ETOM Milestone-Conference 2026

21–23 October 2026 in Trenčin/Slovakia

The conference held within the official programme of European Capital of Culture (ECOC) Trenčin 2026, invites scholars, architects, planners, educators, researchers, and policymakers to reflect on how modern architecture, landscape, and planning visions can be reinterpreted and reactivated in the twenty-first century. The conference seeks an interdisciplinary dialogue across time and scale—linking architectural form with territorial context, and historical experience with contemporary and future scenarios. See you on 21-23 October in Trenčin …

ETOM Milestone-Conference 2026

21–23 October 2026 in Trenčin/Slovakia

Outline of the Conference

Modernism Revisited 2026, held within the official programme of European Capital of Culture (ECOC) Trenčin 2026, invites scholars, architects, planners, educators, researchers, and policymakers to reflect on how modern architecture, landscape, and planning visions can be reinterpreted and reactivated in the twenty-first century. The conference seeks an interdisciplinary dialogue across time and scale—linking architectural form with territorial context, and historical experience with contemporary and future scenarios. This conference is organised by the Jaromir Krejcar Society and the ETOM NEB Lab partnered with DOCOMOMO Slovakia.

Modernism—both as a historical movement and as an continuous architectural, technological, and cultural layer—continues to shape how we build, inhabit, and imagine the world. Emerging from diverse political, climatic, and cultural contexts—from liberal democracies to state-planned economies—in the past century generated a wide spectrum of approaches to architecture, urbanism, and life.

Today, these multiple legacies face new realities: ecological transitions, demographic shifts, and the transformation of once-public infrastructures and institutions. While mere technocratic, aesthetically formalistic and ideologically dogmatic conceptions of Modernism did not survive. The theories, practices and ideologies of modern thinking continue to shape our realities, while being constantly challenged and questioned. In order to challenge the current multicrisis, the humanist, emancipatory and social aspects need to be considered. The legacy of Modernism lives on as a structural framework to be filled in with contemporary ideas.

Call for Concepts and Registration

Deadline Schedule:

  • Scholarly papers
  • Practice-based presentations
  • Case studies (successful or unsuccessful transformations)
  • Comparative or cross-regional analyses
  • Theoretical, conceptual or other relevant reflections

Possible Formats:

  • 02 December 2025 — Open Call for Abstracts
  • 09 February 2026 — Call for Abstracts deadline
  • 30 April 2026 — 1st version of the final Paper submission deadline
  • 15 June 2026 — 2nd final version of the paper submission deadline
  • 21–23 October 2026 — Conference in Trenčin

Trenčin – European Capital of Culture

The title European Capital of Culture is a prestigious award granted annually by the European Union to one or more cities with the aim of fostering cultural development, creativity, and international cooperation. Being proclaimed as a European Capital of Culture puts the spot on the cities cultural activities and point of interest. Taking up this opportunity, Trenčín 2026 aims to transform the city and the region through culture and cooperation with Europe. The scheduled events and cooperations are designed to build long-term relationships. The widespread program will feature exhibitions and events in unexpected places that allow visitors and the cities society to experience them differently than usual.

Screenshot – Credits and details see on the announcing website

Stay tuned via Social Media

About ETOM

Partners of the ETOM-Initiative:

Initiated by
• BHROX bauhaus reuse / zukunftsgeraeusche GbR (zkg), Robert K. Huber, Berlin
• buschfeld.com / Ben Buschfeld (BB), Berlin

Development supported by
• Landesdenkmalamt Berlin (LDA)
• Bundesministerium für Wohnen, Stadtentwicklung und Bauwesen (BMWSB)

German Partners
• Landesdenkmalamt Berlin (LDA)
• Architektenkammer Berlin (AKB)
• Kunstbibliothek Berlin (KUBI)
• since 2025: Tschechisches Zentrum Berlin (TZB)

Members of the Coordination Group
• BHROX bauhaus reuse / zukunftsgeraeusche GbR (zkg), Berlin
• buschfeld.com, Berlin
• The Hungarian Contemporary Architecture Centre (KÉK), Budapest
• ICOMOS International Secretariat, Paris
• Estonian Academy of Arts – Institute of Art History and Visual Culture (EAA–EKA), Tallinn
• Contineo 2020 (CONTINEO), Skopje

European Partners
(by nation in alphabetical order)

Czech Republic
• National Gallery in Prague (NGP), Prague
• Forum for Architecture and Media (4 AM), Brno
• Prague 7 District Municipality (UMC7)

Estonia
• Estonian Academy of Arts – Institute of
Art History and Visual Culture (EAA–EKA), Tallinn
• Estonian Museum of Architecture (EMA), Tallinn
• Tallinna linn (COT), Tallinn City

France
• ICOMOS International Secretariat, Paris

Hungary
• Hungarian Museum of Architecture
(MEM-MDK), Budapest
• The Hungarian Contemporary
Architecture Centre (KÉK), Budapest
• Budapest 13th District – city municipality (B13D)

Latvia
• Museum of Decorative
Arts and Design (LNMM), Riga
• Latvian Design Centre (FOLD), Riga
• Latvian Ministry of Culture (LMOC)

Lithuania
• Kaunas 2022 (K2022),
Kaunas European Capital of Culture
• Nematerialaus Turto Fondas (NTF)
• Kaunas City Municipal Administration (KCMA)
• Architects Association of Lithuania, Vilnius (LAS)

Netherlands
• DOCOMOMO international

North Macedonia
• Contineo 2020 (CONTINEO), Skopje
• University American College Skopje – Privatna Ustanova – Department of Architecture (UACS)

Poland
• National Institute of Architecture and
Urban Planning (NIAiU), Warsaw
• Institut of Architecture Foundation (FIA), Cracow
• International Cultural Centre (ICC), Cracow
• Gmina Miejska Kraków – Urząd Miasta Krakowa (CCK), Cracow

Romania
• Asociația Română pentru Cultură,
Educație și Normalitate (ARCEN), Bucharest
• SG Studio – zeppelin magazine (SGS-ZEP), Bucharest
• Second District Hall of Bucharest (SDHB)

Serbia
• Belgrade International Architecture Week (ABA-BINA), Belgrade
• ZAVOD – Zavod za zastitu spomenika kulture grada Beograda (Cultural Heritage Preservation Institute of Belgrade)
• Gradska opstina Novi Beograd, City Municipality (MNB), Belgrade

Slovakia
• Slovak Design Center (SDC), Bratislava

Ukraine
• Lviv Centre for Urban History, Lwiw (LCUH), Lviv
• Urban Forms Center (UFC), Kharkiv