Our world now is deprived of peace and happiness, it's full of famine, poverty and war. It's a dream of us – human beings – to have a world in which all of societal ills have been resolved. But is it really possible to achieve?

Times and times again our ancestors proved to us that it is possible in their spiritual buildings, and in our endeavor to achieve the dream, sacred architecture manifested, and as a result many utopian communities and cities have now emerged.

IEREK organizes the 2^nd international conference on Utopian and Sacred Architecture Studies to be hosted in one of the most spiritual cities, the city of Naples. Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban areas in the world which makes it a prime example that contains real-life models of sacred architecture, spiritual buildings and sites such as Pompeii, Amalfi Coast, Ravello, etc. To optimize the benefits of going through such an experience, visits to these cities will be designed alongside the conference's main activities.

Moreover, this conference's main aim is to explore the theories and practices stimulated over the last five centuries in a wide range of areas of thought, historiography, political sciences, social sciences, literary and art studies, social activism and in the visualization of possible worlds. Thus, it is the optimum opportunity to address the disputations that surround Utopia and its successors from its origin to our present and explore the impact on and by the utopian religious, and cultural ideals.

This is an optimum time for reflection on the concept of utopia; whether that of the past, today or the future. IEREK, is working to encourage and create room for dreams and new ideas to give birth to a selection of historical utopias, the architecture of cities, utopian ideals, and the impact of religion and culture.

Finding the pros and cons of this visionary approach to life and this dream we seek to achieve and considering the different routes in which utopian cities from the past might help us think about the world we live today and the world we try to reach tomorrow, these are the aims of this conference which encourages an exchange of knowledge and ideas.

• 1. The Advent Of Utopia

  - Utopia and religious and spiritual architecture.

  - Historical influence of ancient cities on new life.

  - Reconstruction of old theological buildings.

  - Architectural and liturgical reforms in the first half of the twentieth century.

  - Twentieth-century monastic architecture.

• 2. The Utopian Realm

  - Utopian history.

  - Utopian new life style.

  - Real life environmental architecture.

  - Reality and utopian anthropology.

  - Difference between utopia and reality.

• 3. Utopia: The City And Human

  - Envisioning the sustainable city

  - Art, life, and prefiguration: stories of contemporary art and intentional communities.

  - Unions as utopian spaces: intersecting narratives of potentiality in the fight against marketised education.

  - Mapping the ‘modern attitude’.

  - Translation movements as historic ‘points of solidarity’ among human beings: prerequisite for utopian human society.

• 4. Architecture And Art

  - Fictional spaces and imagery places: the language of built space.

  - Interior and literature.

  - Icons and meaning.

  - Architectural and visual cultures.

  - Gothic architecture and literature.

• 5. Religious Architecture And Philosophy

  - Religion enquiry in art & architecture.

  - Sacred foundations of architecture.

  - Culture: The context for theology, liturgy, sacred architecture and art.

  - The responses of the churches to cultural shifts.

  - Theology, liturgy, and sacred architecture and art in the post-constantinian.

Important Note:

IEREK has an unyielding policy regarding plagiarism. We believe that copying/taking the ideas and work of other Authors without permission and credit, is fraudulent.

The Reviewing committee and IEREK employees have the authority to reject a paper during its reviewing process, on the basis of the paper being subjected to either minor or major plagiarism.

Duplicating any content will lead to the paper’s refusal upon the complaint of the plagiarism victim.

Authors are respectfully requested to abide by the following steps/instructions in order to participate in the "Utopian and Sacred Architecture Studies (USAS) - 2nd Edition" international conference and get their papers published...

Step 1: Abstract Submission

- Author (researcher) should submit an abstract file (paper summary) through our online system before the abstract submission deadline.

- Submitted abstract should not exceed 300 words.

- The abstract should clearly state the purpose, results, and conclusions of the work to be described in the final paper.

- You should the most relevant topic to your paper from the conference topics.

- Abstract file should include the author's full name, email address, academic title and affiliation.

- Abstract file should include Co-authors' full name, email address, academic title and affiliation. (if exist)

- The author can use/download abstract writing template to submit the abstract file accordingly (please download from the link provided below).

Step 2: Abstract Review

- Once abstract is submitted abiding the mentioned instructions, it will be sent to undergo revision process by members of our scientific committee, the author will receive abstract feedback and next step action by email within 2 weeks maximum from abstract submission date.

- Once the abstract is accepted, the author will receive abstract acceptance notification by email stating that the abstract is accepted and to proceed with full/short paper submission.

Step 3: Paper Submission

- The author should submit the full/short paper written on the writing template, through our online system before the paper submission deadline (please download the writing template from the link provided below).

- The full/short paper should be written in English as it's the official language of the conference "Utopian and Sacred Architecture Studies (USAS) - 2nd Edition".

- The full paper file shouldn't exceed 12 pages while short paper shouldn't exceed 5 pages.

- The full paper should state the major issue(s) addressed, the potential significance of the work, the theoretical and methodological approach(es) pursued, major findings, conclusions, implications, and relevant scholarly references.

- The short paper should clearly mention the major issue(s), methodological approach(es), major findings, conclusions, and relevant scholarly references.

- The full/short paper must be relevant to the conference theme and must be original as we don't accept research papers with similarity rate of more than 20%.

Step 4: Paper Elementary Review

- Once the full/short paper is submitted abiding the mentioned instructions, it is assigned for review by the reviewers of scientific committee in aligning with IEREK revision SOP (double-blind process).

- The author will receive paper feedback and next step action by email within 1-month maximum from paper submission date.

Step 5: Payment

- Once the paper gets accepted, the author will be informed to pay the conference fees so that it could be sent to another 2 members of the scientific committee in order to provide the author with comments/notes that could improve the paper and push it to the limits.

- As soon as payment is confirmed and done successfully, corresponding official documents can be issued from our side such as paper acceptance letter and invitation letter.

Step 6: Paper Final Review

- The paper will be sent for review by another 2 members of the scientific committee in aligning with IEREK revision SOP (double-blind process). Reviewers' comments/notes will be forwarded to the author in order to modify the full paper accordingly. Then, send us the final version of the paper.

Downloads

Instructions of Short Paper Submissions: Authors whom like to submit short papers should be informed that the structure of a short paper should contain its abstract, keywords, introduction, problem statements and the hypothetical solution along with further studies that they will go through when they want to extend their paper to be published online. A short paper fee doesn’t have a chance to receive any type of discount whatever the authors was previously published with IEREK or the author is one of IEREK’s scientific committee and or a representative of a co- host university. A short paper is only published in the conference proceedings book and will not have a chance to be published online by Springer or by IEREK’s Journals unless the author extends their work to a full length paper and pay the requested fee.

To download Abstract Writing Template,  Click Here

To download Paper Writing Template,   Click Here

Publishing in ASTI by Springer (Scopus indexed)                  

After the conference, the submitted manuscripts of authors interested in publishing in the ASTI book series will undergo a rigorous peer review process resulting in a final decision made by the editors. Only accepted research will be published as a chapter in the Book Series entitled “Advances in Science, Technology and Innovation” (ASTI) by Springer. The ASTI Book Series is by managed highly professional members of an International Editorial Board to ensure high-quality material for online publication.

The ASTI Book Series is fully indexed in Scopus. Some titles have been successfully indexed or submitted for indexation in Web of Science (ISI).

About the ASTI series

Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation (ASTI) is a series of peer-reviewed books based on important emerging research that redefines the current disciplinary boundaries in science, technology and innovation (STI) in order to develop integrated concepts for sustainable development. It not only discusses the progress made towards securing more resources, allocating smarter solutions, and rebalancing the relationship between nature and people, but also provides in-depth insights from comprehensive research that addresses the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) as set out by the UN for 2030.

The series draws on the best research papers from various IEREK and other international conferences to promote the creation and development of viable solutions for a sustainable future and a positive societal transformation with the help of integrated and innovative science-based approaches. Including interdisciplinary contributions, it presents innovative approaches and highlights how they can best support both economic and sustainable development, through better use of data, more effective institutions, and global, local and individual action, for the welfare of all societies.

The series particularly features conceptual and empirical contributions from various interrelated fields of science, technology and innovation, with an emphasis on digital transformation, that focus on providing practical solutions to ensure food, water and energy security to achieve the SDGs. It also presents new case studies offering concrete examples of how to resolve sustainable urbanization and environmental issues in different regions of the world.

The series is intended for professionals in research and teaching, consultancies and industry, and government and international organizations. Published in collaboration with IEREK, the Springer ASTI series will acquaint readers with essential new studies in STI for sustainable development.

About Springer:

Springer is a leading global scientific, technical and medical portfolio, providing researchers in academia, scientific institutions and corporate R&D departments with quality content through innovative information, products and services. Springer has one of the strongest STM and HSS eBook collections and archives, as well as a comprehensive range of hybrid and open access journals. Springer is part of Springer Nature, a global publisher that serves and supports the research community. Springer Nature aims to advance discovery by publishing robust and insightful science, supporting the development of new areas of research and making ideas and knowledge accessible around the world. As part of Springer Nature, Springer sits alongside other trusted brands like Nature Research, BioMed Central, and Palgrave Macmillan.

Click on the below image to learn more about the editors

Publishing in ARChive by IEREK Press                                  

ARChive is an open access journal that publishes conference proceedings in a wide range of topics and across all scientific disciplines, from Sciences, Engineering and Technology to Environment, Energy and Earth Sciences. Consequently, it accepts original research papers in a wide spectrum of subjects. ARChive is a journal published on behalf of researchers that perpetually make an effort to contribute to their fields and provides them with a high visibility of research submitted. The series publishes, both, theoretical and experimental high quality papers of current and perpetual interest. It serves to cultivate, propagate, and essentially archive academic research that has been authored and submitted for academic conferences.

ARChive welcomes diverse approaches to innovative ideas that could potentially be a breakthrough in a particular field of study. To provide permanent archiving, ARChive is archived in the collaborative digital preservation archiving systems in LOCKSS, as they provide access to permanent and authorized digital content for electronic scholarly journals.

In accordance with the definition of open access journal provided by BOAI, ARChive is a model of the fully open journal that allows global open access to its content which is freely available without charge to users and institutions. They are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose for non-commercial use, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.

Aversa, Italy