Vernacular Architecture Forum

Get ready for Delaware! We are pleased to announce that #VAF2025 will be in Delaware! Showcasing county house vernaculars, masonry construction along the Delaware River, white and Black landscapes in central Delaware, and early framed architecture in western Sussex County. Join us! May 14-17, 2025 #VAF2025

Deadline Updates! The deadline to submit a poster or paper proposal for the 2025 VAF Conference in Delaware has been extended to December 1st. Submit your poster proposal to: [email protected] Submit your paper proposal to: [email protected] Simpson Presenter’s Fellowship: Submit your application along with your proposal Deadlines to submit applications for the following awards have been extended to December 1st: Ambassador Award Submit your application to: conference [email protected] Access Award Submit your application to: [email protected] Bishir Prize Submit your application to: [email protected] Buchanan Award Submit your application to: [email protected]

Don't miss out on these opportunities! ??Nominations due November 15?? ?Catherine W. Bishir Prize ?Paul E. Buchanan Award ?Abbott Lowell Cummings Award ?Access Awards (2025 Conference) ?Ambassador Awards (2025 Conference) Learn more: https://ow.ly/5TxK50U0Yoo #VAFOrgNews #VAF2025

We’re sad to share that long time VAF-er, and co-organizer of the #vaf2019 Philadelphia conference, ??Aaron Wunsch?? passed in September at age 53. We are planning more of a tribute to Aaron’s life and his work in the Winter VAN. Additionally, the year-end issue seems like a good chance for us to reflect on VAF-ers we’ve lost over the past year. If you’d like to share any memories of ??Kingston Heath??, whom we also lost this year, or have any other reflections or photos you’d like to share, please send them to [email protected] by December 15. #vafmembernews Extended Obituary: https://lnkd.in/exSFPTDw?

??Beep Beep! The Fall VAN in here ?? https://ow.ly/W1Mt50U0Y3n In it, you'll find calls for the Delaware #VAF2025 conference, reflections on #VAF2024, the bibliography, and more! #VAFOrgNews #VAFMemberNews #VAFCommunityNews #BuildingsandLandscapes

CALL FOR PAPERS #VAF2025 Wilmington, Delaware May 14-17, 2025 DEADLINE – DECEMBER 1, 2024 The Vernacular Architecture Forum invites paper proposals for its 46th Annual Meeting: From New Castle to Sussex: Big Stories from a Small State, which will take place in Wilmington, Delaware, May 14-17, 2025. The paper and poster sessions will be on Saturday, May 17. Papers may address topics relating to vernacular and everyday buildings, sites, or cultural landscapes worldwide and how people use these sites. We welcome twenty-minute presentations focusing on issues including, but not limited to, migration, displacement, de/colonialism, segregation, resistance, gender, race, sexuality, identity, heritage, sustainability, equity, and justice in the everyday built environment. We also encourage papers that explore new methodologies for researching vernacular architecture and new pedagogies for involving students in the analysis of everyday buildings and cultural landscapes. Research topics that engage with the cultural landscapes of Delaware and surrounding areas, including associated themes of agricultural landscape, suburbanization, demolition, restoration and remodeling, and tourism, are also welcomed. Proposal information here: https://lnkd.in/eGtgKSEP

CALL FOR POSTERS #VAF2025 Vernacular Architecture Forum 2025 Annual Meeting Wilmington, Delaware May 14-17, 2025 DEADLINE – DECEMBER 1, 2024 The Vernacular Architecture Forum invites paper and poster proposals for its 46th Annual Meeting: From New Castle to Sussex: Big Stories from a Small State, which will take place in Wilmington, Delaware, May 14-17, 2025. CALL FOR POSTERS VAF 2025 Wilmington, Delaware also will host a poster session to showcase recently completed research and works-in-progress. Students and emerging scholars are particularly encouraged to submit. Poster proposals may address any topic relating to vernacular and everyday buildings, sites, or cultural landscapes worldwide as described in the first paragraph of this document. Proposals should include a title, proposal (no more than 200 words), and a one-page CV Accepted presenters will be expected to follow general guidelines regarding poster dimensions but must design, print, and present their posters at the conference. If you have any questions about the poster session, please contact Posters Committee chair, Jose Vazquez ([email protected]). THE DEADLINE FOR POSTER PROPOSALS IS DECEMBER 1, 2024 Proposals and CVs should be emailed as a PDF attachment to the posters committee ([email protected]). All proposals received will be acknowledged. If you do not receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your poster within one week of its submission, please contact Posters Committee chair Jose Vazquez. More info here: https://lnkd.in/eGtgKSEP

Published in the Fall 2024 edition of Buildings & Landscapes 31, no.2 John P. McCarthy's review of Black Landscapes Matter, edited by Walter Hood and Grace Mitchell Tada. Read more in your copy of B&L today! https://lnkd.in/e9FH_Srg Black Landscapes reveal a history often overlooked. Viewing these landscapes holistically provides a lens on landscapes often made invisible through urban policies that unintentionally erase cultural impression, despite the rich, complex layering of personal histories and contribution. Incorporating the lived experiences of the Black communities that shape these landscapes, provides a more balanced and nuanced understanding of story.

Call for Nominations - Advocacy Award #VAF2025 The Vernacular Architecture Forum seeks nominations for the VAF Advocacy Award. This award will be presented at the annual conference. The application deadline is November 15th annually. The VAF Advocacy Award recognizes exemplary efforts and achievements on behalf of our vernacular built heritage. The award honors individuals and groups for exceptional contributions toward the interpretation, appreciation, and protection of vernacular buildings and cultural landscapes, and recognizes outstanding initiative, commitment, and action to promote and protect vernacular resources. The award may be made in recognition of a specific effort or the nominee's long-term record. The awardee will be given two full complimentary registrations including tours and the banquet for the VAF conference and a certificate of excellence. See more here: https://lnkd.in/eybyvrRV

2025 Ambassador Awards #VAF2025 The Vernacular Architecture Forum seeks applications for the 2025 Ambassadors Awards. The deadline for applications is November 15, 2024. The VAF Ambassadors Awards provide funding for student groups (undergraduate and graduate) from North American institutions, with a faculty sponsor, to attend VAF's annual conference. We hope through this program to enhance the VAF's recruitment of students, to diversify the membership and interest in the work of the VAF, to provide support to programs that teach vernacular architecture, and to increase the VAF's visibility on campuses. A selection committee will choose winning recipients based on the strength of the proposals, considering especially the goals of the award program outlined above. The amount of money awarded to each program is at the discretion of the selection committee, but shall depend on such factors as the distance needed to travel to the annual conference site, the number of students involved, the number of Award applicants, and the funds available to the Award program. The total Award amount per institution is limited to $3,750.00 with a maximum of $750.00 per student. Each student will also receive a one-year complimentary membership to VAF. We encourage, but do not require, that Ambassadors apply for matching funds from their institutions. Institutions may not receive Ambassadors Awards in consecutive years. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/evYsj6tJ (Photo: Award winner from 2024, Jenny Wilder)