Spring 2009, Milan >[call for papers: 15/11/2008]
During the last century great events such as International Expositions, World’s Fairs and Olympic Games played a crucial role as vehicles for the transmission of culture and national identity in the dissemination and circulation of architecture and planning ideas all around the world. However, despite stressing the importance of cultural changes and new technologies, little concern has been paid to the impact of mega-events on urban development at the local level, as well as to their role in transforming urban spaces and prefiguring the future of the hosting cities, the region and the country over decades. Through the consideration of a selected series of case studies the symposium intends to explore political, economical and sociological implications of great events during the century, giving particular attention to the influence of certain events on urban growth, on the creation of new infrastructures and new centralities, as well as to the discussion about the post-event use of installations. It seeks to consider major events as a sounding-board for the interests of government, local power, citizens and corporations. Less known figures, investments, aims and methods may be analyzed, whereas comparative and cross-disciplinary approaches are strongly encouraged. Paper proposals should be emailed (in English or Italian) no later than November 15, 2008 to Prof. Alessandro De Magistris (DiAP, Politecnico di Milano): alessandro.demagistris@polmi.it and Gaia Caramellino: gaia.caramellino@gmail.com. Submissions must be accompanied by the institutional affiliation, e-mail address, a phone number, a 500 words abstract describing the paper aim and a short CV. The Symposium is organized by the Department of Architecture and Planning (DiAP) of the Politecnico di Milano. Info su www.diap.polimi.it