Architects need dry land on which to base their practice, and yet the oceans have always been a key element in defining the built environment. This conference aims to shift the focus of architectural history from the land to the sea. The vast bodies of salt water that are the oceans will be approached either as areas of increasing urbanisation (through the construction of structures such as submarine cables, oil rigs or wind farms), as elements linking space and cultures (through navigation routes for people and resources, forms of knowledge, labour and materials), or as ecosystems that, in connection with the land, play an essential role in supporting life (they define climate patterns, provide resources, and guarantee services such as carbon capture or large-scale habitat reserves). This conference aims to bring together researchers from various fields of interdisciplinary knowledge and consider a wide chronological scope, from historical and archaeological perspectives to more recent approaches to ecological decline, as well as considering future scenarios. Where is the architecture of the sea? To what extent can the built environment have an impact on saltwater landscapes? What are the reciprocities between seascapes and the built environment?

The oceans that shape our planet are the focus of this conference. Its goal is to frame the current state of architectural research in relation to these bodies of salt water, to broaden horizons, and to unpack ongoing projects that emphasize a fundamental shift in our perception of both the oceans and architecture. Climate change has publicly exposed the fundamental role of the oceans in balancing the planet’s ecosystems, a fragile equilibrium that is under threat: there is a relationship between the ongoing environmental destruction that is taking place and the increasing exploitation of water bodies. Such dynamics might be understood as a recent phenomenon, yet their conceptual roots are imbued with historical depth and architectural reasoning.

Convened at a moment when architectural history is exploring aspects of globality, this conference provides space in which to view the discipline through an ecological lens, addressing non-Western systems of knowledge, decolonizing perspectives, and welcoming topics from around the world with an interdisciplinary frame of reference. Ocean-centred scholarship has been dominated by disciplines other than architecture, and building practices happening in the ocean are often overlooked. Architectural history has the potential to combine knowledge, connect different expertise, and address pressing ecological concerns. The conference aims to understand a material history of the oceans, where architectural objects are to be interpreted through a variety of disciplines, from science and technology to humanities and culture, from ecology to law and engineering. We encourage scholars from all backgrounds to contribute to an interdisciplinary discussion. The ocean is not a void, and architectural history is a unique form of knowledge that can be used to chart it. 

We have established a broad chronological scope for the conference, from deep history and archaeological sources to more recent accounts of ecological decline and potential futures. Oceans have been recently urbanized, but there is a long history of oceanic construction providing a standpoint from which to reassess and reconceptualize the relation between architecture and marine environments. While the shore might provide safe ground upon which architectural historians can lay the foundations of their subjects, we are seeking papers that address liquid dimensions rather than the land. As an edge, the shoreline is not a closed boundary, and we aim to identify the connectivity between land and sea. We encourage scholars to position their research such that it reflects the ocean’s perspective and to understand the impacts of building practices on intertidal areas, on the water column, and even out in the deep sea.

The conference seeks papers that focus on processes of transformation and change, and address the following questions through a variety of historical lenses:

— Oceans as areas of urbanization:
* Structures above the sea such as windmills, underwater cables, oil rigs, and a large panoply of floating structures whose existence relies on their direct relation to the sea, rather than on land reclamation
* Artificial islands and floating constructions
* Underwater structures and concrete or fictional explorations of how to inhabit or simply build in aquatic environments
* Mythologies and world views from societies without hard barriers between land and sea, microcosms and philosophies of space deriving from the ocean space

— Oceans as connectors between space and cultures:
* Architecture and built or unbuilt devices for reconceptualizing the ocean space
* Tourism networks and underwater archaeology, from ancient cultures to modern remains
* Ships as a form that inhabits the ocean (related more to ocean history than to maritime history), and naval architecture as a source of information about ocean dynamics, currents, and climate and as a means to question terrestrial assumptions
* Bodies of water as infrastructural supports, navigation routes for people and resources, transported in the form of knowledge, labour, and materials
* The representation of the oceans through architectural means, and its aesthetic consequences

— Oceans as ecosystems:
* Architecture as a tool for resource extraction or resource management
* The relations between currents, oceanographic conditions, natural systems, and species and major architectural practices and forms
* Constructions and interventions in intertidal areas benefiting from their specific habitats and engaging with oceanic species

Proposals are to be submitted using the conference’s online platform, via a link soon available; they should include an abstract of no more than 400 words and an author’s bio (c.200 words per author).

Abstracts will be evaluated primarily on the basis of their relevance to the conference theme; innovative methods, interdisciplinary exploration, and sound research will also be taken into account. Contributions should be the result of original research and should not have been previously published or be in the process of being published elsewhere.

We welcome and encourage proposals from researchers from around the world, at any career stage and representing a broad range of disciplinary backgrounds and methodological approaches to architecture and the built environment—including but not limited to marine biology, ecology, literary studies, history, geography, archaeology, anthropology, or media studies.

For additional queries, please send an email to fish@arq.up.pt

Call for papers: 1 October 2024
Call for papers’ deadline: 18 January 2025
Final selection of abstracts and notification of speakers: 28 March 2025
Registration opens: April 2025
Early-bird registration deadline: May 2025
Registration for participants deadline: June 2025
Programme launch: July 2025
Submission of final version of paper for discussion: July 2025
Final registration deadline: 31 August 2025
Conference dates: 10–13 September 2025

General Chair

André Tavares, Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto

Scientific Committee

Christy Anderson, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Toronto
Paul Bouet, EAHN representative, Ecole nationale supérieure d’architecture Paris-Est, Université Gustave Eiffel
Carson Chan, Emilio Ambasz Institute, Museum of Modern Art, New York 
Nancy Couling, Bergen School of Architecture, ETH Zurich 
Mari Lending, The Oslo School of Architecture and Design
Helen Rozwadowski, University of Connecticut
André Tavares, Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto
Panayotis Tournikiotis, EAHN president, National Technical University of Athens 

Organizing Committee

Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto
Filipa de Castro Guerreiro
Rafael Sousa Santos
Cláudia Soares
Diego Beja Inglez de Souza