CFP: "Building Designing Thinking," University of Jyväskylä, Finland, August 30-31, 2008.

In the introduction to his essay on architecture, Abbé Laugier claims that ”in those arts which are not purely mechanical it is not sufficient to know how to work; it is above all important to learn to think.” But how should one then think about architecture, or rather, think in architecture? Is there a specific architectural way of thinking, as opposed to, say, an art historical way of looking at a building? Can design be a form of thinking? Or does it all boil down to subjective taste? The 3rd International Meeting on the Research of Modern Architecture, organised by the Alvar Aalto Academy, examines the points of contact, the influences and effects, the interactions and affiliations, the correlations and cross-fertilisations, the bonds and links between thinking, designing, and building. Chaired by Kari Jormakka, the meeting takes place in August, 2008, in Helsinki and Jyväskylä, Finland, bringing together practicing architects and architectural pedagogues, philosophers and art historians, sociologists and cultural theorists. Further information is here: http://www.alvaraalto.fi/conferences/2008/.