INTRODUCTION
At a time when, even in Italy, the difficulty of managing dismissed or decommissioned places of worship, convents and monasteries is worsening, we have decided to follow up on the conference organized in November 2018 by the Pontifical Council for Culture, the National Department for Cultural Heritage of the Church, Buildings of Worship of the CEI and the Pontifical Gregorian University on the topic of decommissioned churches. We are therefore proposing a territorial scale approach and an inclusive evaluation of all ecclesiastical spaces, not just buildings.
The conference is dedicated to discussing the design possibilities at territorial level for the transformation of ecclesiastical buildings for which a change of use is necessary, taking into account the implications and potential coming from the pastoral, civil and social context. The seminar will be held in Italian and English.
SCOPE
Over the last years, the phenomenon of decommissioning ecclesiastical buildings and transferring church heritage has become increasingly widespread. In fact, it is a process with a wide international scope, with particularly significant cases in some European countries.
The phenomenon is certainly the result of multiple processes faced by ecclesiastical entities that are currently challenged by the protection of numerous historical buildings, the management and maintenance of which requires economic resources that are not always available; indeed, it is increasingly harder to connect the magisterial bodies of the Church that consider ecclesiastical goods and their enhancement as the opportunity for a renewed process of evangelization, with the local levels – dioceses, parishes and congregations – that often end up considering said “heritage” as a heavy administrative burden.
Given the numerical significance of the buildings concerned by such decisions, we can no longer postpone the implementation of evaluation strategies that embrace not only the religious buildings but also the relevant community
spaces considering the individual “case” within a broad, spatial vision.
PROPOSAL FRAMEWORK
The purpose of the seminar is to re-launch a broad propositional understanding of this important phenomenon, convinced that its manifestation should be considered not only as a “critical phase” of our contemporary times, but, above all, as an opportunity to evaluate new operational methodologies at local and territorial level within religious and civil communities.
The conference includes different themes and represents, above all, a renewed opportunity to compare operational methods already in place both in Italy and in Europe, as valuable “tools” for a common reflection.
THEMATIC AREAS
1 – Decommissioning and territorial implications
2 – Reuse of churches and regeneration of communities
3 – New life for monastic and convent spaces
GUIDELINES FOR PAPER SUBMISSION
Call for paper addressed to experts in urban planning, architecture and territorial dynamics, scholars of liturgy and of its implications on architecture, managers or collaborators of diocesan offices, scholars of monastic/conventual structures, and groups of professionals who have taken part in transformation processes according to these three thematic areas.
Preference will be given to papers that focus on concrete case studies, presenting documented arrangements according to scientific methods and considering the outlined problems from a variety of sources and examples.
Particular importance will also be attached to innovative research outcomes regarding documented case studies such as university dissertations, doctoral theses, finalised research, projects of national or EU interest, European competitive calls – with a disciplinary or multidisciplinary approach. Papers can be submitted in English or in Italian.
TIMELINE FOR ABSTRACT SUBMISSION AND ASSESSMENT
The deadline for the submission is 9 December 2024, the character limit for the abstract is 2000 characters including spaces, while for the Curriculum Vitae is 300 characters including spaces. Please specify the thematic area that is relevant with your abstract.
Abstracts will be assessed by the Scientific Committee on the basis of the following criteria: relevance of the case study in the context of the international critical debate, clarity in identifying the adopted criteria, transferability of the method to other case studies, originality of the research, innovativeness of the method compared to the established scientific literature.
Publication of the abstracts selected for the conference presentations and those proposed for the conference proceedings is due by 27 January 2025.
TIMELINE TO SUBMIT SELECTED PAPERS AND SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Full papers for the conference, complete with royalty-free images and Power Point presentation (maximum 20 slides) must be submitted by 14 April 2025. Papers should have a maximum length of 8000 characters including spaces and be written in English or Italian. Papers selected for publication in the seminar proceedings must be submitted by 5 May 2025 and have a maximum length of 25,000 characters (including spaces) including notes and bibliography. Five royalty-free images may be submitted, which will be published in black and white. Editorial standards will be delivered by the secretariat to the authors of the selected texts. Papers will be evaluated by the Scientific Committee; however, if the above criteria are not met, the Committee reserves the right to reject them.
SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Submissions of abstracts, CVs and papers should be made by email to corsi.centrostudi@fondazionelercaro.it.
Information is available from the secretariat of the Centro studi per l’architettura sacra.
Phone +39.051-6566287, e-mail: info.centrostudi@fondazionelercaro.it.
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