The Second International Symposium on Liminality, Space, and Comparative Studies Along the Silk Road
 

The School of Architecture at the College of Fine Arts, University of Tehran, held the Second International Symposium on “Liminality, Space, and Comparative Studies Along the Silk Road” on January 8, 2025, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM in the amphitheater of the College of Fine Arts. The academic and executive chair of the event was Dr. Elham Andaroodi, Associate Professor and faculty member of the School of Architecture, while the symposium president was Dr. Seyed Yahya Islami, Assistant Professor and faculty member of the same department.

The symposium organizers included Professor Riichi Miyake (ARCHI-DEPOT Corporation), Engineer Arash Sohrabi, and Engineer Samad Dehghan (Iranian Seismic Retrofitting Institute). The event was supported by the Embassy of Japan in Iran and was held in collaboration with various Iranian and Japanese associations, institutions, and companies, including the International Advisor to the College of Fine Arts, the Iranian Architecture Studies Scientific Association, the Restoration Scientific Association, and the Architecture Scientific Association, with an ISC index.

The symposium featured a hybrid format of in-person and online lectures, with speakers and researchers from Iran, Japan, China, and Singapore. The presentations focused on foundational concepts in comparative studies of architecture, landscape, and urban spaces, centering on the ideas of liminality and interstitial space along the Silk Road.

The symposium opened with a speech by Dr. Abdolmajid Eskandari, Director General of International Relations at the University of Tehran, who discussed scientific and cultural relations between Iran and Japan. Following this, Dr. Seyed Yahya Islami, Head of the Faculty of Architecture, reviewed the history of scientific exchanges between Iran and Japan, especially in the field of architecture over the past decades. He described this symposium as a milestone in mutual cultural conceptualization between the two countries and its expansion along the Silk Road.

His Excellency Tamaki Tsukada, the Japanese Ambassador to Iran, attended as an honorary speaker and emphasized the importance of cultural relations and student exchanges between the two nations.

The keynote speech of the symposium was delivered by Professor Reiichi Miyake, Director of the ARCHI-DEPOT Corporation, who presented numerous examples from Japanese literature and architecture that reflect the historical ties between Iran and Japan.

Panel Discussions

Panel 1: Dr. Elham Andaroodi, Dr. Alireza Einifar (School of Architecture, University of Tehran), and Dr. Zohair Motaghi (Shahid Beheshti University) analyzed fundamental concepts in comparative studies on space and thresholds between Iran, Japan, and the West.
Panel 2: Dr. Mohammad Hassan Talebian (University of Tehran), Professor Tsuyoshi Date (Tokohu University), and Professor Shunsaku Miyagi (landscape architect and visiting professor at Harvard University) discussed architecture, world heritage, and landscapes in Iran and Japan.
Panel 3: Professor Kentaro Furuya (architect from Mitsubishi Jisho Design), Dr. Naimeh Rezaei (University of Tehran), Professor Liu Kecheng (Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology), and Professor Ki Gnie Tang (architect and conservationist from Singapore) addressed topics related to preservation, urban regeneration, and cross-design along the Silk Road.

During the Q&A sessions, diverse discussions arose regarding the culture and architecture of Japan and other Silk Road countries in relation to foundational Iranian concepts.