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Apologies for cross-posting. FRAGILE International Student Conference - 6-7 april 2011 The recent publication of Searching for the Just City. ‘Debates in urban theory and practice’ Marcuse, et al., 2009) illustrates that the neoliberal discourse is under pressure and that people from different fields are increasingly questioning this way of looking at the world. For Simone (2010, p. 3), “cityness refers to the city as a thing in the making”. More than ever cities are more than built up space, morphological composition or architectural spectacle. They reflect the strong intertwinement of space and people, they are about lived realities, as, using the words of de Certeau, the city has truly become a “practiced place” (1984: 117). The aim of the conference is to bring together students and young academics who will be our future influential thinkers and who will reflect on how space and architecture are putting the people back in the centre of their disciplines. The conference is about how the urban reality can be not only about the built up environment but about how it can be a space that is able to absorb the differences between people, how it can transform the hard built environment in a ‘people-centered’ soft space. It is about how architecture is no longer about city branding or nation branding but about putting people first, it is about creating Alive Architecture. We invite students and recent graduates (up till 5 years after graduation) from a broad range of spatial disciplines and greatly appreciate input in different formats. Paper topics are open to all relevant fields and scholarly approaches. Abstracts might consider, but are not limited to theoretical approaches, project presentations, case studies, architectural and urban approaches. We will have parallel paper sessions and parallel project presentations, poster sessions and art exhibitions. Additionally we invite students to put forward thematic sessions in addition to the ones listed below: 1 Soft City 2 Alive Architecture 3 Research by Design 4 Critical Urban Theory 5 Participatory design 6 Mapping 7 City installations 8 Detailing sustainability 9 Eco-building We encourage proposals for papers and panels from as many disciplines as possible. Abstracts of 250 to 500 words need to be send by January 14th. A scientific committee will formulate an advice by February 1. Selected papers need to reach the organisation by March 31. Proposals for project presentations and art projects also need to be sent by January 14th to [log in to unmask] In the proposal please state the format you wish to use as well as the space that is needed. The fragile website will provide a forum were incoming students at Sint-Lucas can either find a couch to sleep on or to provide one: http://www.sintlucasfragile.be More details regarding the schedule of events and the composition of the panels will be available at http://www.sintlucasfragile.be early November. Preliminary Program DAY 1 Plenary opening session, parallel sessions, art exhibit, student diner event. DAY 2 Parallel sessions, plenary closing session with best paper/project awards, closing cocktail (and student party). DAY 3 Selection from 4 half-day trips to see some case studies and best-practices. Besides being involved in a hot topic discussion with relevant issues and thought provoking debates, you also have the opportunity to get to know others who are interested in the same topics, build networks across countries and disciplines, enjoy the Brussels & Ghent city life and have a genuinely good time.