CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Due: August 1st, 2015

REMOTE: Designing with Outlying Societies prompts us to investigate the ethical and ideological assumptions of contemporary humanitarian architecture in the contexts of isolated peoples.

What does it mean to intervene?

The question foregrounds a need to better understand the notion of geographic and cultural remoteness as it relates to today’s global practice and discourse.  An exterior voice is imaginably beneficial to problem identification and the generation of potential solutions.  However, how can contemporary architecture and design proceed to work with these societies while harnessing a better understanding and reciprocity in both formal and cultural tolerances?

The “humanitarian” project is largely a mediated enterprise — apt for popular dissemination. Are architects and institutions similarly engaging such work for the chance to build altruistically-viewed projects in distant, photogenic and exoticized landscapes? Through what frameworks may contemporary architecture assess the integrity and productivity of such projects?  Do these initiatives strike a resemblance to cycles of colonization, industrialization, assimilation, and exploitation? What are the agendas that motivate practical and institutional contact in the 21st Century?

REMOTE is a peer-reviewed volume.  We are looking for scholarly papers that address this topic through the lens of media studies, anthropology, sociology, political science, and architectural history and theory.  We are also interested in art and architectural projects that explore these issues.

Editors:

Sixto Cordero Maisonet

Tyler Stevermer

Austin Smith

Peer-Review Board Director:

Mark Jarzombek

http://remote-arch.com

For correspondence and inquiries:

remote-arch@mit.edu

REMOTE, MIT Architecture

77 Massachusetts Ave, Room 7-337

Cambridge, MA 02139

remote-arch.com

REMOTE: Designing with Outlying Societies is a scholarly, peer-reviewed journal that aims to publish only original material.  Text should be in American English, limited to 3,000 words, and formatted in accordance with The Chicago Manual of Style.  Images should be included separately at 72 dpi—print quality images will be requested upon acceptance into thresholds.  Author must have permission for all images.  Submissions should include a cover letter with author’s name, affiliation, telephone number and email address, and a brief bio.  All submissions should be sent in digital format, with text as MS Word files and images as uncompressed JPEG files.