Call for Participation

This conference calls for a re-imagination of current practices regarding structures and architecture. As a response to the pressing global climate and energy crisis and with new settings and tools, the design and construction of our built environment should be reconsidered and extended. We invite all researchers and practitioners to contribute their research and expertise to the effort.

The International Conference on Structures and Architecture is the world’s leading and largest global conference, bridging the gap between Structures and Architecture. The conference is organised by the International Association of Structures and Architecture, IASA and will be held at the Faculty of Design Sciences at the University of Antwerp from 8-11 July 2025. ICSA2025 comprises research and the latest developments in the field, blending the perspectives from research, practice and teaching. The conference enables the gathering of international participants interested in the recent advances in the art, practice and theory of designing and building (infra)structures in which the structural and architectonic values are combined. Hence, each presentation shall relate to the relationship between Structures and Architecture.

The Conference Proceedings will be published by CRC Press / Balkema (Taylor & Francis Group) containing the full eight-page Research Papers, and the Critical Practice Reflections. These documents are reviewed by at least two members of the conference’s scientific committee. Proceedings will be sent for indexation by both Thomson Reuters and Elsevier. All the papers published in the proceedings of the five previous ICSA conferences have been indexed by Elsevier’s SCOPUS. ICSA2022 proceedings will also be sent to Elsevier’s SCOPUS.

The general call is for research papers of eight pages. Prospective authors are invited to submit an abstract of no more than 500 words before 15 March 2024. The abstracts are subject to a review process by at least two members of the conference scientific committee. The preliminary acceptance of abstracts will be sent to the corresponding authors by 15 May 2024. Proceedings will be published by CRC Press / Balkema (Taylor & Francis Group). Please consult the conference website regularly for amendments to the deadlines.

Author instructions for preparation of the full papers, including the copyright transfer form, will be sent to authors in due time.
Prospective authors are invited to submit abstracts (max. 500 words) addressing the Special Sessions and Mini-Symposia in the programme or one of the general conference themes for any of the General Conference Themes.

Please read the full call text for Research Papers.

The Critical Practices track aims to uncover and showcase work that breaks boundaries and demonstrates engagement with the frictions inherent in architectural and engineering practice. The final submission in this track is a prototype at a scale that has been critical in a development process.
Critical Practices is an intrinsic part of the ICSA conference. Its contributions represent part of a dedicated exhibition displayed during the entire conference, an exhibition publication, and a special journal issue of selected works published afterwards.
The central part of each Critical Practices submission is a prototype. Each prototype is accompanied by a video that contextualises, describes, and reflects on the work. The submission is directly tied to the overall theme of ICSA2025: Restructure REmaterialize REthink REuse.

Please read the full call text for Critical Practices.

• Mycelium-Based Composites: From Forest to Design Research
• Circular by Nature or by Design? Challenges of Designing for Circularity with Wood
• Eco-Logic Structures: New Design Paradigms based on Hybrid Systems, Alternative Materials, and Disassembly Processes
• From Micro to Macro: Revitalizing Spaces – Exploring the Synergy Between Regenerative Architecture and Bioconstruction
• Kind structures and architecture: Celebrating Human-Nonhuman Cohabitation

  See the full descriptions of the Mini-Symposia on the Programme page. 

• From Earth to Earth: Vernacular and Contemporary Earthen Structures and Architecture for Circular Practice
• Ecologies of Stone: Structures and Architecture
• Efficient applications of concrete structures for a sustainable built environment
• Wood in the Digital Age: Crafting the Future of Sustainable Architecture
• The Next Generation of Embodied Carbon Reduction Strategies
• Structures & Crafts: Digital, Physical, and Cultural Assemblies
• Circular Site Stories: Exploring Entanglements of Non-Human/Human Diversities and Material Assemblages
• The Structures and Architecture of Changing Waterscapes — Prompting a Cross-Scale and Adaptive Solution Space for a Changing Climate
• It must be floating
• Hybrid Structures — Mimetic Dialogue Between Old and New Rethinking Reconversion Strategies
• Structural adaptations: the role of existing structures in adaptive reuse projects
• Structural and Architectural Spolia — Exploring Reuse as a Cultural and Aesthetic Practice
• Repurposing the past: unpacking material properties
• Architectural Engineering Design and the Circular Economy
• Sustainable structural design through resilience
• Structural design with equilibrium-based models
• The Role of Digital Twins for Structures and Architecture
• Collaborative Practices of Architects and Structural Engineers
• Architecture, Structures and Human Rights: Fundamental Obligation or Sites of Abuse?
• Small changes in the big picture? On designing and building in the anthropocene
• Restructuring architectural and engineering education
• Learning through Making: Exploring Teaching Structure and Construction through Making

  See the full descriptions of the Special Sessions on the Programme page.

• Building envelopes / Facades
• Systems and components
• Lightweight and membrane structures
• Concrete and masonry structures
• Steel and composite structures
• Glass structures
• Timber structures
• Natural materials
• New materials in structures and architecture
• Tall buildings
• Bridges
• Special structures
• Futuristic structures
• Infrastructures
• Urban Structures & Architecture
• Structures and landscapes
• Comprehension of complex forms
• Computer and experimental methods
• Emerging technologies
• Innovative structural design concepts
• Tectonics
• Ecology of structures and architecture
• Adaptability and life cycle design
• Regenerative design
• Bio-design
• Design for Disassembly
• Collaborations between disciplines
• Histories of structural and architectural design
• Histories of structures/engineers and architecture/architects
• Educating architects and structural engineers