The Perpetual Modernity of Palladio

CALL for PAPERS
From Vernacular to Classical:
The Perpetual Modernity of Palladio

Conference: June 10-12, 2011
University of Notre Dame
South Bend, Indiana

“As architects we recognize a colleague, a guild master who, in spite of more than four hundred and fifty years’ distance, we yearn to see as one of us.”
Palladio’s Children: Essays on Everyday Environments
N.J. Habraken and Jonathan Teicher
Framing the venue of two important exhibitions (the Royal Institute of British Architects’ traveling exhibit “Palladio and his Legacy: A Transatlantic Journey” and “New Palladians: Modernity and Sustainability in 21st Century Architecture”), the University of Notre Dame will host a conference addressing synergies and dialectics across vernacular and classical architecture, discussing the possibilities of a broader Palladian tradition in the 21st century. It will bring together scholars, practitioners, educators and students from a variety of disciplines related to the built environment to explore and discuss Palladio as an inspiring master whose works forms a vital foundation – and a revitalizing platform – from which an evolutionary process of Tradition and Classicism that intelligently integrates the vernacular and classical is made possible.
The conference will address a complex range of ideas, work and proposals that encompass, consolidate and emulate the Palladian paradigm and/or explore sustainable architectural and urban design endeavors of the 21st century articulated by various threads in New Classicism, New Urbanism and recent “New Palladian” arguments and designs.
Palladio is often mentioned restrictively for a few of his exquisite villas, and caricatured for adding temple-fronts on his villas in the Veneto on the presumption that he was giving undue monumentality and sacred status to the private country residences of local landed aristocracy. The legacy of the built and un-built work of Palladio, however, merits a more sophisticated analysis and a more comprehensive contemporary assessment. It requires a revised appreciation of how the combined art and intelligence of vernacular craftsmanship, local building traditions and precedents, as well as the “ archaeological” study of Roman Antiquity, sensitization to Classical principles and expertise in humanist theories, among others, have achieved a generous, unique and original collection of masterworks that continue to resonate, inspire and fascinate the architectural world.
Traditional cultures typically evolve a rich memory of types and models, developing elaborate expressions of art and knowledge on the one hand, and sophisticated expression of crafts and know-how on the other. Classical and vernacular cultures interact and emulate one another in complex and subtle dialogues, inspiring, borrowing and learning from each other. Since their common origin in the “mythical hut,” the temple, the house and the palace have evolved into a rich genealogy of refined types that continue to foster inventive dialectics and synergies. Neither the Classical nor the Vernacular should be considered mere stylistic categories, as they function as proposals of the most appropriate, beautiful, safe, and comfortable dwellings and public spaces. Though style emerges as an expression of particular cultures, Classicism itself is not a style, nor is the Vernacular; both foster refined foundations of stylistic appropriateness, excellence, integrity, sound and sustainable construction, elegant tectonics and composition, durability, comfort and enlightenment. As such, numerous possible connections for innovative contemporary practice and education exist.
The conference, then, seeks papers that examine relationships across Palladio’s legacy of Classical and Vernacular architecture that may include any of the following: 1) History and theory; 2) Contemporary practice; 3) Academic education, research and scholarship. More specifically, papers may radiate around these themes:
• The Classical and Vernacular in Palladio’s work
• Palladio in America: The Rustic, the Vernacular, the Classical
• The Classical and Vernacular in Contemporary Practice and the Academy
• Teaching Palladio in the 21st Century
• Classical or Vernacular: Palladian, Neo-Palladian and New Palladianism
• Palladio’s Legacy and the Urban Realm
• The Vernacular and the Classical in New Urbanism
• What does it mean to posit a Classical Modernity?
• Reconsiderations of Res Publica – new dynamics for civic, sacred, public and monumental space in contemporary building
• Reconsiderations of Res Economica – new dynamics for residential, commercial, technical and industrial infrastructures
• Craftsmanship in historical and contemporary contexts
• The Future of Palladian Ideals

Deadlines and Submission Instructions
Abstracts submission deadline: February 10, 2011
Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted on CD in a (MSWord) .doc or .pdf file. Please also include examples of illustration intended to accompany your paper and a current CV. Please also send these materials digitally to Karen Voss at kvoss@nd.edu. CDs should be postmarked by February 10 and mailed to the following address: Palladio Conference at Notre Dame, Attention: Karen Voss, School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame, 110 Bond Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556
A confirmation of receipt of submissions will be sent by February 20, 2011. If you have any questions, contact Karen Voss by email (kvoss@nd.edu) or phone (574.631.2872).
Notification of Accepted Abstracts: March 5, 2011
Abstracts will be reviewed and selected by a committee of expert practitioners, scholars and academics. Selection criteria will include the papers’ relevance to the Conference, scholarly merit, and interest with regard to the event’s intended thematic range and emphasis on the dialectics and synergies of the Vernacular and the Classical within the wider Palladian tradition.
Papers due: April 10, 2011
Final papers should be no longer than 1500-2000 words (maximum) and should fit into a 20- minute presentation, including illustrations. Applicants are asked to respect the 20-minute time frame to ensure all are heard fully and accommodate discussion periods. To this end, applicants might be invited to revise or adjust the length of their final papers after final submission.
Conference: June 10 - June 12, 2011
The Conference will be organized around plenary sessions and concurrent sessions addressing parallel conference topics. The Steering committee will schedule papers accordingly into relevant panels.


University of Notre Dame
School of Architecture
110, Bond Hall
Notre Dame, 46556-5652
Tel (574) 631-6137 fax (574) 631-8486