Contemporary Vernaculars: Places, Processes and Manifestations

“Contemporary Vernaculars: Places, Processes and Manifestations” temalı konferans, 19-21 Nisan 2012 tarihlerinde DAÜ Mimarlık Fakültesi, Gazimağusa, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti'nde yapılacak.

The International Seminar on Vernacular Settlements (ISVS) is pleased to announce the ISVS-6; the sixth ISVS Conference in Famagusta, hosted by the Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus between the dates 19-21 April, 2012.

ISVS aims to promote awareness and research on vernacular traditions by organizing seminars focused on important aspects of vernacular every two years in specifically chosen places across the globe. The last seminar, ISVS-5 held in Colombo, Sri Lanka focused on Vernacular Futures provided a great opportunity to explore the future of the vernacular traditions resulting in a suggestion that the survival and continuity of vernacular traditions may lie in ordinary informal buildings which are usually not regarded as vernacular. Building upon this insight, ISVS-6 in 2012 is delighted to lead the debate on vernacular traditions of contemporary societies and their building and settlement forms which display the same characteristics of the conventionally conceptualized ‘vernacular’. This does not mean that the ‘historical vernacular’ is out of the conference scope. Instead juxtaposition of ‘historical vernacular’ and the ‘contemporary vernacular’ is expected to be explored in such a way that the nuances of their makings, and relevance in today’s world could be understood thoroughly.

Under this scope, ISVS-6 is delightfully announced on the theme – ‘Contemporary Vernaculars: Places, Processes and Manifestations’ – to incite and welcome interdisciplinary scholars and practitioners from around the world working in the disciplines of architecture, art & architectural history, urban studies, city & regional planning, cultural studies, anthropology, sociology and environmental studies for proposing papers and meeting in North Cyprus in April 2012. ISVS-6 also expects to attract young researchers involved in postgraduate studies on contemporary vernaculars and offers a scientific platform to present and discuss their hypothesis and arguments, understandings and approaches, and methods and models with the scholars participating in the seminar.

ISVS considers publication and expansion of knowledge and experiences on Vernacular traditions as one of its key objectives. With this purpose in mind, ISVS-6 has negotiated with the prestigious OPEN HOUSE INTERNATIONAL (Vol 37, No. 3 September Issue, 2012), journal to publish 3 selected papers which will meticulously deal with the themes of ISVS-6. Once chosen, the authors of the selected papers may have some revisions to be made upon the suggestions of journal’s editorial board.

The venue of ISVS-6, Cyprus is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and houses different building traditions; testimony to rich living patterns and complex interactions between different Mediterranean communities and cultures over successive generations from Asia Minor, the Middle East, Africa and Europe for three millennia. Evidently, natural and built environments strongly reflect this cultural complexity of the island. As the home of several civilizations and different geographic characteristics, the vernacular architecture of Cyprus undeniably exhibits a variety of building forms and traditions. However, they are now struggling to survive under the present day circumstances as in other parts of the world in different ways and modes on which this conference will focus. The conference participants will have a unique opportunity to visit and experience for themselves some of the unique vernacular traditions, and built forms of North Cyprus in the company of those who care and cherish those traditions.

They invite you to send your abstract for a paper presentation and join us in North Cyprus in April 2012 for an enjoyable and unique opportunity to explore the vernacular of the contemporary world.