Building for the Nation Abroad
International conference, Academia Belgica and the Danish Academy in Rome
21 - 23 September 2023
The foreign Academies in Valle Giulia, Rome, drawn by Carl Brummer, May 1938.
Courtesy of the Danish Academy in Rome
Call for Papers (open to 1st March 2023)
Throughout history nation states and many national institutions have built on foreign soil. They did so on several occasions and for several reasons: to ensure political representation, to facilitate cultural exchange, to foster economic relations, to shape a national identity or to cement diplomatic ties.
Embassies, legations, consulates, national, cultural and scientific institutions such as the academies in Rome are just some of the examples that fit this description. The process of building such projects is impacted by a multitude of actors across the sending and receiving states and is often challenging. It involves navigating different and less familiar bureaucracies, local building regulations and administrative procedures and a conscious assessment of whether or not to ‘export’ architectural expertise, constructional knowledge or building materials.
In the decision-making process, different and sometimes conflicting interests are at play, resulting in buildings that more often than not can be described as hybrid constructs – somewhere in between a national export product and a locally embedded spatial entity. In many cases the final product can be described as a negotiation of the ambitions of the organisational committee of the sending state, and the political, economic, cultural and technical reality of the host country. Although the impact of local actors and mechanisms on these national building projects abroad is immense, they have for too long been neglected.
This colloquium aims to discuss the challenges of building for the nation abroad with a particular focus on the process of negotiation between the many actors involved.
The conference will be held in English.
Speakers whose proposals are accepted have to provide their own travel and accommodation expenses.
Proposals for paper presentations should consist of a title, an abstract of 400 words, and a 10-line biographical statement.
Please send proposals to info@academiabelgica.it
The full Call for Papers can be downloaded here. Please follow all guidance in this document to ensure that your proposals meet the criteria for submission.
Submission deadline: 1st March 2023.
