RHN 43/2026 | Call
Organiser: CLIMATE-Arch
17 – 20 November 2026, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
Deadline for Submissions: 30 June 2026
Call for Papers:
Vernacular buildings in the Anthropocene – Comfort, sustainability, adaptability
CLIMATE-Arch Symposium
This symposium asks what comfort, sustainability and adaptability mean for regionally specific and culturally embedded forms of architecture as climate change pushes our planet into a period of major instability and transformation. By bringing together experts from architectural, social science, natural science, and technical backgrounds to reflect on these topics, the event will allow for situated, disciplinespecific analyses while also opening space for the generation of comparative and interdisciplinary insights. Only by bridging disciplinary divides, questioning received wisdom and challenging familiar analytical categories can we gain more accurate and nuanced understandings of the contemporary status of vernacular architecture and its prospects in the Anthropocene era. The first session will explore various ways of defining, understanding, measuring, modelling and influencing comfort across different architectural contexts. It will include analyses of heating, cooling and ventilation methods in various ecological, social, temporal and spatial locations, bringing technical studies into conversation with anthropological and historical perspectives. Contributors will also consider the ways vernacular buildings are being adapted to respond to climate change, as well as looking at altered behaviours and building use patterns associated with these shifts. The second part of the symposium will examine how concepts of ecological sustainability and climate resilience are shaping vernacular architecture in different parts of the world, and investigate the innovative building practices emerging from these interactions. This will include discussion of ecologically oriented approaches and smart construction techniques, as well as innovative material and structural responses to climate change. Questions of access, regulation and sustainability in relation to natural construction materials will also be addressed. Other panels will consider issues relating to maintenance, adaptive reuse, life-cycle analysis and the use of hi-tech research methods such as thermal simulation and 3D modelling. The aim is to gain fresh insights into role that sustainability discourses and policies are playing in both mainstream and vernacular modes of construction, and to develop critical perspectives on these interactions which reveal the normative biases, economic inequalities and uneven power dynamics at play. The symposium will focus primarily on the Alps and the Himalayas, but research from other mountainous regions and bioclimatic zones will provide vital comparative scope. Similarly, while the temporal focus looks from the present day towards the future, historical perspectives that speak to the main themes of the event are also welcome.
Keynote Speaker
Marcel Vellinga | Professor of Anthropology of Architecture, Oxford Brookes University
Dwelling In Comfort – Social, economic and technical dimensions of thermal regulation
A1 | Thermal comfort zone.
This panel will examine various ways in which thermal comfort is perceived, assessed, measured and influenced across different architectural contexts. By bringing anthropological and technical approaches into conversation, it invites reflection on the environmental and sociocultural factors shaping conceptions of comfort, as well as how people use buildings and clothing in various ways to improve comfort levels.
A2 | Thermal regulation and adaptation.
This panel builds on the assumption that people’s continuous search for better living conditions drives the ongoing adaptation of vernacular buildings. It will examine the structural, material, social and technical processes involved in the climate-related adaptation of vernacular buildings in the past and present, as well as looking to the future. Contributions may explore the relationship between the outer shells of vernacular buildings and interior conditions, the changing use of insulation materials, or examine in detail specific cases of climate related adaptation.
A3 | Household heating and cooling across time and space.
This panel focuses tightly on heating and cooling systems in vernacular buildings, asking why and how they have changed over time. Contributions may include focused case studies on cooking, heating and cooling in specific contexts, the role of passive and active solar, or emerging trends in heating and cooling methods. Attention will also be paid to hi-tech methodologies for assessing air flow, heat and smoke dispersal or the health risks associated with fire, as well as to policies, funding schemes and marketing efforts relating to new heating/cooling technologies.
Further Details and next Steps
The above structure remains tentative and the program will evolve according to the responses and propositions received. If you are interested in participating or presenting a paper at symposia 2 or 3, please visit our project website https://climate-arch.eu for further information and online registration. You are welcome to attend both events, but if this is not feasible, please select the one that resonates most with your research interests. Note also that publication projects are linked to all CLIMATE-Arch symposia.
Contact:
hubert.feiglstorfer@oeaw.ac.at
calum.blaikie@oeaw.ac.at
Dates:
Symposium 1 | 10th – 13th February 2026
Symposium 2 | 17th – 20th November 2026
Symposium 3 | 2nd – 5th March 2027
Venue:
Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna (Austria)
Source: https://climate-arch.eu/events/