The city and games. Architecture, recreational spaces, and urban imagery.
November 5-7, 2026
Contacts: bari2026@aisuinternational.net
Come raggiungerci e dove dormire
Come raggiungerci:
Le sessioni del convegno si svolgeranno presso il dipartimento ArCoD Architettura Costruzioni e Design nel campus del Politecnico di Bari (si consiglia l’ingresso da via Re David all’altezza del civico 193 che sarà opportunamente segnalato con le locandine del convegno).
Il campus dista 1,2 km dalla stazione di Bari centrale dove sono disponibili taxi, sistemi di bike sharing e monopoattini elettrici che possono percorrere una pista ciclabile fino all’ingresso di via Re David.
La tavola rotonda del venerdi sarà ospitata negli spazi del Museo Civico di Bari nella città vecchia. A poca distanza dal museo si trova anche Palazzo Simi e il locale in cui si terrà la cena sociale.
Accommodation
L’offerta di strutture ricettive a Bari è molto variegata, potrete scegliere tra l’opzione di molti B&B disposti tra il centro Murattiano e la città Vecchia e pochi hotel.
Per il convegno abbiamo raggiunto una convenzione con quattro strutture di diversa categoria che accorderanno ai convegnisti un prezzo scontato rispetto le abituali tariffe.
Hotel Adria *** Via Zuppetta 10
Albergo storico nei pressi della Stazione ferroviaria, al centro di Bari miglior rapporto qualità prezzo dista circa un km sia dal Dipartimento ArCoD sia da Bari vecchia. Per prenotazioni chiamare direttamente al numero 080 524 6699 convegno architettura.
Hotel Campus ***
Una struttura molto spartana che però offre il vantaggio di essere direttamente all’interno del Campus Universitario a 100 metri dal dipartimento ArCoD che ospiterà il convegno.
Per prenotazioni chiamare direttamente al numero 080 552 0805 e specificare convenzione convegno architettura rif. Prof. Labalestra
Hotel De Rossi ** via de Rossi 186
Struttura basic ma in posizione comoda, abbastanza vicino alla stazione ferroviaria e al centro commerciale della città. In posizione baricentrica tra la sede del Dipartimento ArCoD (che dista 1,5 km) e Bari Vecchia (1,5)
Per prenotazioni chiamare direttamente al numero 080 817 5656 e specificare convenzione convegno architettura rif. Prof. Labalestra.
Mövenpick Hotel****S, Via Francesco Lombardi, 13, 70022
Albergo di fascia alta a ridosso del centro medioevale. Distante dal Dipartimento ArCoD circa 3 km ma poco distante da Bari vecchia e al borgo murattiano. Per prenotazioni chiamare direttamente al numero 080 9950266 convenzione rif. convegno architettura.
Altre strutture consigliate:
B&B
Relais Petruzzelli 58 Viale Unità d’Italia; Casa Scaletta Via Emanuele De Deo, 57; Mas Collection, Via Monfalcone, 43; Antica Boutique B&B Via Melo da Bari, 172.
Time Table
| Deadline for abstract proposals | June 1, 2026 |
| Notification of accepted abstract and opening of registration: | June 22, 2026 |
| Deadline for early bird | July 27, 2026 |
| Full paper | November 23, 2026 |
| Final programme online | September 21, 2026 |
| Conference | November 5-7, 2026 |
Participation fees
(for the conference only, excluding the gala dinner)
ATTENTION
Prima di fare l’iscrizione al Convegno Bari 2026, scaricate il the instruction file a questo LINK
Registration link: https://convegni.cieffeerre.it/Default.aspx?codConv=W-SPO-LABA-02-2026
| EARLY registration (until July 27th) | PARTICIPATION FEES (from July 28th to September 1st) | |
| AISU junior | 100€ | 150€ |
| AISU senior member* | 170€ | 200€ |
| non-member AISU junior | 280€ | 300€ |
| non-member AISU senior | 370€ | 400€ |
| Accompanying person | 100€ | 130€ |
| Attendee | 100€ | 130€ |
Click here to become an AISU member (LINK)
* Please remember that to receive the AISU member price, you must be a member with a paid membership fee for 2026, be registered on the website, and be logged in.
** Senior: By “senior members” is meant all those who have an open-ended working relationship with institutions, universities or public and private bodies.
In order to be presented and subsequently published, each contribution requires at least one of the authors to register for the conference. To be registered it is essential to pay the registration fee by at least one of the authors; furthermore, in order to benefit from the services provided during the conference, the payment of the same fee is required for all authors who, in addition to the first, decide to be present during the days of the event.
Companion fee
The fee is reserved for those attending the conference as accompanying person.
Listener fee
The fee is reserved for those participating in the conference as auditor (i.e. those who, despite not having submitted any contribution, intend to take part in the conference due to scientific interests).
Call for Abstract
Games have always shaped urban life: collective rituals, social and entertainment practices, forms of spectacle, educational devices, and instruments of power.
With popular festivals and sporting competitions, with the contests of antiquity and medieval tournaments, with contemporary games and digital spaces, cities have been and still are places where games take shape, transform, and produce cultural meanings. In modern and contemporary cities, sports facilities are becoming increasingly high-performance. Urban history shows how games, in their many forms, have been a powerful engine of transformation of urban space: from squares conceived as civic theaters to arenas and stadiums that embody the collective imagination of modernity, from recreational practices that structure community rituals to sports infrastructures that redesign the urban and symbolic landscape of cities. The analysis of these phenomena allows us to understand how forms of play have constantly interacted with the processes of construction, representation, and memory of the city. n the year of the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games and the Mediterranean Games in Taranto, this conference aims to investigate, from a diachronic and interdisciplinary perspective, the relationship between cities and games, drawing on historical studies, theoretical reflections, comparative readings, and innovative research cases.
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Scholars are invited to submit proposals for contributions that fall within one of the 11 thematic areas listed below, conceived as fields of comparison and in-depth analysis of the multiple relationships between recreational practices, urban spaces, and the construction of the city over time.
Topics:
- Recreational topographies: squares, courtyards, streets, gardens, arenas, stadiums, and public spaces dedicated to games.
- Games and urban power: civic celebrations, shows, tournaments, sporting events as political and symbolic tools.
- Città come campo di gioco: playful practices that reinterpret the urban structure (urban games, dérives, urban role playing).
- Childhood and urban games: pedagogia, inclusione, marginalità e trasformazioni degli spazi per bambini.
- Games and conflicts: regulation, prohibitions, social control, and practices of resistance.
- Economy and entertainment: markets, fairs, amusement parks, theme parks, gaming industry.
- Urban imaginaries: representations of games in literature, visual arts, cinema, and digital media.
- Sports and the urban form: the role of competitions and physical performances in the construction of the city.
- Gamification della città contemporanea: new technologies, smart cities, digital spaces, and participatory practices.
- Memory and recreational heritage: disappeared urban games, local traditions, museumization, and transmission.
- Specialized architecture for sports: neighborhoods, specialized architecture, and sports infrastructure.
Parallel Sessions
- Playgrounds and meeting places
How have games defined the urban topography of squares, courtyards, and streets? What types of architecture have been dedicated to games, from ancient stadiums to contemporary playgrounds? - Games, celebrations, and power
How did collective games and civic celebrations represent urban order? What forms of entertainment consolidated or challenged political authority? - The city as a playground
In what sense has the city been conceived or experienced as a game? What urban practices have transformed the city space into a playful device? - Childhood and Urbanity
How have children's games changed in urban spaces? How does the city educate, include, or exclude through games? When and how did spontaneous play spaces, in streets and squares, become restricted, equipped, and controlled? - Games, rules, and conflicts
What prohibitions and regulations have governed urban games? Can games become instruments of resistance or political conflict? - Recreational economy and urban consumption
How have markets, fairs, and amusement parks transformed the urban experience? What is the economic role of games in ancient, modern, and contemporary cities? - Imaginaries and representations
How have games been portrayed and depicted in the arts and media? What image of cities emerges from the games described in literature, cinema, and television? - Sports and urban form
What effects have sporting competitions had on urban form? How has sport shaped urban identities and belonging? - Gamification e città digitale
What playful dynamics inform the smart city and its digital spaces? How does play become a tool for participation and governance? - Recreational heritage
Which urban games have disappeared and which ones survive in the collective memory? Is it possible to build an urban heritage of games? - Special types
How games have specialized neighborhoods, parts of cities, architecture, and infrastructure. Specialized buildings serving the game and professional sports.
How to participate
Le proposte di abstract dovranno essere inviate al Comitato Scientifico compilando il seguente form (terminato/closed)
Submissions should be submitted by June 1, 2026, along with the title, abstract, and a brief biographical note about the author(s). Acceptance of submissions will be communicated by June 22, 2026.
All selected materials will be published online on the AISU website (in Italian, English or French), with ISBN after double blind peer review.
Scientific Committee
AISU | Elena Svalduz, Alfredo Buccaro, Donatella Calabi, Giovanni Cristina, Cristina Cuneo, Marco Folin, Paola Lanaro, Andrea Longhi, Andrea Maglio, Elena Manzo, Luca Mocarelli, Heleni Porfyriou, Marco Pretelli, Massimiliano Savorra, Donatella Strangio, Rosa Tamborrino, Ines Tolic, Stefano Zaggia, Guido Zucconi.
Politecnico di Bari, ArCoD | Franco De Filippis, Gian Paolo Consoli, Antonio Labalestra
Organizing Secretary
Marco Munafò, Daniela Parisi, Klesta Quirici, Michele Solazzo, Valeria Valeriano.