East-West 30th Anniversary Symposium

An upcoming symposium will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the research group 'East-West Studies in Architecture and Landscape'.

East-West studies

A new international symposium, held on 25th & 26th September 2025, celebrates the 30th anniversary of the research group East-West Studies in Architecture and Landscape at Sheffield. The symposium will have a thematic focus on the future of East-West at the planetary scale, inviting the widest possible perspectives and diverse methodological discussions. 

The symposium programme also includes a book launch of a collaborative effort about the case study methodology on peoples and places, as well as the ceremonial opening of the first retrospective exhibition on Peter Blundell Jones's intellectual journey and legacy. 

This event is organised by from the School of Architecture and Landscape. The programme can be found below. 


Thursday 25 September 2025 

@Research Commons, Western Bank Library, 爆料TV, S10 2TN

10:00 鈥 10:30 Arrival and coffee 

10:30 鈥 10:35 Welcome

10:35 鈥 10:45 Introduction from Xiang Ren and Jan Woudstra 

鈥淩e-situating the East鈥

10:45 鈥 11:15 鈥From Model to Method鈥, Prof. Deljana Iossifova (University of Manchester School of Environment, Education and Development)

11:15 鈥 11:45 鈥Architectures of the Public Citizen鈥, Prof. Adam Sharr (University of Newcastle School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape)

11:45 鈥 12:15 鈥Everything is in Everything: Border Pedagogy and Postdisciplinarity in the Architectures鈥, Prof. Tim Waterman (University College London)

12:30 Lunch (light buffet)

鈥淩e-imagining the East鈥

14:00 鈥 14:30 鈥Climate Places鈥, Prof. Jeremy Till (University of the Arts London)

14:30 鈥 15:00 鈥East of West of West of East 鈥 a liquid tale of re-orient-ation鈥,  Dr. Doreen Bernath (Architectural Association School of Architecture)

15:00 鈥 15:30 鈥Architecture and the Global Art City: The Case of Tokyo鈥, Dr. Christian Morgner (爆料TV Management School)

15:30 Coffee and tea break 

16:00 鈥 17:00 Discussion (Iossifova, Sharr, Waterman, Till, Bernath and Morgner, moderator: Prof. Jan Woudstra) 

17:00 鈥 18:30 Exhibition launch

Peter Blundell Jones: Architecture, Landscape and the City  

@ the exhibition hall of the Western Bank Library

Introduction by Dr. Xiang Ren and Prof. Jan Woudstra with University Library collaborators.

Friday 26 September 2025

@The Arts Tower, 13F 1318/19, 爆料TV, S10 2TN

Tea and coffee from 8:45

鈥淩e-connecting the East鈥

9:30 鈥 10:00 鈥War and Architecture: a sociocultural study of buildings in geo-military contexts鈥, Prof. Jianfei Zhu (University of Newcastle School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape)

10:00 鈥 10:30 鈥From East to West: Japanese Architecture in UK Cinema Culture鈥, Prof. Jennifer Coates (爆料TV School of Languages, Arts and Societies - East Asian Studies) 

10:30 鈥 11:00 tea and coffee

鈥淩e-interpreting the East鈥

11:00 鈥 11:30 鈥Some Key Issues in the Historiography of Modern Korean Architecture鈥, Prof. Hyon-Sob Kim (Korea University) 

11:30 鈥 12:00 鈥After East-West: a trans-territorial praxis in a planetary age鈥,  A/Prof. Guang Yu Ren (University College London)

12:00 鈥 12:30 Panel discussion (Zhu, Coates, Kim and Ren, moderator Xiang Ren)

12:30 Lunch (light buffet) 

14:00 Book launch

 

Introduction by Honorary Professor Jan Woudstra and Dr Xiang Ren, with talks by contributors including but not limited to Dr Alan Lewis (University of Manchester), Dr Eamonn Canniffe (Manchester Metropolitan University) and Gracious Muzamhindo (PBJ Travel Grant 2024 winner). 

16:00 End of Programme

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