Exile as a journey : “The Mediterranean of architects and the world, 18th-20th century”
[The proposals should be sent in PDF until Friday, January 25, 2025, to the following address: colloque.poitiers.avril2025@gmail.com] The fifth session planned at the University of Poitiers : Thursday, April 3 and Friday, April 4, 2025
- Conference languages: French, English.
- Each speaker must plan to finance their travel and stay in Poitiers. Lunch and coffee during the breaks will be offered.
This conference is part of an international cycle devoted to the theme of architects’ journeys in the Mediterranean, bringing together a consortium of several European universities and schools of architecture. It extends four previous sessions scheduled in Paris (1-3 June 2023), Naples (12-14 October 2023), Granada (23-24 May 2024), Pavia-Turin (11-13 November 2024). The fifth session planned at the University of Poitiers, in collaboration with the École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Normandie, is structured around the theme of exile as a journey of architects in the Mediterranean and beyond, from the mid-eighteenth century to recent decades.
Exile in the contemporary era, marked by numerous conflicts and political changes contains rich narratives and is well documented concerning the forced trajectory of artists, writers, filmmakers and intellectuals. However, the documentation is less full in the case of architects, although their migratory circulation between continents increased during this period. It remains to explore the topic of exile in the 18th century. The work carried out to date, limited to key moments in history such as the Second World War, deserves to be extended by a global approach over a longer period to restore the different experiences of exile in the Mediterranean and in the world and to include a range of historical contexts such as the Napoleonic expeditions, the Franco-Prussian conflict, the decline of the Ottoman Empire, Francoism in Spain, fascism in Italy, the Soviet influence in Central and Eastern Europe (in particular the Budapest uprising), Greece under the colonels, the Iran of the Shah and the Revolution, colonization and decolonization of the Maghreb and more recently the conflicts in the Middle East.
Whether freely chosen or enforced, exile is different from travel for education or pleasure. It is understood as a journey, frequently one-way, resulting from political, economic, social or cultural circumstances, or even climatic ones, which force individuals to leave their country of origin. One can certainly reflect on the dynamic of each journey and on the circumstances of short-term exile and the experience that results from it, however brief it may be. The architectural object may not be the most appropriate corpus to document the situation of the architect in exile. It is often difficult to identify, at first glance, the architects whose art expresses the situation of exile. However, projects and buildings can be read as traces of a practice in exile and of the return. For example, the works of Bruno Taut in Istanbul, of Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky; in Marseilles, Charlotte Perriand returning from Indochina, the trajectory of Oscar Niemeyer in France and Algeria, that of Fernand Pouillon in France and Algeria, and so on. Exile is also an opportunity to experience new conditions which can lead to reorientation of artistic and architectural professional practice in favour of, for example, an investment in professions of transmission and mediation (teaching, publishing, and journalism).
This conference aims to explore new kinds of cases, such as the neighborhoods of certain cities where architects meet, the agencies that host them (for example, that of Le Corbusier’s atelier where an elite of international architects gravitates), but also to experiment with different approaches (monographic, prosopographic, cartographic, topographic, relevant to migratory geographies). The biographical approach and the cultural dimension can be enriched or surpassed today by considering better the spatial dimension. This is why we have selected for study the circulation of architects from Mediterranean countries who have left their country and/or that of architects finding refuge in one of the Mediterranean countries. We will include, interruptions in architects’ careers and unexpected encounters. The networks of architects in exile and local as well as collaborative projects and exhibitions will be the subject of particular attention.
Several questions can be asked. What motivated the journey which led to the displacement? What effects could the situation of exile have had on the practice of the profession of architect and/or on the renunciation of architectural practice? What reorientation is required by these architects to adapt to new situations? What are the networks of architects in exile that are formed in the host countries allowing the professional integration of new arrivals? Have host architectural Associations been places of sociability, promoting collaborative actions despite the competitive nature of architectural practice? What cultural institutions do they frequent? What are their activities, the organization of their life, their conditions of production, the relays for the dissemination of their work? Can architectural journals be identified as poles of crystallization of a community in exile? What are the impacts of the practices of architects in exile? Can we identify the zones of artistic contact and the places of transcultural artistic production, the situations of import and export of techniques and know-how? How do women architects fit into this circulation and architectural practice? Finally, how do climate upheavals reorient the professional practice of architects in exile?
The program of this conference is organized around several axes around which contributions are expected, including:
- Territory and gender: spatialization of architectural creation.
- Exile and its international circulations.
- The Mediterranean and the world (topos, toponymy, topography).
- Representations of architecture in exile.
Organization and scientific direction of the conference
Nabila Oulebsir, Université de Poitiers, CRIHAM (UR 15507).
Marie Gaimard, École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Normandie, laboratoire Architecture, territoires, environnement (ATE, UR 7464)
Caroline Maniaque, École nationale supérieure d’architecture de Normandie, laboratoire Architecture, territoires, environnement (ATE, UR 7464),
Scientific coordinators of the international cycle
Antonio Brucculeri, AHTTEP/AUSser, ENSA Paris-La Villette (FR) Massimiliano Savorra, Università di Pavia (IT)
Scientific committee of the international cycle
Paola Barbera, Università di Catania (IT)
Antonio Brucculeri, AHTTEP/AUSser, ENSA Paris-La Villette (FR)
Juan Calatrava, Universidad de Granada (ES)
Vassilis Colonas, University of Thessaly (GR)
Cristina Cuneo, Politecnico di Torino (IT)
Marie Gaimard, ENSA Normandie, ATE (FR)
Marilena Kourniati, AHTTEP/AUSser, ENSA Paris-La Villette (FR)
Fabio Mangone, Università di Napoli Federico II (IT)
Caroline Maniaque, ENSA Normandie, ATE (FR)
Joaquín Medina Warmburg, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (D)
Nabila Oulebsir, Université de Poitiers (FR)
Sergio Pace, Politecnico di Torino (IT)
Carlos Plaza, Universidad de Sevilla (ES)
Massimiliano Savorra, Università di Pavia (IT)
OpenEdition le sugiere que cite este post de la siguiente manera:
Andrés Avila Gómez (1 de enero de 2025). Exile as a journey : “The Mediterranean of architects and the world, 18th-20th century” Transferencias / Interferencias. Recuperado 16 de junio de 2025 de https://doi.org/10.58079/132nz
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