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At its heart, the spatial turn implies a methodological pluralism and trans-disciplinarity, a willingness to expand one discipline’s bounds through the tools and framework of another. Considering architecture, it is perhaps possible to question whether these qualities have been, or are becoming, rare. Where methodological pluralism would seem to be the hallmark of an architectural process that draws from different modes of representation and considers multiple social, contextual and historical forces, is this kind of wide-ranging exploration being put aside for more specific, univocal forms of engagement? One could ask as well if trans-disciplinarity, even though always a kind of potential of architecture, has been met with the same kind of energy over the past decade as the possibilities of digital technology or questions of sustainability. Why is this so? Although architecture itself has become a kind of geographical enterprise, mapping the go-to conceptual frame for both large and small scale projects, has architecture’s engagement with geography’s tools been accompanied by a reciprocal exchange?
Indeed where is architecture in the spatial turn? Why is the potential for a relationship between architecture and other disciplines — creative, humanistic and scientific — seemingly unfulfilled? Are the tools of architecture too limited to provide other disciplines with a way of asking questions about their own fields? For the theme, ‘the spatial turn’, we welcome work that considers how the methodological structures of architecture can be used to engage in thinking elsewhere as well as architectural projects or research founded on trans-disciplinary questions or collaborations. Finally, are questions of space, although seemingly inherent to architecture, once again emerging as vital to the discipline? Is architecture experiencing its own kind of spatial re-turn as the character of the void within the solid, of the contained as opposed to the container, becomes critical?
Submissions
Please visit the Guidelines section of the journal for questions of submission format. Please send your propositions to specialez at esa-paris.fr with ‘Journal Submission’ in the subject line. Submissions will be considered as they are received until May 15, 2012.
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