdisciplinary discourse.

The city's surface represents in many ways and through its multiple functions an interdisciplinary testing space and area of intersection. This surface encompasses façades and roofs as well as pavements, roads, open spaces, its air and its climate. In architecture, terms like façade and shell designate complex relationships. Michel Serres' idea of "the house as a second skin" sees the covering or shell of a building as an extension of our "clothing", as a means of interacting with our surroundings. This connection develops in relation to the state of technology, culture and nature, and therefore offers the potential for an interdisciplinary discourse aimed at exploring innovative and new functions for the city. It encompasses areas such as infrastructures, science, digital user interfaces as well as geography and politics, public and private spaces.

We structure our research through the following three clusters:

  • Visions and art: This cluster aims to include visionary approaches and ideas for the functionality of the façade, surface and the sphere surrounding it. What combined functions will the façade of the future have? What experiments can provide insights into new developments?
  • Technical, engineering and infrastructure models: Here, we seek innovative engineering and technical models, production processes, innovations and materials. We will also explore consequences for the city of using the façade as infrastructure, for example as a means of transport, mobility or storage.
  • Scientific and physiological approaches: Scientific and physiological approaches are sought in this cluster including links with medical, neuroscientific and haptic aspects. We will also look into surfaces as a space for experimentation to transfer functions of the human body into spatial and urban mechanisms.

Call for Content: Professionals from industry, research and academia concerned with surfaces and façades as well as with the urban skin and sphere, are invited to submit their work for consideration for inclusion in this ANCB programme. The programme will be used to generate fresh ideas and approaches and to instigate a rethinking of the function and future of urban surfaces. The kick-off event "Shell, Skin and the City: New Functions of the Surface" will take place on 31 August and 1 September 2017 at  ANCB, in collaboration with our research partner Schüco International KG. We will review and consider the proposals for a possible participation in the event. All material generated in the ANCB programme will also feed into the ongoing public "living archive".

The material you submit will not be published or communicated through any of our media unless we have contacted you again to ask for permission or invite you to develop it further.