O B L / Q U E

Statement:

O B L / Q U E is a journal on architectural conservation that acknowledges that there is no neutral historic site or narrative. Historians cannot attain an objective point of view external to their historic moment, and neither can conservation architects. Rather, history is a contested, dynamic, and incommensurable process, and its representations are always partial, exclusionist, and ideologically tainted. Under this paradigm, claims of objectivity or neutrality in one’s actions signify complicity with existing power hierarchies embedded in places. Conservation architects have the opportunity and responsibility to renegotiate history and power relationships through design. From this perspective, conserving means to question, revise, and subvert dominant versions of the past rather than its passive and complicit perpetuation. This practice is what we refer to as Critical Conservation.

Description:

Oblique is an independent, open-source, bi-annual academic journal about the contested nature of architectural conservation and places. The journal’s mission is to unearth the stories of silenced and marginalized social groups and to demand reparations for communities and places. Contributions to this publication are by invitation and the work is reviewed by the issue editors as well as an assistant editor. The journal was founded by Natalia Escobar Castrillón and launched in 2016 at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. The project received support from student volunteers and advice from faculty members. The first issue received the AIA New York Center Publications Award, which supported the continuation of the journal. The publication has evolved to include diverse voices as co-editors, assistant editors, and authors. In addition, the journal now features a combination of established scholars' and practitioners’ work along with emerging voices and students.

Awards & recognitions:

Oblique was awarded the American Institute of Architects New York (AIANY) and the Center for Architecture’s Douglas Haskell Publications Award, 2017.

Oblique was featured at the Chilean Architecture Biennial, in a discussion session with MIT Dean Hashim Sarkis and Sub-secretary of Cultural Heritage Emilio de la Cerda, Valparaiso, 2018.

Oblique was featured in the exhibition Open Issues. The event gathered a selection of students’ journals across schools of architecture in the United States, Harvard Graduate School of Design, 2019.

Oblique was featured on the online platform Archinect in 2019 as part of a series where selected journal editors were invited to discuss the role of publications. The series included The Funambulist, JAE, and CLOG.

About:

Call for papers: By invitation

Access policy: Open access

Publication schedule: Bi-annual

Format: Digital

Editor and publisher: Natalia Escobar Castrillón

ISSN: 2474-6347 (online)

Publication period: Since 2016 -

Language: English

Discipline: Critical conservation