Modernism and the Everyday: A South Australian Perspective Public Symposium Friday 21 February 2025 University of South Australia, Pridham Hall level 2, Hindley Street, Adelaide Deadline to submit: November 21, 2024
Call for Papers
The Architecture Museum at the University of South Australia is inviting abstracts for 15 minute presentations for a public symposium on the topic of 'South Australian Modernism and the Everyday' from professionals, students, academics, and members of special interest groups from a range of disciplines.
In 1941, ABC radio broadcast a series of talks 'Design in Everyday Things' in which architects, interior designers, artists, writers, and designers presented their thoughts on 'houses and flats and blocks of offices and trains and furniture and crockery and clothes, the thousand and one material objects which are in daily use by every one of us.' Taking the idea of design in everyday things as a provocation, this symposium seeks papers on the South Australian experience of modern design and architecture.
Architectural and design practice in Australia has its roots in international movements, something which makes the balancing of the narrative of global histories with regional ones essential. With much of modern design a response to local factors including climate, geography, material availability, lifestyles, social and cultural factors, the understanding of the role of such influences in designed outcomes has the potential to inform both today's practice and heritage decisions.
While considerable work has been done on modern architecture in Australia, there remain gaps in regional and local material, and particularly the narrative about modernism in South Australia. This symposium hopes to explore the territory beyond dominant historical narratives and enhance them by including local materials and examples which are often overlooked.
We ask potential contributors to consider the relationship between modernist architecture and design and the local South Australian context.
Topics may include but are not limited to:
Local modernism - architecture, landscape, planning, interiors, industrial and graphic design
Sustainability and heritage of preserving and reusing modernism
Case studies of buildings, objects, places, architects and designers
Elements of imported ideas, theoretical explorations, reception of modernism
Investigation of indigenous architecture in the modernist era
Submission requirements
Abstracts of no more than 300 words should be submitted along with the applicant's name, email address, professional affiliation, and brief 100 word biography.
Presentation Format
15 minute oral presentation in person at University of South Australia, City West Campus, Adelaide.
Important Dates
21 November 2024 - Abstract Submissions Close
30 November 2024 - Decisions About Paper Acceptances Sent
