Exploring architecture and multidisciplinary concepts at STRAND OA2026, fourteenth international Conference and Exhibition, On Architecture —Crosscutting, Exploring New Horizons, hosted by the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and Gallery of Science and Technology in Belgrade, Serbia and featuring parallel events — thematic panels, original exhibits and related student exhibition, in Australia, South Korea and USA.
Details
— Conference & Panels
3–4 December 2026
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
Knez Mihailova 35, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
— Exhibition & MicroMacro Awards
2–17 December 2026
Gallery of Science and Technology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
Đure Jakšića 2, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Call for Contributions
The Call for Contributions for OA2026 is open.
You are invited to become part of the programme and share your expertise, experiences and research. We look forward to receiving your proposals.
Deadline expires on 30 May 2026.
Conference and Panels
Contributions presented at the Conference and Panels will be published in blind peer-reviewed Conference Proceedings and Book of Abstracts and assigned with ISBN and DOI numbers.
Best papers will receive recommendation for publishing in the selected international scientific journals.
Exhibition and Awards
Contributions presented at the Exhibition will be published in Exhibition Book.
Best exhibition works will be considered for MicroMacro Awards.
On Architecture 2025 Opening Ceremony
Conference and Exhibition Crosscutting, Exploring New Horizons
Concept
On Architecture — Crosscutting, Exploring New Horizons is based on the concept of an interdisciplinary, international, multi-location conference, with three thematic panels and three related exhibitions.
Crosscutting, Exploring New Horizons builds on the concept of the previous conference Crosscutting and Fusion of Disciplines and focuses on the interaction of science, technology and art, with architecture in creating the future at different levels, from micro to macro scale, problem-thematic and spatial scope.
We are interested in raising questions through the topics of the conference. To answer how architecture can react to challenges in the future, we need to explore interdisciplinarity, collective intelligence and team work as the basis of our approach. Therefore within conference questions will be raised, that do not ask or seek definite answers.
Themes
Topics will be considered through various disciplinary perspectives, including new aesthetics and functionalism, globalization, methods and approaches to design, innovative materiality, technology and new media.
The themes of the conference and exhibition are the promotion of quality design on different scales, which improves the lives of residents and visitors, with attractive places to live. The creation of quality design is important for individual life in an architectural building as a micro-scale of importance – as well as for design on a wider macro-scale, which highlights the strengths and potential of the city for more attractive business, qualified workforce, attractiveness of students, tourist potential and events of wider significance. This is what makes an exciting, vibrant city that offers knowledge about new trends in art, architecture and urban design.
An interdisciplinary approach is key in defining the thematic blocks.
— Phenomenology of Architecture
— Philosophy of Architecture
— Science, Technology and Architecture
— New methodological approaches, new methodologies
— Architecture, Art and New Media
— AI vs or part of New methodological approaches
— Exhibition Presentations
Conference & Panels Submission
CONFERENCE
(international, peer-reviewed, open call)
3–4 December 2026
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
Knez Mihailova 35, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Crosscutting, Exploring New Horizons builds on the concept of previous ON ARCHITECTURE conferences and focuses on the interaction of science, technology and arts, with architecture in creating the future at different levels from micro to macro scale, problematic – thematic and spatial coverage.
Types of contributions (Paper, Poster, Presentation)
Conference Paper is a manuscript that the author(s) submit for academic peer review. An accepted paper will be published in the conference proceedings. All authors of accepted papers are expected to present their work.
Conference Short Paper or Poster is a short manuscript that describes new or ongoing research results including Research Presentations, Grant Proposal Presentations and Thesis Presentations. The poster contribution will be published in the conference proceedings.
How to submit
Follow Guidelines on how to submit Abstract for Conference and Panels.
Panel New Formations, New Perceptions
PROGRAM
(international, INVITATIONAL)
New Formations, New Perceptions
Matter and Material Practice Contra Supermodernity
The era of force-fed technology constructs loomed for a long time. Constantly rebranded, it has been seemingly escalating for years now, reintroducing itself as an ever-present, all-integrating novelty, diligently obfuscating material circumstances.
On the contrary, and in view of understanding matter as the sole objective occurrence, New Formations, New Perceptions embraces and explores varieties and forces of material forms, objects as cultural tools and instruments of practice. Arising from the consequences of the world-system, the instruments’ mechanisms and analogies of function are the basis of investigation — unique, hacked, appropriated, and crafted. The role of objects in cultural transformation and tradition-making is a driving factor of analysis.
Panel Adaptive Speculative Design
PANEL
(international, open call & INVITATIONAL)
Adaptive Speculative Design
This panel proposes Adaptive Speculative Design (ASD)—a new methodological framework situated at the intersection of architecture, technology, and society—as a universal approach to navigating the uncertainties of the future city. Moving beyond the critical provocation of traditional speculative design, which often asks “What if?” from an observer’s perspective, ASD challenges us to ask “What if I am…?” This shift toward subjective speculation allows architects to embody the context of the ‘other’—whether it be the environment, the material, or the marginalized community—to discover intrinsic strategies for building ‘resilient systems.’ A central focus is on International Joint Studios as a primary tool to validate and evolve this framework. We explore how architectural creativity and systemic logic adapt through collaborative education (Joint Concept and Semesters) to ensure human dignity and sustainable community recovery. The goal is to bridge the gap between speculative research and its practical application in the real world.
Panel Designing the School of Tomorrow
PANEL
(international, open call & INVITATIONAL)
Designing the School of Tomorrow:
Educational Architecture Between Pedagogy, Urban Transformation, and Social Care
Across the globe, schools are undergoing a profound transformation. No longer conceived as isolated, mono-functional buildings, educational spaces are increasingly called upon to operate as hybrid urban infrastructures, social condensers, and platforms for collective life. This panel explores how emerging models of education—shaped by inclusivity, diversity, technological disruption, and environmental urgency—are redefining the spatial, architectural, and urban logics of schools.
Starting from the premise that the learning environment itself has become a critical unit of social and urban production, the panel refl ects on how educational architecture can act as a catalyst for wellbeing, community making, and sustainable development, particularly within post-industrial, marginalized, and low-income urban contexts. Contributors will examine schools as thresholds: between public and private, institutional and civic, pedagogical and infrastructural, local needs and global educational paradigms.
By bringing together perspectives from architectural design, urban theory, pedagogy, and practice-based research, the panel aims to question the historical image of the school as a fi xed pedagogical container. Instead, it proposes schools as adaptive, inclusive, and environmentally responsive systems, capable of negotiating the tensions between globalized lifestyles and localized social fragilities.
Exhibition Submission
EXHIBITION & MicroMacro Awards
(international, juried, open call)
2–17 December 2026
Gallery of Science and Technology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
Đure Jakšića 2, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Established in 2016, the MicroMacro awards are dedicated to the recognition of design solutions in innovative ways that successfully implement new standards in architecture and urban design and planning and encourage environmental sustainability.
Naming of the MicroMacro awards refers to various scales of recognized projects and programs – from micro as furniture and object design, urban design, exhibition design, and interior architecture to macro as public art, urban planning, architecture, building information modeling and software architecture.
How to submit
Follow Exhibition Guidelines on how to prepare and submit E-Poster.
Other formats and media are welcome to be exhibited – such as original artwork or drawings, digital copies of artwork, photo prints, models, prototypes, books, installations, video, audio or performance.
Who can enter
The competition is open to individuals and organizations in the fields of architecture, urban planning, design, history, technology, art, photography, new media art and to all geographical locations.
Who can submit a nomination
If you are an organization, an association, a not-for-profit or an individual you can nominate. You can self-nominate or nominate another organization.
We kindly invite the perspective architects, town planners and artist to submit their projects, drawings, and photographs that respond to the scope of the above listed topics.
On Architecture 2025 Opening Ceremony
Student Exhibition Designing the School of Tomorrow
STUDENT EXHIBITION
(undergraduate students)
In parallel with the panel Designing the School of Tomorrow: Educational Architecture Between Pedagogy, Urban Transformation, and Social Care, a related exhibition will present selected projects developed within a design studio conducted in 2026 at the University of Kansas. The exhibition will showcase student proposals for a new middle school in Turin, Italy, exploring the school as a hybrid architectural and urban threshold embedded within a complex social and spatial context. Through drawings, models, and visual narratives, the exhibited works will reflect on how educational architecture can mediate between pedagogy, community life, and urban regeneration, translating critical research questions into spatial and architectural propositions.
Coordinator
Dr Francesco Carota, School of Architecture and Design, University of Kansas, USA
Registration and Fees
The Organizer offers the following conditions for participation where each fee is valid per manuscript or exhibition work.
Conference Registration and Fees
— Fee for registration and payment until 15 July 2026
For 1 Conference Paper 220 EUR, for Conference Paper by doctoral student (required proof of study and/or age) 170 EUR, for 1 Conference Poster 170 EUR.
— Fee for registration and payment until 15 September 2026
For 1 Conference Paper 270 EUR, for Conference Paper by doctoral student (required proof of study and/or age) 200 EUR, for 1 Conference Poster 200 EUR.
— Fee for registration and payment until 15 October 2026
For 1 Conference Paper 350 EUR.
Fee include conference participation, conference materials Book of Abstracts and Proceedings, entrance to all conference sessions with coffee breaks and invitation to Opening and Awards Ceremony.
Exhibition Registration and Fees
— Exhibition Posters
Fee for registration and payment until 15 September 2026
For 1 Exhibition Poster 100 EUR, for 2 Exhibition Posters of the same work 150 EUR.
Fee include exhibition participation, Exhibition Book, printing of posters with delivery to the Gallery and invitation to Opening and Awards Ceremony.
— Exhibition Work (other media)
Fee for registration and payment until 15 September 2026
For 1 Exhibition work 75 EUR.
Fee include exhibition participation, Exhibition Book, and invitation to Opening and Awards Ceremony.
All Conference and Panel Sessions as well as Exhibition related events are open and free for all interested public. Please note the conference room is of limited capacity therefore listeners are encouraged to reserve their seat via email info@strand. rs.
Key Dates
10 February 2026
— First Call for contributions
30 May 2026
— Conference Abstract Submission (250-300 words)
— Exhibition Application Submission (illustration and brief description 70-100 words)
28 June 2026
— Selection Outcomes
16 September 2025
— Conference Manuscript Submission (for peer review)
— Exhibition Submission (for jury review)
Program
2 December 2025, Wednesday, 6 pm — 8 pm CET
Conference and Exhibition Opening with MicroMacro Awards Ceremony
Gallery of Science and Technology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
Đure Jakšića 2, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
3 December 2026, Thursday, 9.30 am — 6 pm CET
Conference Day 1
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
Knez Mihailova 35, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia (First floor, Room 103)
Detailed schedule to be announced 1 month prior to event.
4 December 2026, Friday, 9.30 am — 6 pm CET
Conference Day 2
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
Knez Mihailova 35, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia (First floor, Room 103)
Detailed schedule to be announced 1 month prior to event.
17 December 2025, Wednesday, 8 pm CET
Exhibition Closing
Gallery of Science and Technology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
Đure Jakšića 2, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
Scientific Committee
Professor Branislav Mitrović, Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Professor Rachel Armstrong, KU Leuven, Belgium
ProfessorVladan Đokić, Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Professor Ružica Bogdanović, STRAND & University of Belgrade, Serbia
Professor Aleksandra Stupar, Faculty of Architecture, University of Belgrade, Serbia
Professor Figen Beyhan, Faculty of Architecture, Gazi University, Turkiye
Profesor Pavlos Lefas, University of Patras, Greece
Dr Anastasios Tellios, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Dr Aleksa Bijelovic, Senior Lecturer, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University, Australia
Dr Nora Lefa, Associate Professor, School of Fine Arts, University of Ioannina, Greece
Dr Senka Ibrišimbegović, Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dr Nermina Zagora, Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dr Marija Mano Velevska, Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture, Skopje, North Macedonia
Dr Vera Parlac, Associate Professor, New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA
Dr Nataša Danilović Hristić, Senior Research Associate, Institute of Architecture and Urban & Spatial Planning of Serbia (IAUS), Serbia
Dr Christiane Wagner, Affiliate Researcher at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry Berlin (ICI Berlin), Germany
Dr Denis Ambruš, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Rijeka, Croatia
Dr Francesco Carota, Assistant Professor, School of Architecture and Design, University of Kansas, and Affiliate Researcher at the China Room research group, Politecnico di Torino Italy
Dr Mateja Kurir Borovčić, Senior Researcher and Associate Professor, Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia, Slovenia
Dr Ahmed Emam, Architecture of Today, Egypt
Dr Hyunsoo Kim, Assistant Professor, Jeju National University, South Korea
Dr Abdurrahman Mohammed, Associate Professor, Antalya Bilim University, Turkiye
Organizing Committee
Organization and Realization
STRAND – Sustainable Urban Society Association, Serbia
Partners
Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Serbia
Gallery of Science and Technology of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Serbia
People
Conference and Exhibition Concept
Professor Dr Ružica Bogdanović (Serbia)
ruzica.bogdanovic@strand.rs
Panel Concept and International Contact
Dr Aleksa Bijelovic (Australia)
Dr Hyunsoo Kim (South Korea)
Dr Francesco Carota (USA, Italy)
International Coordination
Professor Dr Aleksandra Stupar (Serbia)
Dr Nora Lefa (Greece)
Conference Coordinator
Aleksandra Pantović Milošević (Serbia)
Project Officer
Andjela Stojmirov (Serbia)
info@strand.rs