News

Call for Abstracts: Architectural Salvage - Histories of Commerce and Guardianship

(EAHN ThemaDc Conference)

The Department of Architecture and Urban Planning at Ghent University and the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Liège invite submissions for the conference on Architectural Salvage: Histories of Commerce and Guardianship, to be held in Ghent, Belgium, from 15–18 September 2027. The event is part of the themaAc conference series of the European Architectural History Network (EAHN).

The conference explores the long history of architectural salvage and the reuse of building materials through the intertwined dichotomies of commerce and governance. Inspired by Jane Jacobs’ disAncAon between commercial and guardian moral systems, it seeks contribuAons that examine the actors, insAtuAons, markets, regulaAons, and the general socio-economic and socio-technical arrangements that have enabled or constrained the circulaAon and reuse of architectural components across Ame and cultures.

Scholars from architectural history, archaeology, heritage studies, legal history, archeology, urban studies, cultural economics, circular construcAon, and related disciplines are encouraged to submit abstracts.

Abstract submission deadline: 5 October 2026 For the full Call for Papers and submission details, please visit: hPps://architecturalsalvage.ugent.be/en

Opening of a crate containing the lower part of the coat of arms that graced the façade of a 12th century Spanish Monastery (Monasterio de Sacramenia). The fragment was dismantled and shipped to the US, for its reuse in Miami in 1952. (Source: The Ancient Spanish Monastery)