DAKAM Books 
ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN ISSUES SERIES
CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS
FALL 2021 Contemporary Issues in Architecture and Urban Design

1. ARCHITECTURE AND INNOVATION

Design, Building, Structure

Chapters on Architecture and Innovation are expected to focus on the new trends and frontiers in architecture. Architecture renews itself in terms of structural, aesthetical, and functional aspects that correspond to the needs of every age. Unlike artistic creativity, innovation in an architectural sense has to be evaluated differently as an object of use in social life. The innovation might include technical, design, manufacturing, management, and commercial aspects related to presenting a new (or improved) product. In other words, innovation, as a novel idea bringing an added-value, is an enterprise tool, in which change is used as an opportunity. Originality, on the other hand, the quality of being special and not the same as anything else, opens up a discussion of how an original architectural move relates to the context, history, and cultural background. Original and/or innovative, new social demands and new technological apparatus challenges architecture every moment by calling out the creativity of the designer.

Within that scope, the concepts of innovation, originality, and creativity will be brought into focus. The research and new technologies in architecture will also be put on the agenda. Furthermore, not only the 21st century but also the new approaches in history will be brought into the spotlight. Case studies, new research results, and theoretical works are welcomed.

 

DESIGN AND DIGITAL FRONTIERS

Artificial Intelligence

Computational Design

Kinetic Architecture

BIM in Design, Virtual Construction, and Facility Management

Internet of Things

Environmental Simulation and Energy Analysis

CFD Analysis

Digital Fabrication Methods

Smart and Responsive Buildings

​Neuroscience and Architecture

Biomimetics

 

STRUCTURE, BUILDING SYSTEMS, MATERIALS

Robotics, Automation, and Prefabrication

New-Sustainable and Ecological Approaches and Applications

Self-Assembly Materials and Shape-Memory Alloys

New Use of Concrete, Glass, Metal

Advances in Lighting, HVAC, and Facade Systems

Building Automation Systems

Self-Healing Materials

Biomaterials

Thermoelectrics, Photovoltaics

 

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Innovation in History

Design and Originality: Case Studies

New Urban Design Trends​ and Contemporary Urban Issues

Critical Approaches

Innovative Architectural Offices and Projects

Architectural History Revisited

Architectural Theory
Restoration and the Understanding of the Heritage

New Design Processes 

Integrated Research and Design

Issues related to Architectural Practice and Public Policy

Design Education

Futurism, Utopias and Dystopias

Video games and movies

2. EXPERIENCE IN ARCHITECTURE

Space, Perception, Function

The significance of the observer’s view in architectural discussions might be brought back to Baumgarten’s striking introduction of the term aesthetics in his Meditations on Poetry. It was Baumgarten’s efforts bringing together the object of thought and denominating aesthetics itself as sensible cognition. In the 19th century, supported by the developments in biology and psychology, the architectural experience took a somatosensory turn, as Wölflin’s groundbreaking thesis illustrated how architectural forms can invoke emotion. Shortly after, the rise of Phenomenology transferred the spatial awareness into the subjects’ grasp, both in cognitive and somatosensory ways. Husserl's subject, das Ich-Zentrum, appropriated the space as the perceived space in the outside world, die Ding-welt, as a transcendental act, while Merleau-Ponty portrayed the bodily movement as the production of the ever-changing architectural space in his Phenomenology of Perception. Following the lead of architects and scholars, who put an emphasis embodied experience such as Neutra in his Survival Through Design, Steen Eiler Rasmussen in Experience of Architecture and Norberg-Schulz in Meaning in Architecture, Juhani Pallasma recently defined the atmosphere as a sixth sense as a total perception of the space in close connection with architectural design supported by cognitive neuroscientific breakthroughs. Yet, the perception and body as the founding elements of architectural space got historically little attention from the architectural practice, which rendered the individual experience mostly as irrelevant to the creative process of the design object.

On the other hand, another thought of school going back to Newton’s absolute space embraced the mechanical description of the use to fulfill the functional needs on a scientific basis. The function has been the main concept of modern architecture and as a problem solver, the architects molded the function throughout modern architectural history. Yet, it is related to human activities, movement, and perception. Additionally, the well-being and psychological states are considered part of the functional agenda, too. How the architects today define the function and integrate it into the design in relation to the user?

 

The chapters onExperience in Architecture will bring the concepts of perception, memory, function, and user into the spotlight. Case studies, research and theoretical text, and multidisciplinary works about the experience are welcomed.

 

SUBTOPICS

User Experience

Function and Form Relationship

Functional Arrangements, Limitations, and Originality

Neuroscience and Neurophysiological Measurements

Cognitive Psychology

Emotions and Space

Perception and Senses

Atmosphere

Body and Movement

Visual Composition: Light, Color, Texture

Case Studies

Computation and digital design

Genius Loci and New-Regionalism

Organic Architecture

Phenomenology

Memory and Space

Design for the User/İnhabitant

Traditional Architecture

User-centered approaches in history

Theory of Architectural Experience

The creativity of the architect and designer

3. GENDER AND ARCHITECTURE

Feminism, Design, Discrimination

Over the last several decades, feminists and architects have independently developed critiques of modern Western assumptions and cultural practices. The book address gender in relation to architectural discourse and critical theory, focusing on the relationships between sexuality and space hidden within everyday practices.

The book will focus on the discrimination of women to illustrate the historical and contemporary obstacles and pre-given roles. The political and social movements in relation to design and cities will be taken into consideration. On the other hand, design throughout history has been profoundly shaped and enhanced by the creativity of women; as practitioners, commentators, educators, and commissioners. But in a narrative that eagerly promotes their male counterparts, their contributions are all too often overlooked. The book will also bring the contribution of women designers into the spotlight.

 

SUBTOPICS

Architecture and Feminism

Matriarchal Architecture

Women in the History of Architecture

Women and Creativity

Mechanisms of Separation

Power Structures and Hierarchies

Discrimination by Design and History of Architecture

Cities and Gender Issues

Social Roles

Urban Spaces

Workspaces

House, Household, and Women

Privacy

Biological and Social Differences

LGBTQ studies

Political Movements and Women Rights

Sexism and Star system

#MeToo Movement and Architecture

Care and Childcare

Sexuality

Prostitution, Sexual Assault, Violence

Depression, Psychology, and psychoanalysis

Feminist Pedagogy and Gender in education

4. THE PANDEMIC

Cities, ​Architecture and Landscape Design

During the COVID-19 era, all world cities have gone through unexpected processes, in which everything from the economy to social policies, from management styles to production relations, from lifestyles to personal relations have started to be discussed and transformed.

During the pandemic process, a new-normal has begun: Working from home, online education, online meetings, social distancing, and travel restrictions have merged with the psychological depression, health issues, and expected economic crisis. Reconsidering the layout and design of urban spaces during the pandemic has added new responsibilities to architecture, landscape architecture, planning, and design professions. Given that the cholera epidemic was detected and taken under control by examining water supply maps and sewer infrastructure data in London, the spatial analysis and solutions will also play a big role to control the COVID-19 pandemic and to live with it. The green and public areas as well as houses and workplaces (not to mention the health facilities) will play an important role in our during- and post-pandemic future. For that reason, the chapters “Pandemic: Cities, Architecture and Landscape Design” will be of crucial importance in terms of tackling the current design challenges.

 

SUBTOPICS

Green Areas during and after the Pandemic

Landscape Gardening in times of Isolation

Beaches, parks, squares

Urban Analysis and Planning in the fight against the pandemic

The Social-Distancing Protocol and Innovation in Design

New Workplaces

New Homes

Digital Spaces

Health Care Facilities

Politics of the Pandemic

Psychology during the pandemic and Architecture

Public Transportation and Streets