Call for Papers

15 July 2026  

THE NEW SYNTAX OF KNOWLEDGE: EPISTEMOLOGY AND COMPETENCE IN THE DIGITAL AGE OF BUILT ENVIRONMENT TECHNOLOGIES   

This Call for Papers aims to foster a critical reflection on the implications that the new digital condition of knowledge creates in its relationship with the processes of education and with those related to innovation, such as research and third-mission activities within the disciplinary fields of architecture, engineering, and construction.   

A first step, situated at the intersection of pedagogical purpose and theoretical inquiry, concerns training machines on disciplinary knowledge. Two developments form the cornerstones of this new epistemological frontier: the extraordinary capability of the latest generation of computer processors to handle virtually boundless quantities of data, and the emergence of open models that give rise to what may be described as a “society of thought”, where cognitive perspectives enter into dialogue and negotiate shared solutions before producing a final response. This frontier turns on the changing role of subjective intentionality and, consequently, of decision-making capacity itself. Within this framework, the structures that have governed disciplinary boundaries and professional competence profiles, according to a twentieth-century taxonomic model, are called into question.   

When the focus is confined to disciplines concerned with the built environment, the shift in perspective introduced by digital agents calls for reflection on two primary issues: first, the reputational status of the source, that is, the trustworthiness of input data; and second, informed judgment, that is, the reliability of simulation models. Both issues arise from a foundational matrix that shapes how knowledge is transferred and advanced in this scientific and professional domain, where theoretical codification, namely principles and rules, and practical application, understood as practical expertise, are mutually combined.   

From this perspective, the heterogeneity of the variables involved in structuring a knowledge base on the characteristics that define the very constitution of the built environment is decisive in shaping investigative methods and in anticipating appropriate technical intervention strategies. Similarly, in the field of new construction, generative algorithms now make it possible to produce knowledge through text-image interpolation. This is gradually displacing the ideation phase from the formative core of design education and confining it to the iconic dimension of representation, whose genesis is, by nature, independent of the technical knowledge required to assess feasibility.   

Submission deadline: 15 December 2026