XIX. International Conference on Theory and History of Architecture
ARCHTHEO '25
DECEMBER 12, 2025, ISTANBUL
In-person

CALL FOR PAPERS
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ARCHTHEO ’25 / XIX. International Conference on Theory and History of Architecture
Theme: Rethinking Architectural Theory and History in the 21st Century
Format: In-Person
The XIX. International Conference on Theory and History of Architecture (ARCHTHEO ’25) will be held as an in-person event in Istanbul. The conference is coordinated by DAKAM (Eastern Mediterranean Academic Research Center) and organized by BILSAS (Science, Art, Sport Productions).
About the Conference
Since its foundation, ARCHTHEO has provided a dedicated platform for in-depth discussions on architectural theory, independent of practice, while also embracing the historical dimensions of architecture. Over the years, the conference has brought together hundreds of scholars, critics, and historians from around the world, resulting in numerous published proceedings that contribute to the global discourse on architectural thought.
ARCHTHEO ’25 aims to continue this tradition by encouraging a critical and interdisciplinary dialogue that re-examines the intellectual, cultural, and historical underpinnings of architecture. It welcomes both established and emerging voices to engage with the theories, narratives, and frameworks shaping the discipline in the 21st century.
All submitted abstracts will undergo a double-blind review process. Accepted papers will be published in the Conference Proceedings E-Book (ISBN), which will be distributed to participants in digital format after the conference.
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Conference Focus
Architecture has always been more than the production of physical spaces—it is also a cultural and intellectual act that reflects and shapes societies. In today’s complex and rapidly transforming world, revisiting architectural theory and history offers new ways to address global and local challenges, rethink disciplinary boundaries, and re-evaluate the role of architecture in shaping collective memory, identity, and experience.
The current landscape calls for:
• Critical reassessments of canonical narratives and historiographies.
• Theoretical frameworks that respond to shifting political, social, and environmental realities.
• Interdisciplinary approaches linking architecture with philosophy, art theory, literature, and cultural studies.
• Comparative and cross-cultural studies in architectural history.
• Reflections on the role of criticism, narrative, and theory in contemporary practice.
In this context, ARCHTHEO ’25 invites participants to explore how theory and history can illuminate, challenge, and inspire architecture today.
Why Participate?
• Engage with leading scholars, historians, and theorists in architecture.
• Present your research to an international, multidisciplinary audience.
• Contribute to critical debates on architecture’s past, present, and future.
• Publish in a proceedings book with an e-ISBN, ensuring academic recognition.
• Network with experts and peers in the unique cultural setting of Istanbul.
Themes and Topics
The conference welcomes submissions addressing a wide range of topics, including but not limited to:
• Theory for the 21st Century: New paradigms, posthumanism, decoloniality, and environmental ethics.
• Historical Case Studies: Regional and global perspectives on architectural heritage.
• Architecture and Culture: Cross-disciplinary dialogues with literature, visual arts, music, and film.
• Criticism and Discourse: The role of architectural criticism in shaping theory and practice.
• Memory, Identity, and Space: Architecture’s role in shaping collective and individual identities.
• Architectural Historiography: Methods, narratives, and critical approaches.
For the full list of conference tracks and topics, please see below.
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Join Us
We warmly welcome proposals from researchers, critics, and theorists worldwide. ARCHTHEO ’25 offers a unique opportunity to rethink architectural history and theory, expand disciplinary boundaries, and engage with diverse perspectives in one of the world’s most historically and culturally rich cities.
Let’s reimagine together the narratives and frameworks that will shape architecture’s future through its
CALENDER​
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Abstract Submission:
OCTOBER 10, 2025
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Registration:
OCTOBER 24, 2025
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Full Paper Submission Deadline:
NOVEMBER 21, 2025
































TOPICS
ARCHITECTURE, WRITING, THEORY
Criticism and history of architecture
Architectural criticism, critical theory, and ‘critical architecture’
Essential texts on architectural theory
Architect as author: writings by architects
Multidisciplinary studies on architecture
The structural relationship between architecture and text
Philosophy and architecture
Case studies on terminology and points of view
Definitions and concepts by architectural movements or periods
The role of theory in shaping architectural education and practice
Comparative studies of theoretical approaches across cultures
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DESIGN IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM
Kinetic architecture
Programmable matter
Ideology and architecture
Genetics and architecture
Gender issues and architecture
Architects, race, and minorities
Refugee crises and architecture
Pandemic and architecture
Emerging materials and construction innovations
Ethical considerations in technological integration
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GREEN ARCHITECTURE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Architecture in the age of climate crisis
Green architecture
Sustainability strategies
Biomorphism
Biomimetics
Ecological urbanism
Low-energy and passive design
Circular economy in architecture
Nature-based solutions
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES
Artificial intelligence in design and theory
Cognitive neuroscience and architectural experience
Neuroscience and architecture
New digital technologies
Computational design
Robotics and automation in architecture
Virtual and augmented reality applications
Data-driven design and smart systems
CITIES AND URBAN DESIGN
Urban design case studies
The future and past of cities
Everyday life, ideology, and culture
Phenomenology and architecture
Anthropology, locality, and "low" architecture
Body, movement, and space
Perception, feeling, and space
Metaphors, symbols, and people
Lives of buildings
Public and private life
Objects and interiors
The problem of scale in architecture
Buildings, urban life, and environment
Urban heritage preservation and adaptive reuse
Social justice and equity in urban design
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE
Historical styles and periods
Case studies
Influential figures from the history of architecture
Historiography
Modern architecture
Contemporary trends
Reinterpretations of architectural heritage
Cross-cultural influences in architectural history

VENUE
NIPPON Meeting Halls in Istanbul
Nippon Hotel, Taksim
Topçu Caddesi No:6, Taksim, BeyoÄŸlu, Turkey
Nippon Meeting Halls are located in the heart of Taksim, the cultural center of Istanbul and it is easily accessible by metro, taxi or bus.








LOCATION
You can easily reach Nippon Conference Halls by walking from Taksim Square.
Taksim can be regarded one of the most central places in Istanbul.
From the airport you can directly reach Taksim by taking the white HAVATAÅž Buses. Taksim
is also accessible by many bus lines, yellow minibus lines or two different metro lines.
Here are some useful links for public transportation in Istanbul.
Click here for the Istanbul metro network map.
Click here for the transportation fares and cards.
Click here for general information on public transportation in Istanbul.
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
All proposals will be selected by a double-blind review process by the scientific committee members.
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Prof. Dr. Gökçeçiçek Savaşır, Dokuz Eylül University
Architect. Graduated from the Middle East Technical University (M.E.T.U.), Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Ankara, Turkey (B.Arch. 2000). Received her M.Arch Degree, with the topic "Re-framing Architecture: METU Faculty of Architecture and its Photographic Reproduction”, in 2001, at the M.E.T.U. Received her Ph.D. Degree in 2008, at the same department with the topic “Re-thinking the Limits of Architecture through the Avant-Garde Formations during the 1960s: Projections and Receptions in the Context of Turkey”. Teaching as a Professor at Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir, Turkey. Her fields of interest include “architectural history, theory and criticism”, “architectural avant-garde”, “architectural photography”, “visuality, and architectural representation”, "modernity and modern architecture and tourism architecture”. ​
Prof. Dr. Ömür Barkul, Yıldız Technical University
Ömür Barkul studied at Yildiz Technical University Faculty of Architecture. She received B.Arch. degree with the thesis on “Physical, social and structural problems of 19. century apartments in Istanbul”. Directed independently design studios at graduate and master programs at Yildiz Technical University Faculty of Architecture since 1993. And also gives lectures on “Contextual Architecture”, “Social Sustainability, and Social Environment in Rehabilitation Areas”
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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emine Görgül, Istanbul Technical University
Emine Görgül is an associate professor and vice-chair at Istanbul Technical University-ITU Department of Interior Architecture. She has received her B.Sc. (1999), M.Sc. (2002), and Ph.D. (2013) degrees from ITU in Architecture and Architectural Theory and Criticism. Her master's thesis focused on deconstructivism and avant-garde theory while dismantling the AG behavioral tone in deconstructivism. Yet her Ph.D. thesis entitled ‘Space as a Becoming: A Discussion on the Transfiguring Ontology of Space and Emergence of Spatial Mediators’ has also focused on the space as an open-ended dynamic embodiment, and examined the architectural space through a Deleuzian context.
She was a visiting scholar at DSD-TU Delft, a visiting teacher at Architectural Association-London an invited studio critic in Hong Kong University-School of Architecture, and an invited professor at Auburn University-Alabama. She has been the chair of ‘The Deleuze Studies Conference Istanbul 2014’, and the founder of the ITU Deleuze Studies Reading Group-İstanbul. She has also been the keynote presenter of III. Deleuze Studies Asia Conference-Manipal and 2014 Deleuze Conference in Lima. She experiments with alternative ways of teaching design and creativity through her architectural and interior architectural studios at both undergraduate and graduate levels, and authors numerous articles both in Turkish and in English, on design theory and criticism as well as design education and innovative interventions.
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Assoc. Professor Leyla Alpagut, Abant Izzet Baysal University
She received her Bachelor’s Degree (1994), Master’s Degree (1999), and PhD (2005) in Art History from Hacettepe University. Currently, she is an Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture, at Abant Izzet Baysal University. Her research interests include Early Republican Architecture in Turkey and educational buildings, foreign architects in the Early Republican Period of Turkey, and modern architecture.
Assoc. Prof. Derya Elmalı Sen, Karadeniz Technical University
Derya Elmalı Åžen is an associate professor of Building Design and Theory at Karadeniz Technical University (KTU), Faculty of Architecture, Department of Architecture, Trabzon. She graduated from KTU Department of Architecture as B. Arch in 2001, where she received her M.Arch degree with the thesis entitled “Transparency-Opacity Concepts in Architecture and Their Effects on Perception of Façades” in 2005. She received her Ph.D. degree with the thesis entitled “A Research on Transparency and Opacity Concepts in the Context of Perception and Signification (Denotation/Connotation) in Architecture) (KTU, 2009). Her research interests are in the fields of architectural design, transparency in architecture, meaning in architecture, modern architecture and vernacular architecture.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Efe Duyan, Riseba University
Poet, architect (b. 1981, İstanbul, Turkey). He studied architecture and philosophy at Middle East Technical University (B.A.), History and Theory of Architecture in Yıldız Technical University (M.S.), and History of Architecture at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University (PhD). He is currently teaching the history of architecture at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. Some of his academic works as an editor are House and Home, Politics and History of Architecture as Cause and Consequence, Urban Space and Literature, Creativity Autonomy, and Function. His fields of interest are the theory of architecture, modern architecture, 'critical architecture', 'undesigned spaces', and architectural texts. He has been invited to several international organizations including the Word Express project, the Edinburgh Book Festival, the London Book Fair, the Berlin Poetry Festival, and the Lodeve Poetry Festival.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Elvan Gökçe Erkmen, Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University
She was born in 1959 in Istanbul. She graduated from Istanbul German High School in 1978 and completed her graduate studies in Istanbul Fine Arts Academy in 1983. She wrote anthologies about people and movements in art and architecture history between 1984 and 1985. She started working as a Research Assistant in the Department of Architecture History at Mimar Sinan University in 1985. She received her Phd degree with her Phd thesis entitled 'Clemens Holzmeister and his place in Turkish Architecture'. (This thesis is still being exhibited at Salzburg Clemens Holzmeister Museum's publications section.)
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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yıldız Aksoy Medeniyet University
She received her bachelor's degree from Istanbul University Faculty of Forestry, Landscape Architecture Department, and her master's and doctorate degrees from ITU Institute of Science and Technology, Department of City and Regional Planning Landscape Planning program. She worked as a Landscape Planning and Design Workshop coordinator in addition to being a lecturer at BahçeÅŸehir University, Faculty of Architecture. She served as the Vice Head of the Architecture Department, the Head of the Landscape Architecture and Urban Design Department, the Head of the Urban Design Master's Program Department, and the Vice Dean at the Faculty of Architecture and Design at Istanbul Aydın University. Since 2015, she has been teaching Landscape Design in Architecture as a visiting professor at Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Architecture, and Department of Architecture. She was appointed to Istanbul Medeniyet University, Faculty of Art, Design, and Architecture, Department of City and Regional Planning in 2016. She has served as the Head of the Department of City and Regional Planning and Architecture, as well as the Vice Dean.
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Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tiziana Campisi University of Palermo
She joined the University of Palermo (Italy) in 1999, where she is an Associate Professor of Architectural Engineering. She holds the Courses of “Building Rehabilitation and Conservation Projects” for the Master's Degree in Engineering of Building Systems, “Materials and techniques of the Existing Building Heritage” for the 5-year Master's Degree in Architecture, and “Techniques for the Sustainable Recovery of architecture” for the Master's Degree in Architecture for the sustainable project of the existing. She supervised and co-supervised about 150-degree theses, with assistance and teaching responsibility in the Graduation Laboratories as a teacher and tutor, carrying out specific seminars and assiduous assistance in the project work of undergraduates, also through on-site inspections and instrumental analyses useful for the insights assigned to students.
She is Vice-Coordinator of the 5-year Course of Study in Architectural Engineering and Architecture and the 2-year Master's Degree in “Architecture and Sustainable Design of the Built Environment” of the University of Palermo; she is a component of the teaching board of the PhD course in “Architecture, Arts and Planning” of the Department of Architecture of the University of Palermo. Her research activity consists of approximately 190 publications, focused on developing technological solutions for traditional architecture, sustainable rehabilitation, and improvement of technical elements/construction systems. She is mainly devoted to the study of constructive characteristics of historical buildings, with specific attention to recurrent and original study cases. She also studies traditional and contemporary timber structures and wooden construction systems. Finally, she joined the international research group "Historic Timber Frames in Seismic Zones", a team of experts and an opportunity for international exchange on the topic of wooden structures in seismic areas, and she is a member of the Italian Scientific Committee of ICOMOS, for the conservation of wooden structures; and of REHAMIBED Association, oriented to local economic development through the enhancement of the urban/traditional heritage.
Asst. Prof. Dr. Ismet Osmanoglu, Trakya University
He was born in 1964. He holds a BA (1986) in Architecture from Istanbul Technical University, an MA (1990) in Engineering and Technology from Istanbul Technical University, and a PhD (2004) in Engineering and Technology from Istanbul Technical University. His fields of interest are urban conservation and renovation; urban conservation policy; restoration; architectural design for the historic part of urban areas; and architectural and environmental design/implementation. He has a lot of national and international important projects like the restoration of Suleymaniye Åžifahana, Restoration of Kadem-i Sharif Dervish Lodge, Restoration of Yıldız Parc, Restoration of Hagia Sophia Madrasah, Restoration of Beykoz Military Barracks, Restoration of Üsküdar French School, Restoration of Yıldız Palace Private Gardens, Bahçelievler Cultural Center, İkitelli Sports Complex, Environmental Design of Tuzla Coast, Caddebostan - Bostancı Coast, Florya Coast, Kazakhistan Mass Housing, Educational and Health Buildings in Afghanistan, Sarajevo Shopping Mall, Baku Galleria, Trakya University Faculty of Medicine, Building, Trakya University Faculty of Pharmacy Building.
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Asst. Prof. Dr. Nikolaos-Ion Terzoglou National Technical University of Athens
He obtained a Diploma in Architecture and Engineering (2000), a Master’s of Science (2001, Postgraduate Diploma in “Architecture: Design-Space- Culture”), and a PhD in the Theory and Philosophy of Architecture (2005) at the National Technical University of Athens, where he teaches Concepts and Theories for the Organization and Design of Architectural Space as a tenured Assistant Professor, having previously taught at the University of Patras, Greece (2007-2010). He also holds a degree in painting from the Athens School of Fine Arts (2009). His doctoral thesis was awarded the Second International ICAR-CORA Prize in 2007. He has published a book in Greek called Ideas of Space in the 20th Century (2009), which was his post-doctoral research project (2007–2008), and co-edited a book in English titled Intersections of Space and Ethos (Routledge, 2015, 2017). Seventy-eight scientific articles have been published in numerous journals and collective books, in Greek and English. Fifty (50) conference talks. Two hundred and forty (240) public lectures have been given since 2001.
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Prof. Dr. Eng. Manfredi Saeli, University of Palermo
Manfredi Saeli (Palermo, Italy, 1979), EURO-PhD, engineer, and architect, joined the Department of Architecture, University of Palermo (Italy), in 2019 and, presently, he is an Assistant Professor with a tenure track in “Architectural Engineering”. He gained a EURO- PhD in “Construction Engineering” (University of Palermo) in 2011, M.Sci. with Honours in “Nanotechnologies for Cultural Heritage” in 2008, and the Laurea (Italian 5-year degree) with Honours in “Architectural Engineering” (2006). is a component of the teaching board of the PhD course in “Architecture, Arts and Planning” of Department of Architecture of University of Palermo. He has been collaborated to the teaching activities since 2008 within the Courses of Study of the Department of Architecture of the University of Palermo, devoting his contribution to the definition of traditional and advanced construction and
building materials and technologies.
His present research activities are mainly focused on developing high technological solutions of innovative materials, technologies, and products to improve the quality and sustainability of the built environment, either traditional, historical, or contemporary, considering the interaction between human lives, buildings, and the industry of Construction. Since 2011, he has supervised/co-supervised about 50 students’ theses, and he is the first author, or co-author, of more than 100 scientific papers published in international scientific journals and presented at national and international conferences. He was Visiting Professor/Researcher at the University of Aveiro (Portugal), University of Salento (Italy), Slovak University of Technology (Slovakia), The Energy and Resources Institute (New Delhi), University College of London (UK), and Columbia University (USA).
He is involved in many national and international research projects and has scientific collaborations with Italian and foreign Universities and Research Institutes.​
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Dr. Halleh Nejadriahi Royal Architectural Institute of Canada
She holds a PhD in Architecture, is a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, and is a LEED Green Associate. She obtained both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Architecture. Her achievements include recognition on the AD Scientific Index and earning the “Health and Wellness” badge for “Built for Health” from the U.S. Green Building Council. Dr. Nejadriahi has also received the Honor Certificate in the Pathways into Sustainability and Energy Program, as well as multiple certificates in Teaching Art and Design, Inclusive Teaching, and Universal Design for Learning.
Her expertise encompasses architectural design and construction, environmental design and sustainability, design theories and principles, space organization, and design communications. Dr. Nejadriahi's professional journey has been enriched by her academic pursuits, teaching experiences, and professional engagements in various institutions across Canada, Europe, and the Middle East.
With over 15 years of experience, Dr. Nejadriahi has taught a wide range of architectural and interior design courses. She has authored numerous publications in the field of architecture for international scientific journals and conference proceedings and has chaired several international conferences.
She is affiliated with several associations, including the Ontario College of Art and Design Faculty Association, the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD), the International Association of People-Environment Studies, and the International Network for Traditional Building, Architecture & Urbanism (INTBAU). Additionally, Dr. Nejadriahi serves on the International Scientific Committee and Editorial Review Board of several journals.
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PROGRAM
The program will be announced after the registration deadline.
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