Call for Papers: ARQ 2025 "American Territories"

Date: Oct 17, 2024 - Nov 29, 2024

Location:

Providencia, Santiago , Chile El Comendador 1936, 1st Floor

ARQ journal welcomes submissions to be published both in its ‘Readings’ and ‘Works and Projects’ sections according to the themes defined for each issue. Submitted articles should be previously unpublished, or at least not have been published in Spanish. We suggest that authors maintain this condition for at least two months after the publication of the material in the journal. 

ARQ does not charge any fees to publish articles or projects in the journal.

Open Call: ARQ 119 'American Territories'

In times of social and geopolitical unrest, certain concepts take on renewed importance. Words we might have used without much thought become focal points of debate, not just for their meaning but for the conditions they expose. Writing in the midst of the Cold War, Ukranian-born French geographer Jean Gottmann placed “territory” in such a class. He defined it as the fundamental unit in the political organization of space, shaped by the “relationships between the community and its habitat on the one hand, and between the community and its neighbors on the other.”¹  

Today, the idea of territory as a hinge —between human communities and their non-human environments, and between communities and their global-neighbors— offers a useful lens for exploring América’s diverse social and geographic conditions, particularly those marked by tensions between spatial isolation and social or economic interdependence. If we understand territory as a dynamic system of transcalar relationships, what forces have shaped or are reshaping these connections today? What role do architecture and landscape architecture play within these complex systems? From struggles over land and water rights to landscapes shaped by transnational resource extraction, climate change, migration, or conservation, this issue aims to explore the challenges and pressures placed on American territories today. 

Works and Projects 
Stemming from terra, meaning land in Latin, the concept of territory is tied to both soil and geography—it speaks to the particularities of location, as well as the broader notion of the Earth, the globo terráqueo, as a whole. For the works and projects section, we are seeking contributions that explore the dual relationships underlying the concept of territory in América: those between communities and their habitats, and between communities and their global neighbors. This could include, for example, projects that question the relationship between territories and borders, considering issues of migration, displacement, and sovereignty. It could also encompass initiatives that foster connections between human and non-human communities, including conservation efforts or other practices of care. Additionally, we welcome projects that establish meaningful relationships —or deliberate detachment— from the geographies they inhabit (mountains, river deltas, forests, etc.), revealing sustainable ways of life that navigate the tension between geographic isolation and economic and social interdependence 

Notes:
¹ Jean Gottmann, cited in Felicity Scott, Outlaw Territories: Environments of Insecurity/Architecture of Counterinsurgency (Zone Books, 2016), 431.


Formats

Readings
Editable text file (.doc), maximum 6,000 words. The texts must be unpublished —or at least not previously published in Spanish— and should adhere to academic standards, including an abstract (150 words) and a bibliography. 
Works and Projects
PDF file in US letter size, no more than 10 pages, including: project description and relevance to the open call, architectural drawings, images, and technical data.
Columns / Critiques
Editable text file (.doc), maximum 1,500 words. The texts must be unpublished —or at least not previously published in Spanish— and should adhere to academic standards. Including a bibliography is recommended.
Thesis Projects
Outstanding final thesis projects from Chile and/or abroad. Submit a PDF file in letter size, no more than 10 pages, including: project description and relevance to the call, plans, and images. The PDF should include: name of the institution and study program, supervising professor(s), and graduation year.

Schedule

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