COST– CitySenZ Architectural and Urban Ambiances of European Cities
Call for Papers – ACT 3
Polyphonies of Ambiances
1–2 December 2026
Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), Athens
The COST Action CA23145 CitySenZ – Architectural and Urban Ambiances of European Cities, coordinated by Lusófona University and funded by the European Union, is organizing its third conference, “Polyphonies of Ambiances”, at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) in Athens.
The conference programme and scientific activities are developed and coordinated with the Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly, and its Sustainable Design of the Built Environment Laboratory.
Polyphonies of Ambiancesexplores how sensory, social, ecological, technical and more-than-human dimensions shape the experience of contemporary environments. Bringing together researchers, architects, engineers, artists, institutions and local stakeholders, the conference invites contributions examining how urban ambiances are perceived, experienced, negotiated and collectively transformed through everyday life.
Researchers, architects, engineers, artists, planners, practitioners and early-career researchers are warmly invited to contribute.
See the poster.
Official CitySenZ website https://www.citysenz.eu
Call for Papers – Polyphonies of Ambiances https://www.citysenz.eu/download/call-for-papers-act3-v.-05-06-2026.pdf
Abstract submission https://citysenz3.sciencesconf.org
COST Action CA23145 – CitySenZ
Architectural and Urban Ambiances of European Cities
Call for Participation
Sensing Kypseli – Urban Polyphonies and Relational Architectures
28–30 November 2026
Kypseli Municipal Market, Athens
The COST Action CA23145 CitySenZ – Architectural and Urban Ambiances of European Cities, coordinated by Lusófona University and funded by the European Union, is organizing the workshop “Sensing Kypseli – Urban Polyphonies and Relational Architectures” at the Kypseli Municipal Market (Δημοτική Αγορά Κυψέλης – ΔΑΚ), a vibrant social and cultural hub at the heart of the neighbourhood.
The workshop programme and activities are developed and coordinated with the Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly, the Sustainable Design of the Built Environment Laboratory (Εργαστήριο Αειφόρου Σχεδιασμού του Δομημένου Περιβάλλοντος), and the AAU-CRESSON Laboratory, Grenoble School of Architecture – Université Grenoble Alpes.
The workshop invites participants to explore urban ambiances and public space through the sensory, environmental and relational dimensions of Kypseli, one of Athens’ most vibrant neighbourhoods. Through sound recordings, environmental measurements, photography, interviews, drawings and collective observations, researchers, practitioners, students and local inhabitants will investigate how urban ambiances emerge from the relations and interactions between people, places, objects, infrastructures, environmental conditions and other living beings. The workshop encourages more-than-human and relational approaches to understanding how public spaces are experienced, negotiated and collectively shaped.
Researchers, architects, artists, planners, practitioners, students, early-career researchers and local inhabitants are warmly invited to participate.
See the poster.
Many cities around the world are confronted with a critical question: on the one hand, they strive to safeguard their historical heritage, while on the other, they must manage the pressures generated by ongoing urbanization. This dual challenge often gives rise to conflicts, both social and spatial in nature.
Such tensions are manifested, for instance, in the clash between the demands of tourism and the needs of local populations, as well as in the friction between nationally constructed identities and the pressures exerted by the globalized economy.
On this basis, the workshop is structured around three main objectives:
- To examine the evolution of the historical urban landscape, as well as the tensions it entails, through the case studies of a major city (Athens) and a smaller urban center (Volos) in Greece.
- To compare these two cases in terms of scale, as well as their national and local significance.
- To discuss parallel case studies situated in diverse cultural contexts, including China, Morocco, and Europe.
Place of Venue: Athens (29/6, 30/6 and 1/7), Volos (2/7, 3/7, 4/7)
Participating Universities
- University of Thessaly (Greece)
- National Technical University of Athens (Greece)
- Budapest University of Technology and Economics (Hungary)
- Techical University Gheorghe Asachi of Iasi (Romania)
- Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture, China
- Euromed University, Dept. of Architecture, Morocco
SPETSES 12-19 JULY
The Anargyrios Korgialenios School of Spetses (AKSS) and the Department of Architecture of the University of Patras are organizing the second Spetses Architecture Workshop SAW 2026 from 12/7 to 19/7 at the AKSS facilities in Spetses.
The Department of Architecture of University of Thessaly, organized a conference at 7-8-9 November 2025 with the title “Broken City” and subject the contemporary challenges for the architecture and urban environment where both undergraduate and postgraduate students, young graduates as well as phd candidates participated in a critical dialogue for the current issues of greek cities and the potential of architecture to become a tool for questioning and empowerment, shaping new collective dynamics and responses to social needs.
The conference created a framework of exchanging ideas in order to highlight the issues of our time, as well as new directions and proposals for cities and architecture through the lens of five topics:
- Surveillance and Repression
- Tourism, Gentrification and Urban Identity
- Architectural and Environmental Resilience
- Privatizations and common resources
- Visibility and Advocacy
As a closure a collective volume was created (conference proceedings) which includes texts of oral presentations presented.
Conference proceedings are available here.
Conference website: https://www.arch.uth.gr/spasmenipoli/
The BIP is led by the Università Iuav di Venezia in collaboration with three higher education institutions: ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon, the Université Gustave Eiffel, and the University of Thessaly.
The teaching programme combines 3 online sessions with an intensive in-person week in Vicenza, designed to support a progressive process of theoretical grounding, field immersion, and applied research.
The online sessions introduce the theoretical framework and methodological approach to studying the socio-spatial transformations of infrastructural corridors, with the SR11 (Strada Regionale 11 / Regional Road 11) as the central case study, and include contributions from partner institutions alongside the coordination of field research activities.
The in-person component, developed over five intensive days in Vicenza, is organised as a structured sequence of seminars, fieldwork, and collaborative workshops. It begins with an introductory seminar that presents the research context, defines working groups, and establishes research questions. This is followed by three core phases based on the Challenge - Based Education model:
- Engage: direct immersion in the SR.11 infrastructural corridor through situated observation, sensory documentation, and initial interaction with local stakeholders;
- Investigate: development of field-based research through interviews, surveys, participatory mapping, and qualitative data collection, enabling the testing of initial hypotheses;
- Act: synthesis and translation of the collected knowledge into critical interpretations, narratives, and spatial or strategic proposals.
The programme concludes with a final seminar in which participants present their work to an extended audience – including academic staff, institutional partners, and local stakeholders – fostering critical discussion and reflection on future development perspectives of the SR11 corridor and the broader territorial implications of infrastructural transformation.
When:
Online | 3rd, 7th and 11th of July
In-person | 20th to 24th of July
Where:
Vicenza, Italy
Location:
IUAV Vicenza
Piazza S. Biagio, 1, 36100 Vicenza , Italy
Language of instruction:
English
ECTS: 3
Number of participants: 7-10 Students
Application deadline: May 30th, 2026
Lecture by Francesco Sartore, PhD candidate at the University of Padua, entitled "Visualizing Innsmouth: Digital Reconstruction, Immersive Environments, and the Limits of the Virtual" on Thursday 28/5/2026 at 14:00 in the Postgraduate Hall of the Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly.
What does it mean to give form to a place that was never meant to exist? Visualizing Innsmouth — a research project developed at the University of Padova in collaboration with Duke University — takes as its subject Innsmouth, Massachusetts, the fictional city conceived by H.P. Lovecraft in The Shadow Over Innsmouth (1936). Drawing on textual evidence, geographical and historical context, and Lovecraft's own autograph sketches, the project produced a navigable 3D reconstruction of the city, allowing users to retrace the protagonist's footsteps through streets that exist only on the page.
A discussion is then to be opened regarding the technical and perceptual limitations of the world of game engines and its surrounding ecosystem, beginning with those identified in this project. The aim is not to eliminate these limitations, but rather to explore how to work within and alongside them.
Bio
Francesco Sartore got the Master degree in Building Engineering and Architecture (UniPD) in 2024. He is a PhD candidate at the ICEA Department of the University of Padua. His doctoral research focuses on the possible uses of game engine software on the analysis, visualization and design assessments of the built environment. He did his master thesis in collaboration with Duke University Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies. After graduation, he started his research activity on the T.E.A.C. Project (iNEST founded by PNRR) and is currently working on I_BRIDGE and SMUH projects in ICEA Department and Verona Municipality for the digitalization of documentary heritage using BIM tools. Alongside his academic path, he has cultivated an interest in drawing and 3D modeling for videogames and animation, enriching his interdisciplinary approach to game engine and 3D visualization research.
Re-Opening World Futures through Culture Landscapes. A Case in the Swiss Alps
Juli Osusky
Wedensday 27.5, 18.00 Patari Metaptychiakou
In times of climate crisis, we are witnessing the failures of modern planning and design in the diminishing of planetary futures. How, then, might we design otherwise? In this talk, I approach this question by examining culture landscapes in the Swiss Alps, where humans and non-humans together produce the conditions for mutual survival. By approaching landscapes as formed through water cycles, I speculate that designing cultural landscapes is a radically different practice from designing interventions; one that may open up alternative planetary futures in the Alps.
Juli Osusky is an Urbanist and Urban Designer based in Zurich, Switzerland, currently working at the Office for Urban Design of the city of Zurich. This talk is based on their master thesis in Architecture and Urbanism, which explores culture landscapes as a concept for dealing with water uncertainty in the alpine valley of Lumnezia, Switzerland, questioning the role of design. They hold degrees from TU Delft and ETH Zurich.
Within the framework of the course
PELION CHŌRA: Dissecting and Reweaving a Mountain
By The Observatory of the Countryside
Tutor: Metaxia Markaki
For online attendance contact memarkaki@uth.gr
Seminar: Contemporary Materialities of Architecture
Dry Construction, Bio-Based Materials and Contemporary Concrete Technologies
The Department of Architecture of the University of Thessaly is organizing an open lecture and discussion with professionals from the fields of construction and architecture, dedicated to contemporary architectural materialities and building technologies.
This event aims to introduce students to contemporary practices, technical applications and construction-related issues concerning durability, sustainability, material assemblies and passive fire protection in contemporary construction.
The thematic presentations will be given by:
-
Achileas Sakavos
Dry construction and lightweight building systems -
Petros Flampouris, architect
Bio-based materials and the use of natural materials in architecture -
Xanthippos Mitsios, civil engineer
Concrete and contemporary technologies of its application
Through presentations of projects, materials and technical solutions, the event will highlight the role of materiality in contemporary architectural practice and in the relationship between design and construction.
Friday, May 22, 2026
10:00
Amphitheatre, Department of Architecture, University of Thessaly
21/5/26 17:15 Amphitheatre