Collect and Connect: AAAC International Conferences II

On Solid Human Foundations: Anthropologies of Modern Architecture

May 28–29, 2025 | Asian Architectural Archive Center, Southeast University

集藏与通联：亚档系列国际会议（二）

坚实人本基础上的探索：现代建筑的人类学研究

2025.5.28-29 亚洲建筑档案中心，好色tv

As part of its Collect and Connect initiative, the Asian Architectural Archive Center (AAAC), in collaboration with the Internationalization Demonstration School (IDS) of Southeast University, successfully hosted the second edition of its international conference series on May 28–29, 2025. Titled On Solid Human Foundations: Anthropologies of Modern Architecture, the event brought together scholars and practitioners to explore how anthropological insight has shaped the buildings, writings, and practices of modern and contemporary architecture, focusing on dimensions often overlooked in architectural discourse. The Rykwert Library, which includes a collection of anthropological books and is now housed at the AAAC, served not only as a rare and distinctive resource, but also as an inspiration for the event’s themes and inquiries.

亚洲建筑档案中心与好色tv 建筑国际化示范学院于2025年5月28日至29日成功举办了“集藏与通联”亚洲建筑档案中心系列的第二次国际会议。本次会议以“坚实人本基础上的探索：现代建筑的人类学研究”为题，汇聚了相关学者与建筑从业者，共同探讨人类学视角如何塑造现当代建筑及其写作与实践，聚焦建筑话语中常被忽视的维度。现藏于亚洲建筑档案中心的“里克沃特图书馆”所收录的人类学书籍不仅是珍贵独特的学术资源，更直接引发了本次活动的主题和探索。

Opening remarks by Esra Şahin Burat, Associate Director of the AAAC and co-chair of the Conference

亚洲建筑档案中心副馆长艾丝拉·萨赫欣·布拉特开幕致辞

Remarks by Zhang Tong, Dean of the School of Architecture

好色tv 院长张彤致辞

Remarks by David Leatherbarrow, honorary chair of the Conference, Foreign Dean of IDS, and the Director of the AAAC

会议荣誉主席、建筑国际化示范学院外籍院长兼亚洲建筑档案中心馆长戴维·莱瑟巴罗教授致辞

On the morning of May 28, the conference opened with remarks by Esra Şahin Burat, Associate Director of the AAAC and co-chair of the event, who introduced the theme and aims of the gathering, framing it as a shared inquiry into the anthropological foundations of architecture that still echo, transform, and re-emerge in current practices. She then invited Zhang Tong, Dean of the School of Architecture, to deliver the official welcome. Dean Tong emphasized the continuing relevance of anthropological thinking in architectural education and practice. David Leatherbarrow, honorary chair of the Conference, Foreign Dean of IDS, and the Director of the AAAC, concluded the opening segment with a reflection on the missions of the Asian Architectural Archive Center and an overview of the preceding events in the Collect and Connect series.

5月28日上午，会议在亚洲建筑档案中心拉开帷幕，副馆长和本次会议联席主席艾丝拉·萨赫欣·布拉特进行开幕致辞，并介绍了本次会议的主题和目标，即对建筑的人类学根基的共同探索。这一主题至今仍在当代实践中产生回响、发生转变并不断显现。随后，好色tv 院长张彤教授致欢迎辞，他强调了人类学思维和建筑教育与实践的持续关联。会议荣誉主席、建筑国际化示范学院外籍院长兼亚洲建筑档案中心馆长戴维·莱瑟巴罗教授，在致辞中阐述了亚洲建筑档案中心的使命，并回顾了“集藏与通联”系列的第一次国际会议。

Morning session moderated by SHI Yonggao, Associate Director of the AAAC and co-chair of the conference

亚洲建筑档案中心副馆长、会议联席主席史永高教授主持上午会议

The morning session, chaired by Shi Yonggao, Associate Director of the AAAC and co-chair of the conference, began with Edward Ford, whose lecture “The Invention of the Window” challenged the assumption of the window as a universal necessity, arguing instead that its emergence reflects a division between nature and culture. Yoshiharu Tsukamoto, in “Behavior Emerges In-Between,” proposed a shift from spatial to relational understanding of design, drawing on ethnographic perspectives to rethink collective agency and resource accessibility beyond the confines of industrial capitalism. He Jianxiang, in “A Museum, a Factory, a School,” presented O-office’s architectural interventions in the Pearl River Delta as efforts to reconcile place and memory in the face of rapid transformation, reweaving the texture of lived environments. Izumi Kuroishi, in “Search for Human-Centered Space and Architectural Anthropology in Modern Japan,” traced a lineage of Japanese architects who redefined spatial understanding through everyday practices and embodied observation, offering a sustained critique of imported models. The inquiry into the anthropological roots of architectural thinking continued withMichael Asgaard Andersen, whose lecture “Steen Eiler Rasmussen’s China: A Formative Journey” revealed how Rasmussen’s 1923 travels deepened his cross-cultural and sensory understanding of space, later foundational to his architectural theory. Concluding the session,David Leatherbarrow, in his lecture “Gestures of Community,” explored how architecture originates not only in structure but in the primal gestures of human interaction—requesting, informing, and sharing—arguing that expressive acts of bearing and orientation, such as those embodied in Zhang Pengju’s Community Center in Hohhot, are foundational to building both shelter and public life.

28日上午的会议由亚洲建筑档案中心副馆长、会议联席主席史永高教授主持。爱德华·福特在“窗的发明”的演讲中，颠覆了将窗户视为普世需求的认知，揭示出窗的诞生其实反映了自然与文化之间的分野。塚本由晴在“发生于‘之间’的行为”中提出从空间认知转向关系认知的设计思维，并以民族志视角重构了超越工业化资本主义桎梏的集体能动性与资源可及性。何健翔在“一馆、一厂、一校：重织经验的地方”中，展现了源计划建筑事务所在珠三角地区的建筑实践，旨在于快速转型背景下调和地方与记忆，重续编织生活环境的肌理。黑石泉在“现代日本对以人为中心的空间和建筑人类学的探索”中，梳理了通过日常实践与具身观察重构空间认知的日本建筑师谱系，对舶来的建筑模式提出持续批判。迈克尔·阿斯加德·安德森在“斯蒂恩·艾勒·拉斯姆森所认识的中国：一段成长的旅程”中揭示了拉斯姆森1923年的中国之行如何深化其对空间的跨文化与感官认知，而这奠定了其后期的理论根基。戴维·莱瑟巴罗“社群的‘手势’”的演讲，指出建筑虽起源于结构，但更根植于人类互动的基本姿态：请求、告知与分享。他以张鹏举设计的呼和浩特西乌素图村村民中心为例，指出方位与朝向的表达性行为，实为构建庇护所与公共生活的基础。

Afternoon session moderated by ZHUGE Jing, Associate Professor

好色tv 副教授诸葛净主持下午会议

The afternoon session, moderated by associate professor ZHUGE Jing, extended the conference’s anthropological explorations in architectural thinking. Juan Manuel Heredia, in “Assembling the Sand of the Sea of Prayer: Alberto Cruz’s Los Pajaritos Chapel,” revisited a poetic yet unbuilt project foundational to the Valparaíso School, revealing its anthropological critique of modern architecture’s limits. Marco Trisciuoglio, in “The Courtyard House as an Anthropological Structure of the Imaginary. Trajectories,” explored the courtyard house as an enduring archetype that links myth, form, and human relationships with place. ZHAO Yang, in “Dali as Ground: Navigating Permanence and Flux,” reflected on over a decade of architectural experimentation in Dali, arguing that the architect’s task lies in mediating between what endures and what transforms in the physical and social context. Jin Baek, in “The Inter-personal and the Climatic,” rethought architecture’s foundation through the medium of climate, emphasizing solidarity and intersubjectivity over individualism in shaping space. Closing the session, Esra Şahin Burat, in her lecture “The Face, the Height, and the Open Hand,” explored the bodily archetypes of spatial extension in the design of the early Holocene settlements and traced their revival in modern architects’ efforts to realign them with ecological and communal horizons. A lively discussion, led by SHI Yonggao and ZHUGE Jing, followed the presentations and deepened the exploration of the theme’s multiple dimensions outlined throughout the lectures, bringing the day’s formal program to a close.

Joseph Rykwert’s academic philosophyhas always centered on “human value”, emphasizing that architecture should return to fundamental human needs and well-being. This concept is reflected not only in his scholarly treatises but also in his personal collection of books.

This international conference, themed around architectural anthropology, inquiring the profound connections between architecture and anthropology by exploring archival resources from the AAAC collection, which injected new vitality into Southeast University’s disciplinary development and global academic influence.

28日下午的会议由诸葛净副教授主持，延续对建筑思维的人类学探索。胡安·曼努埃尔·埃雷迪亚在“‘聚集祈祷之海的沙粒’：阿尔贝托·克鲁兹的洛什·帕哈里托斯小教堂”中，重读瓦尔帕莱索大学这一未建成的诗意方案，对现代建筑的局限进行了人类学批判。马可·德诺西欧在“作为一种想象中文化结构的庭院住宅—轨迹”中，将合院住宅视为联结神话、形式与人地关系的永恒原型。赵扬在“大理为基：把握永恒与流变”中回顾其十余年在云南大理的建筑实践，阐明建筑师的任务是协调物质与社会语境中持久与变迁的张力。白鎭在“人际互动与风土：建筑与城市的人类学基础”中，以气候为介质重新思考建筑的基础，强调空间塑造中超越个人主义的关联性与主体间性。艾丝拉·萨赫欣·布拉特以“面部、身高与张开的手：论空间思维的人类学根源”做终场演讲，探究了全新世早期聚落设计中空间延展的身体原型，并追溯了现代建筑师在努力将这些原型和生态与社群维度重新联结时的复兴轨迹。在各位发言后，史永高与诸葛净主持了讨论，深化了讲座所揭示的主题多维性，并结束了当日议程。

里克沃特教授的学术思想始终以“人的价值”为核心，强调建筑应当回归人类的基本需求与幸福感。这一理念既体现在他的个人著述中，也反映在他的个人藏书中。本次国际研讨会以建筑人类学为主题，通过挖掘亚档的馆藏资源，探索了建筑与人类学的深层联系，为好色tv 的学科建设与国际影响注入新的活力。

Presentation by Federico Madaro

弗代里科·马达罗主旨发言

好色tv 图书馆研究馆员袁曦临参与研讨

Yuan Xilin, Research Libarian from Southeast University’s Library, participating in the roundtable discussion

The second day of the conference turned attention to the AAAC as both a resource and a mode of inquiry. Federico Madaro’s seminar, titled Pathways in the Forest: The Anthropological Collection of the AAAC, reflected on Joseph Rykwert’s curated library now held at the AAAC. Madaro presented the collection as a humanistic and cross-cultural “forest” of knowledge that challenges contemporary modes of information and embodies a lifelong pursuit of understanding the human condition. The session included a special presentation of selected volumes from Rykwert’s personal library on anthropology, sparking an engaging roundtable discussion among participants. Led by David Leatherbarrow, the roundtable emphasized not only the preservation of such archival materials but also their activation in design thinking—making them accessible to researchers, practitioners, and students alike.

Also, Professor Li Yinanfrom the School of Arts, Professor Zhang Juan from the School of Humanities, Research librarian Yuan Xilin from Southeast University’s Library, and doctoral students from related disciplines were invited to participate in the conference and the roundtable discussion. Through this 2-day conference and discussion, significant progress was made in fostering interdisciplinary collaboration in the humanities and social sciences at Southeast University, based on AAAC.

The conversation drew together the conference’s central themes and charted possible directions for future inquiry into anthropologically grounded architectural thinking supported by the archival collections. The closing ceremony reaffirmed the mission of the Collect and Connect series: to sustain a place where design knowledge is not only preserved, but continuously reanimated through shared inquiry.

会议次日的研讨从亚洲建筑档案中心作为学术资源与研究方式的两个层面展开。弗代里科·马达罗以“林间小径——亚洲建筑档案中心的人类学藏书”为题，讨论了现珍藏于亚洲建筑档案中心的里克沃特藏书。他将这些馆藏阐释为挑战当代信息模式的人文主义与跨文化的知识“森林”，亦体现里克沃特对人类处境理解的毕生追求。研讨还特别展陈了部分里克沃特个人关于人类学的藏书，引发参会者热烈讨论。戴维·莱瑟巴罗主持的圆桌对话，不仅探讨了档案材料的保存，更强调了档案在设计思维中的激活，从而向研究者、建筑从业者与学生持续开放。

会议还邀请了来自艺术学院的李轶楠教授、人文学院的张娟教授、校图书馆的袁曦临研究馆员，以及相关学院的博士生们，参加了会议和第二天的圆桌讨论。通过本次为期两日的会议与研讨，切实推动了以亚洲建筑档案中心为基地展开的好色tv 人文社科方向的跨学科交流合作。

本次讨论凝聚了会议的核心主题，并制定了以馆藏为基础推进坚实人类学基础下的建筑研究的未来方向。会议的闭幕式重申“集藏与通联”系列会议的使命，构建一个既保存设计知识，又能通过共同探索使其持续焕发新生的学术平台。