CALL FOR PAPERS - Moving onward: methodological explorations (closed)

The future is met with apprehension, the more so in the present period of pandemic and uncertainty. At the moment there is a real need to face the future, but how do we proceed and move onward? Sociologist John Law suggests in After Method: Mess in Social Science Research (2004) that methods do not only describe realities but create them. If so, what kind of methods, procedures and tools are we using now to move onward? What kind of realities are we creating? What challenges have we encountered?  

We are interested in papers that investigate the engagement of studies of the built environment with creative methodological explorations. Due to the overlap of the built environment with numerous fields of arts, humanities and social sciences, the methodologies adopted by architectural scholars have often been varied and interdisciplinary. With the increased availability of digital tools, further possibilities have emerged for architectural scholars to adopt and experiment with new tools and practices. On the other hand, those who engaged with ethnographic work or archival research have been facing challenges due to the recent pandemic, forcing new ways of undertaking studies ‘in the field’. In this issue, we are seeking papers which explore how methodological explorations, both as a result of limitations and potentials, might open up new roads of engagement, inquiry and research and the implications that emerge. Following up from the previous issue where we have explored ‘format’, as a fundamental tool of communication for architecture which transcends many fields of study and which navigates many interested parties, we are diving into ‘method’ in this issue to create a platform for a discussion across research and practices. 

This issue accepts contributions of up to 5000 words, in formats including articles, short essays, field reports (WIP) or book reviews. We are also hoping to make use of the online format and will be accepting abstracts in alternative forms– film, audio, photo essays, etc. on the following themes:

• Projects that use recent digital tools (e.g. 3D digital printing, Lidar, data science, GIS) 
• Methodological shifts and experiments due to the recent pandemic 
• Unexpected discoveries which have led to new lines of inquiry 
• Ethical explorations on particular inter/cross/transdisciplinary methods adopted by the author’s architectural work 
• Combining Methods 
• How have the notions of ‘archive’ and ‘field work’ been challenged, and what innovative methodological approaches have resulted? 
• Are we still moving onward to the same goal or have new ideas changed both our methods and our destination? 

• September 30th, 2021: Abstract Submission
• October 14th, 2021: Feedback
• December 15th, 2021: Full Paper Submission for Review
• Revision
• Revised/Final Paper Submission
• Dec 22nd, 2022: Publication of the Issue  
  [Note that the dates are subject to change]