Docomomo International is pleased to announce that the call for papers for the XIII Congreso Internacional Historia de la Arquitectura Moderna Española [XIII International Congress History of Modern Spanish Architecture], with the theme Arquitectura para la salud y el descanso (1914-1975) / Architecture for health, resting and well-being (1914-1975), happening 27-29 April 2022, is open.
“There is no doubt that the first steps in the technical and spatial definition of the modern movement were taken in the field of industry; and that the great development of modern aesthetics took place when the achievements made by industry were applied to the resolution of the great social problem, such as the widespread construction of decent housing for all; that it constituted the great social challenge, the urgency of which was accentuated by the two world wars, making it urgent and requiring a great commitment on the part of architects; but alongside
this there was another field of architecture which, if, in general, it did not give rise to such relevant technical or aesthetic contributions, was decisive in establishing the new vital conditions of modern societies; and it has also generated exemplary buildings.
In the last hundred years, medical progress and studies on hygiene and health have established new hospital requirements that architecture, like no other discipline, has been able to satisfy, combining the technical with the aesthetic, the comfortable and the friendly with the practical, to achieve spatial environments that not only allow attempts at healing, but often favor healing with aesthetic and landscape contributions that combine asepsis and attention to medical requirements with the healing and palliative qualities of a psychologically favorable environment. Because beauty also heals.
Sanatoriums for infectious diseases, hospitals and dispensaries, hospital architecture for war, including ships, offer countless examples of that architecture that tries to respond to the needs of the weakest in society; but we also find interesting examples in spas, rest centers, thermal baths, centers prepared for psychic healing,… that together offer a portrait of one of the most important tasks of architecture in society, because its results affect one hundred percent of the population, from birth to death.”
Three topics are to be considered in this Conference:
1. Urban health architecture: hospitals, clinics, health centers.
2. Health landscape architecture: the sanatoriums.
3. Architecture for rest and care: spas, hot springs, rest colonies, recovery facilities, asylums…
Docomomo Intenational’s chair Ana Tostões will be part of the Scientifci Committee, together with Joaquín Medina Warmburg, Juan M. Otxotorena, Antonio Pizza, José Manuel Pozo, José Ángel Medina, Wilfried Wang, Juan Calatrava and Paolo Valerio Mosco.
Abstracts should be sent until 18th May 2021, with a maximum of 400 words (Spanish or English), to congresoetsaun@unav.es using the template available on the web.
The call for papers can be seen here [English and Spanish]. More information will be available soon at the congress website.
