Enfilade

Hall of Perspectives, Villa Farnesina, frescoes painted by Baldassare Peruzzi, ca. 1510–16. Built for Agostino Chigi, the villa was acquired by the Farnese family in 1577.

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From ArtHist.net and the American University of Rome: 

Architecture and the Literary Imagination, 1350–1750

American University of Rome, 6–8 November 2025

Organized by Fabio Barry and Paul Gwynne

Proposals due by 1 October 2025

Architecture and the Literary Imagination solicits conference papers that will broaden the repertoire of literary sources for understanding European architecture from around 1350 to 1750 and foster dialogue across disciplines. Architectural historians typically rely on histories for facts, and treatises for theories. A much wider range of texts records the reception of real buildings, the capacity to imagine fantastic ones, and the reciprocity between architecture and literature: poetry, dramaturgy, the picaresque novel, inauguration or consecration speeches, travelogues, epigraphy, and so on.

‘Architecture’ includes cities, civic buildings, palaces, villas, housing, individual rooms, gardens, grottoes, the constructions of nature itself, fountains, monuments, engineering, and decorations from vault painting to topiary. Our focus is largely Europe, but encompasses the Ottoman Empire, all territories ringing the Mediterranean basin, and descriptions of architecture transmitted by the global missions of the Church or travellers.

The source language may be in any vernacular, and we are also interested in Neo-Latin, Neo-Greek, and Classical Arabic as legacy languages of cultural transmission across history and borders. A particular theoretical concern is the intermedial relationship between immaterial words and solid buildings—however that may be defined.

A collection of essays from the conference will be published, subject to peer review, in an edited volume of the new book series, Architecture & the Literary Imagination (Harvey Miller Publishers, series editors, Fabio Barry and Paul Gwynne).

Papers will be 30 minutes in length and preferably in either English or Italian. Please send an abstract of 200 words by 1 October to Fabio Barry (rabirius@cantab.net) and Paul Gwynne (p.gwynne@aur.edu).

From ArtHist.net:

Animals Inside: A History of Objects and Furniture for Pets in Domestic Interiors

HEAD – Genève, Geneva, 17 November 2025

Organized by Javier Fernández Contreras and Youri Kravtchenko

Proposals due by 15 September 2025

The Master of Arts in Interior Architecture (MAIA) at HEAD – Genève studies the role of interior spaces in shaping contemporaneity, paying particular attention to human–non-human entanglements. This includes the dynamic relationships between humans and animals within the domestic sphere, a relationship that has transformed radically across time and geography.

This conference invites designers, architects, historians, researchers, artists, and theorists to explore the history of objects and furniture designed for pets in domestic interiors, from antiquity to today. We aim to investigate when and how animals entered the home, and more crucially, when their presence began to transform its design through specific furniture and objects created for their use.

From the ornately crafted birdcages of imperial courts to Victorian aquariums, and from today’s wall-mounted cat gyms to AI-powered talking buttons for dogs—these objects offer a unique lens through which to examine changes in domestic space, material culture, design, and our understanding of interspecies cohabitation.

We welcome contributions that
• Offer a 30-minute presentation based on original research or practice-based investigation
• Clearly specify the geographic and historical context of the case study
• Examine any type of non-human animal (birds, dogs, cats, fish, reptiles, etc.)
• Investigate any historical period, from ancient civilizations to contemporary design
• Address a range of objects and furnishings, such as aquariums, terrariums, bird cages, pet beds, perches, feeders, cat trees, wall gyms, litter furniture, wearables, communication devices, or smart pet furnishings

Please submit a proposal to javier.fernandez-contreras@hesge.ch and youri.kravtchenko@hesge.ch by 15 September 2025 with the following items:
• Title of your presentation
• Abstract (300–500 words)
• Biographical note (150 words)
• Affiliation and contact details