BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 13.3//EN BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:TWO-CHAPTER SYMPOSIUM\nChapter 1: Singapore Botanic Gardens\, 2 9—30 January\, 2026\nChapter 2: Istituto Svizzero (Rome)\, 25—27 March\, 2 026\n\nCall for Papers\nDeadline: 31 August 2025\nThe\nsymposium is organ ized by the research group “Voyaging Vapors: Plant\nHistories of Plantatio n Architectures” led by Dr. Will Davis at the\nUniversità della Svizzera i taliana (USI)\, with Dr. Rixt Woudstra\n(University of Amsterdam)\, Siddha rta Perez (NUS Museum)\, and Pina Kalina\nHaas (USI). The symposium is fun ded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and is organized in collabora tion with and support from Singapore Botanic Gardens\, National Parks Boar d (Nparks)\, National University of Singapore Museum\, the Swiss Institute (Rome)\, and Università della Svizzera italiana.\nDescription\nPalm\nleav es loosely thatched create a bushy screen wall. The screen is part\nof a l arge building designed to shelter the pieces of other plants and\nmake the m dry out quickly. They are tobacco leaves\, hanging from the\nrafters in neat rows swaying in the breeze. Nearby\, the dried ones are\nbeing plucke d and gathered into sorting bags\, where they find themselves\nstacked by quick fingers into piles of like-colored leaves and pressed\ninto baskets woven from the fronds of the pandanus plant. Finally\, they\nare stowed in to ships built with trees far from home\, hulls of oak and\nelm\, decks of pine. Altogether\, they will float back towards Europe.\nDry\, sort\, sta ck\, press\, stow\, sell.\nThe\nplantation system is a term used to descri be forms of monocrop\nagricultural land use\, of shaping land after the cu ltivation of single\ncrops in climates suitable to them. Scholarly discour se in recent years\nhas traced the historical genealogies of extraction an d\nde-diversification of the natural world that the system\, with its\nrap acious claims to territory over four centuries\, has come to\nrepresent. B ecause of their low seasonal variation and consistent\nsunlight\, tropical zones—also some of the most biodiverse places in the\nworld—have historic ally been sites where the most intense forms of\nplantation agriculture to ok place. In a broader sense\, from at least the\nseventeenth century on\, the plantation system fundamentally altered how\npeople perceived land\, property\, plants\, people\, and their\nenvironments. Artificial species f lows combined with trade and commerce\ncreated a disembodied system with d isastrous consequences for the\necological complexity of the world and its climate.\nThe\nrecognition of this system has led to contemporary shifts in\nperspectives of the environment\, that it is interconnected and needs\ ndiversity in order to thrive\, revealing the extent to which a\nreimagini ng of existence outside of plantation logics is necessary.\nConceptually\, therefore\, to understand the history of the plantation is\nalso a method to understand its opposite: biological complexity and\ninter-species flou rishing.\nArchitecture\nhas had a troubled historical relationship to plan tation environments.\nAs an ordering system\, dwelling device\, and appara tus for synthetic\nplant growth\, one can project a range of examples. In Europe these range\nfrom the stately residences in the British countryside of erstwhile\nplantation owners in the Caribbean to greenhouses for testi ng banana\nplant hybrids to tobacco auction houses in Amsterdam. Geographi cally\nremoved\, yet deeply intertwined are the examples in Europe’s elsew heres:\ncoffee processing warehouses under a tropical sun\, watchtowers fr aming\ntheir perimeter\, rudimentary barracks for workers\; and as counter part\,\nexamples of living outside of or in spite of the plantation system \, such\nas maroon communities and so-called slave gardens.\nWhat\ncan pla nts tell us about these stories\, and in what ways do plant\nhistories div ersify our understanding of the plantation system and its\narchitectures?\ nThis\ntwo-chapter symposium is interested in the entangled histories that the\nplantation system produced\, and each location is chosen for its\nhi storical role in specific plantation stories. Singapore Botanic\nGardens w as founded in 1859 under the auspices of an Agri-Horticultural\nsociety fo r research and experimentation and played host to a series of\nbotanists a nd plant explorers as a place to grow\, experiment\, and\ndistribute poten tially useful plants (among others\, one early success\nwas the cultivatio n and propagation of Hevea brasiliensis\,\nPara Rubber). Chapter 1\, “Plan t Histories” takes place in two former\ncolonial bungalows designed by arc hitect Alfred J. Bidwell at the turn\nof the century that are now part of Singapore Botanic Gardens’ recent Gallop Extension. Chapter 2\, “Plantatio n Architectures” takes place in Villa Maraini\,\nthe former home of Emilio Maraini who made his fortune in sugar beet\nplantations and refineries ce ntered in Terni\, Italy. The villa was\ndesigned by Maraini’s brother\, Ot to Maraini in 1905\, and stands on an\nartificial hill (a former dump) in the Ludovisi district of Rome where\nsince 1948 it has played host to the activities of the Swiss Institute.\n\nChapter 1: Plant Histories\nSingapor e Botanic Gardens\, 29–30 January\, 2026\nPlant\nHistories focuses on the stories that plants tell about the plantation\nsystem in monsoon Asia. Thi s first chapter of the symposium invites\ncontributions that explore how p eople use plants in/as architecture\,\nplants that travel between places\, ethnobotanical relationships on and\naround plantations\, and the histori cal connections that shaped the\nenvironment\, people\, and architecture o n plantations. We are also\ninterested in contributions (papers\, performa nces\, artworks) that\nreflect on the methodological challenges and afford ances of\nthinking-with plants and their histories.\n\nChapter 2: Plantati on Architectures\nSwiss Institute (Rome)\, 25–27 March\, 2026\nPlantation\ nArchitectures re-centers the plantation as a system not only rooted in\nc olonial geographies but also within Europe itself. In this second\nchapter of the symposium we welcome contributions that critically engage\nwith th e selective remembering of the past\, and how Europe's distance\nfrom site s of plantations obscured its role in the system even as it\nuniversalized itself globally. How have social\, spatial\, and\narchitectural modalitie s informed this obfuscation? How have European\nclaims to cosmopolitanism been grounded in histories of violence and\nextraction? In what ways do bu ildings\, as architectural objects part of\nurban landscapes\, reflect the se underpinnings?\n\nGeneral Information\nInterested\nparticipants decide which chapter they would like to attend and\nindicate this in their submi ssion. A travel bursary will be available\nfor a limited number of partici pants. Please indicate in your proposal\nif you do not have institutional funding and require travel support. The\nconference language will be Engli sh. All presentations are to be made\nin person unless urgent circumstance s prevent attendance. If\nparticipants need childcare or any other accommo dations\, please let us\nknow so that it can be arranged.\n\nSubmission\nP lease send your abstract (max. 350 words)\, a short CV (max. 1 page)\, and preferred location of participation to: voyaging.vapors@usi.ch\nby 31 Aug ust\, 2025. Notifications will be sent out in September. The\nprogram for each chapter of the symposium will be announced in October.\n DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20250901 DTSTAMP:20250625T083853Z DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20250622 LOCATION:Singapore\,Singapore\; Rome\,Singapore Botanic Gardens\; Swiss Ins titute (Rome) SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Call for Papers: Plant Histories\, Plantation Architectures UID:RFCALITEM638864375337176827 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

TWO-CHAPTER SYMPOSIUM
\n

Chapter 1: Singapore Botanic Gardens\, 29 —30 January\, 2026
\n

Chapter 2: Istituto Svizzero (Rome)\, 25—27 March\, 2026< /span>
\n

< /span>
\n

Ca ll for Papers
\nDeadline: 31 August 2025
\n

The\nsymposium is organized by the research group “Voyaging Vapors: Plant\nHistories of Plantation Architectures” led by Dr. Will Davis at the\nUniversità della Svizzera italiana (USI)\, with Dr. Rixt Woudstra\n(University of Amsterdam)\, Siddharta Perez (NUS Museum )\, and Pina Kalina\nHaas (USI). The symposium is funded by the and is organized in collaboration with and support from < a class="XqQF9c" href="https://www.nparks.gov.sg/SBG" target="_blank">Singapore Botanic Gardens\, \, the (Rome)\, and .
\n

Description
\n

Palm\nleaves loose ly thatched create a bushy screen wall. The screen is part\nof a large bui lding designed to shelter the pieces of other plants and\nmake them dry ou t quickly. They are tobacco leaves\, hanging from the\nrafters in neat row s swaying in the breeze. Nearby\, the dried ones are\nbeing plucked and ga thered into sorting bags\, where they find themselves\nstacked by quick fi ngers into piles of like-colored leaves and pressed\ninto baskets woven fr om the fronds of the pandanus plant. Finally\, they\nare stowed into ships built with trees far from home\, hulls of oak and\nelm\, decks of pine. A ltogether\, they will float back towards Europe.\nDry\, sort\, stack\, pre ss\, stow\, sell.
\n

The\nplantation system is a term used to describe forms of monocrop\nagricultural land use\, of shaping land after the cultivation o f single\ncrops in climates suitable to them. Scholarly discourse in recen t years\nhas traced the historical genealogies of extraction and\nde-diver sification of the natural world that the system\, with its\nrapacious clai ms to territory over four centuries\, has come to\nrepresent. Because of t heir low seasonal variation and consistent\nsunlight\, tropical zones—also some of the most biodiverse places in the\nworld—have historically been s ites where the most intense forms of\nplantation agriculture took place. I n a broader sense\, from at least the\nseventeenth century on\, the planta tion system fundamentally altered how\npeople perceived land\, property\, plants\, people\, and their\nenvironments. Artificial species flows combin ed with trade and commerce\ncreated a disembodied system with disastrous c onsequences for the\necological complexity of the world and its climate.
\n

The \nrecognition of this system has led to contemporary shifts in\nperspectiv es of the environment\, that it is interconnected and needs\ndiversity in order to thrive\, revealing the extent to which a\nreimagining of existenc e outside of plantation logics is necessary.\nConceptually\, therefore\, t o understand the history of the plantation is\nalso a method to understand its opposite: biological complexity and\ninter-species flourishing.
\n

Archite cture\nhas had a troubled historical relationship to plantation environmen ts.\nAs an ordering system\, dwelling device\, and apparatus for synthetic \nplant growth\, one can project a range of examples. In Europe these rang e\nfrom the stately residences in the British countryside of erstwhile\npl antation owners in the Caribbean to greenhouses for testing banana\nplant hybrids to tobacco auction houses in Amsterdam. Geographically\nremoved\, yet deeply intertwined are the examples in Europe’s elsewheres:\ncoffee pr ocessing warehouses under a tropical sun\, watchtowers framing\ntheir peri meter\, rudimentary barracks for workers\; and as counterpart\,\nexamples of living outside of or in spite of the plantation system\, such\nas maroo n communities and so-called slave gardens.
\n

What\ncan plants tell us about th ese stories\, and in what ways do plant\nhistories diversify our understan ding of the plantation system and its\narchitectures?
\n

This\ntwo-chapter symp osium is interested in the entangled histories that the\nplantation system produced\, and each location is chosen for its\nhistorical role in specif ic plantation stories. Singapore Botanic\nGardens was founded in 1859 unde r the auspices of an Agri-Horticultural\nsociety for research and experime ntation and played host to a series of\nbotanists and plant explorers as a place to grow\, experiment\, and\ndistribute potentially useful plants (a mong others\, one early success\nwas the cultivation and propagation of Hevea brasiliensis\,\nPara Rubber). Chapter 1\, “Plant Histories” takes place in two forme r\ncolonial bungalows designed by architect Alfred J. Bidwell at the turn\ nof the century that are now part of Singapore Botanic Gardens’ recent . Chapter 2\, “Plantation Architectures ” takes place in \,\nthe former home of Emilio Maraini who made his fortune in sugar beet\nplantations and refineries ce ntered in Terni\, Italy. The villa was\ndesigned by Maraini’s brother\, Ot to Maraini in 1905\, and stands on an\nartificial hill (a former dump) in the Ludovisi district of Rome where\nsince 1948 it has played host to the activities of the Swiss Institute.
\n
\n

Chapter 1: Plant Histories
\nSingapore Bot anic Gardens\, 29–30 January\, 2026
\n

Plant\nHistories focuses on the stories that plants tell about the plantation\nsystem in monsoon Asia. This first chapter of the symposium invites\ncontributions that explore how people us e plants in/as architecture\,\nplants that travel between places\, ethnobo tanical relationships on and\naround plantations\, and the historical conn ections that shaped the\nenvironment\, people\, and architecture on planta tions. We are also\ninterested in contributions (papers\, performances\, a rtworks) that\nreflect on the methodological challenges and affordances of \nthinking-with plants and their histories.
\n
\n

Chapter 2: Plantation Ar chitectures
\nSwiss Institute (Rome)\, 25–27 March\, 2026
\n

Plantation\nArchitectures r e-centers the plantation as a system not only rooted in\ncolonial geograph ies but also within Europe itself. In this second\nchapter of the symposiu m we welcome contributions that critically engage\nwith the selective reme mbering of the past\, and how Europe's distance\nfrom sites of plantations obscured its role in the system even as it\nuniversalized itself globally . How have social\, spatial\, and\narchitectural modalities informed this obfuscation? How have European\nclaims to cosmopolitanism been grounded in histories of violence and\nextraction? In what ways do buildings\, as arc hitectural objects part of\nurban landscapes\, reflect these underpinnings ?
\n
\n

General Information
\n

Interested\nparticipants decide which chapter t hey would like to attend and\nindicate this in their submission. A travel bursary will be available\nfor a limited number of participants. Please in dicate in your proposal\nif you do not have institutional funding and requ ire travel support. The\nconference language will be English. All presenta tions are to be made\nin person unless urgent circumstances prevent attend ance. If\nparticipants need childcare or any other accommodations\, please let us\nknow so that it can be arranged.
\n
\n

Submission
\n

Please send your abstract (max. 350 words)\, a short CV (max. 1 page)\, and preferred locat ion of participation to: voyaging.vapors @usi.ch\nby 31 August\, 2025. Notificati ons will be sent out in September. The\nprogram for each chapter of the sy mposium will be announced in October.
\n
END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR