Submissions

“Ever since I was a child I’ve collected things: pebbles, shells from the rocks in the Abruzzi, strands of wire, little screws.” — Lina Bo Bardi

What else can we do but carry within us the images of things inherited?

As architects, we learn to copy, reference, iterate. We sit within the many collective realities pre-existing us—faith, canon, institution, ideology, customs to be followed, rituals to be re-enacted. We make a commodity of precedent and hero of genius. We revere building forms, typology, the structure of the city. We are taught to cherish material and fetishise detail. To idolise something is to protect it, to put it on a pedestal, to place a fence around it.

Issue 03 of Paradise Journal is titled Idols, Icons, and Other Precious Things.

Both given and found, we look to idols as a collection of legacies, laden with glorification, for better or worse. Icons instil themselves as vignettes etched indelibly in our imaginations—both collective and personal—through nothing more than sheer persistence and repetition. Perhaps most generously, there are certain things that defy singular meaning, carried with us as something precious.

So; we give ourselves permission to sit and think slowly (a few days, months, another year?) and indulge in the figuration of Australia (and its architecture). Looking at the classification of its treasured and thorny entanglements—traditions, histories, legacies, mounds of stuff to be sorted—we see a taxonomy of influence emerge.

What can be understood from the chosen idol, the difficulty of the icon or the complex value of the things we deem precious?

Paradise is seeking contributions for Issue 03 - Idols, Icons, and Other Precious Things. All forms and formats of research or critique related to Australian architecture and culture are welcome, from methodologies in the academic tradition to emerging and experimental practices amongst the discursive, dialogical, artistic, audiovisual, cartographic, historical and projective multitudes. This callout is open to groups and individuals, architects, students and practitioners working within, outside and across the field of spatial disciplines.

Proposed contributions will be evaluated by the editorial board on the basis of a 300 word abstract. The abstract should contain an indication of the content, length and format of the contribution, and include any relevant images or visuals. Abstracts should be sent as a .pdf to hello@paradise-journal.com.au, along with a short bio and contact information. Submissions close midnight April 30th, 2023. All contributions to Paradise will be monetarily compensated.