CFP - Absence / 2026 SAHANZ-AUHPH Conference

[Matthew Heins]

The 2026 SAHANZ-AUHPH Conference, on the theme of "Absence," will take place in Melbourne in December, with abstracts due February 27.

Their summary is copied below. The entire CFP, and link to submit an abstract, is at https://bookings.events.unimelb.edu.au/event/absence2026/call-for-abstracts.

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In 2026, the annual SAHANZ conference will be held in conjunction with the bi-annual Australasian Urban History Planning History conference.

SAHANZ-AUHPH 2026 will be held 7-9 December 2026, hosted by the University of Melbourne, on the following theme: 

 
Absence

Our cities and landscapes are pockmarked by evidence of absence. Architectural, landscape and planning practices and their histories are similarly marked: by the unbuilt and unrealised, by the demolished, by the invisible and by the hidden. Gaps between buildings and unfinished estates are parallels to the spaces we have carved out of nature in order to build. Moreover, the void – the negative space enclosed by an architectural, theoretical, chronological, historiographical or geographical frame – is often as telling as the surrounding structure.

 

We invite abstracts of 300 words for 20-minute, 3000-4500 word conference papers that engage with the theme of absence as it relates to architectural history. Please indicate if there is a particular session for which you wish your paper to be considered. Papers will be fully refereed for presentation, with the option to be published in the conference Proceedings.

 

The call for papers for the conference is now open and further details can be found on the conference website:

 

https://bookings.events.unimelb.edu.au/event/absence2026/

 

Abstract submissions are due on 27 February 2026, with acceptances sent out in early April.