ADDRESSING INTERIOR VIOLENCES
To address spatial violence from within a school of interior architecture is to acknowledge interior spaces as more than politically neutral backgrounds. They should not be understood as mere décor for the everyday lives of predefined identities, but rather as materially situated conditions that actively participate in shaping social and political interactions. Addressing Interior Violences follows Michel Foucault’s reflections in Discipline and Punish (1975) by considering interior architecture as a set of biopolitical techniques of control over bodies and subjectivities—techniques that uphold the construction of the “normal” subject: that is, the able-bodied, white, young, human, bourgeois, heterosexual, male subject. At the same time, the symposium questions the mirror image of this figure: the spatial production of the monstrous, the excluded, and the dehumanized. Building on the writings of Lennard J. Davis (2002), the symposium seeks to interrogate the role of interior spaces in perpetuating power structures organized around the Western and modern notion of normalcy.
Category: International Symposium
Speakers: Allan Mensah, EDIT Collective, M.C. Overholt, Romain Curnier Mercury, Janus Lafontaine Carboni, Lindsey Krug, Lisa Maillard, Lola Jutzeler, Hugo Maia Schmitt, Emily Vargas Soto, Rebeca Woodbridge, Christina Conti, Giuseppina Scavuzzo, Alberto Cervesato, Özüm Karadag, Anastasiia Noga, Evan Saarinen, Maevia Griffiths, Lucía J. Oyarzun, Aitor F.Sánchez, Adéla Vavríková, Gauri Bahuguna, Serena Langdon-Dimidjian, Michela Bassanelli, Lily Blanchard, Tumelo Mtimkhulu, EVERY ISLAND
Program Chair/s: Javier F. Contreras, Paule Perron, Valentina De Luigi
Watch Symposium
Download Program
To address spatial violence from within a school of interior architecture is to acknowledge interior spaces as more than politically neutral backgrounds. They should not be understood as mere décor for the everyday lives of predefined identities, but rather as materially situated conditions that actively participate in shaping social and political interactions. Addressing Interior Violences follows Michel Foucault’s reflections in Discipline and Punish (1975) by considering interior architecture as a set of biopolitical techniques of control over bodies and subjectivities—techniques that uphold the construction of the “normal” subject: that is, the able-bodied, white, young, human, bourgeois, heterosexual, male subject. At the same time, the symposium questions the mirror image of this figure: the spatial production of the monstrous, the excluded, and the dehumanized. Building on the writings of Lennard J. Davis (2002), the symposium seeks to interrogate the role of interior spaces in perpetuating power structures organized around the Western and modern notion of normalcy.
Category: International Symposium
Speakers: Allan Mensah, EDIT Collective, M.C. Overholt, Romain Curnier Mercury, Janus Lafontaine Carboni, Lindsey Krug, Lisa Maillard, Lola Jutzeler, Hugo Maia Schmitt, Emily Vargas Soto, Rebeca Woodbridge, Christina Conti, Giuseppina Scavuzzo, Alberto Cervesato, Özüm Karadag, Anastasiia Noga, Evan Saarinen, Maevia Griffiths, Lucía J. Oyarzun, Aitor F.Sánchez, Adéla Vavríková, Gauri Bahuguna, Serena Langdon-Dimidjian, Michela Bassanelli, Lily Blanchard, Tumelo Mtimkhulu, EVERY ISLAND
Program Chair/s: Javier F. Contreras, Paule Perron, Valentina De Luigi
Watch Symposium
Download Program
HEAD – Genève. February 23-24, 2026
![]()
ANIMALS INSIDE
A History of Objects and Furniture for Pets in Domestic Interiors
Animals Inside explores the material, spatial, and cultural intersections between human and animal life within the domestic sphere. By tracing the evolution of objects and furniture created for non-human companions — from antiquity to the digital present — the event examines how animals’ presence has shaped, challenged, and expanded our conception of home. Through a rich series of talks by designers, architects, historians, artists, and theorists, the symposium investigates the gradual domestication not only of animals but of design itself, as human creativity adapts to the needs, habits, and emotional bonds of interspecies coexistence.
Category: International Symposium
Speakers: Daniel Zamarbide, Gabi Schillig, Estelle Christe, Laura Mucciolo, Kim Schönauer, Anne Hölck, Marine de Dardel, Ayaka Okamoto, Riccardo Miotto, Francisco G. Triviño and Paula V. Álvarez, Antonio Yemail
Program Chair/s: Javier F. Contreras, Youri Kravtchenko
Watch Symposium
Download Program
A History of Objects and Furniture for Pets in Domestic Interiors
Animals Inside explores the material, spatial, and cultural intersections between human and animal life within the domestic sphere. By tracing the evolution of objects and furniture created for non-human companions — from antiquity to the digital present — the event examines how animals’ presence has shaped, challenged, and expanded our conception of home. Through a rich series of talks by designers, architects, historians, artists, and theorists, the symposium investigates the gradual domestication not only of animals but of design itself, as human creativity adapts to the needs, habits, and emotional bonds of interspecies coexistence.
Category: International Symposium
Speakers: Daniel Zamarbide, Gabi Schillig, Estelle Christe, Laura Mucciolo, Kim Schönauer, Anne Hölck, Marine de Dardel, Ayaka Okamoto, Riccardo Miotto, Francisco G. Triviño and Paula V. Álvarez, Antonio Yemail
Program Chair/s: Javier F. Contreras, Youri Kravtchenko
Watch Symposium
Download Program
HEAD – Genève. November 17, 2025
![]()
LECTURES - index
CONFERENCES
Program Chair / Scientific Committee
Addressing Interior Violences (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 23-24.03.2025)
Animals Inside: A History of Objects and Furniture for Pets in Domestic Interiors (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 17.11.2025)
Nothing About Interior Architecture (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 23.09.2024)
What’s the Future of Humanitarian Design? (HEAD – Genève / Geneva Graduate Institute. Geneva, 13-14.05.2024)
Interior Ecologies (II) (MAIA, Master of Arts in Interior Architecture, HEAD – Genève / Institute for Postnatural Studies. Online, 20-21.12.2023)
Night Scenes: For a Nocturnal History of Architecture. Session co-chairs: Javier F. Contreras and Roberto Zancan (Conference: 76th Annual International Conference, Society of Architectural Historians. Montreal, 14.04.2023)
Interior Ecologies (I): Research on Non-human Environments (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 5-6.12.2022)
Nocturnal History of Architecture (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 6-7.12.2021)
Archipelago: Architectures for the Multiverse (HEAD – Genève / HEPIA. Geneva, 6-8.5.2021)
From the Page to the Screen: Entanglements between Heritage and Media (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 01.12.2020)
Architectural Models: Theory and Practice in Scale (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 2-3.12.2019)
Intimacy Exposed: Toilet, Bathroom, Restroom (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 10-11.12.2018)
LECTURES
Javier F. Contreras. The Miralles Projection (Lecture at CUHK. Hong Kong - Online, 01.04.2026)
Javier F. Contreras. The Interiors of Social Media (Lecture at SUPSI. Mendrisio, 09.03.2026)
Javier F. Contreras. Screens Within Screens: The Architecture of Social Media (Conference: Research Day 2025: Hors Catégorie. Flanders Architecture Institute. Antwerp, 20.11.2025)
Javier F. Contreras, Aida Navarro, and Damien Greder. Learning from Bukavu (Conference: Learning from Bukavu. University of Antwerp. Antwerp, 19.10.2025)
Javier F. Contreras and Pascal Hufschmid. The Role of the Arts and Design in Building Dialogue and Fostering Humanitarian Action (Conference: ELIA Leadership Symposium 2025: The Power of Many. Geneva, 16.10.2025)
Javier F. Contreras. The Evolution of User-Generated Content in Video Gaming: The Case of Roblox (Conference: Historicizing G.A.M.E.S. 2025 – Gaming, Artifacts, Memory, Experience and Society. Bern, 11-12.09.2025)
Javier F. Contreras and Damien Greder. Architecture, Humanitarianism and Social Media (Conference: Tenth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies. From Democratic Aesthetics to Digital Culture. Paris - Online, 11-12.09.2025)
Javier F. Contreras, in conversation with Henri de Riedmatten. Pet Influencers - Portraits d’animaux, domesticité et réseaux sociaux (Conference: Festival Histoire et Cité. Geneva, 04.04.2025)
Javier F. Contreras. Mediated Interiors (Lecture at NPATAK International Architecture Festival. Yerevan, 05.09.2024)
Javier F. Contreras. The Interiors of Social Media (Lecture at MMMAD - Madrid Urban Digital Art Festival. Madrid, 11.05.2024)
Javier F. Contreras and Roberto Zancan. A Nocturnal History of Architecture (Lecture at House of Switzerland. Milan, 17.04.2024)
Javier F. Contreras. Experimentalismo: Interiores, Arquitectura y Medios en el Siglo XXI (Lecture at COAC. Tarragona, 21.03.2024)
Javier F. Contreras and Paule Perron. Mediated Archives. The Interiors of Instagram and TikTok (Conference: Architecture Archives of the Future. Jaap Bakema Study Centre. Delft, 22.11.2023)
Javier F. Contreras. Interiores Mediados (Lecture at Post Like, I Biennal d’Arquitectura Jove de Catalunya. COAC. Barcelona, 06.10.2023)
Javier F. Contreras. Intérieurs dans les intérieurs. Les laboratoires d’architecture au XXIe siècle (Conference: L’enseignement des arts à Genève. Du XVIIIe siècle à nos jours. HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 13.09.2023)
Javier F. Contreras. The Miralles Projection (Lecture at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. Suzhou – Online, 02.03.2023)
Javier F. Contreras. Architectural Figurations, Mediated Spaces (Conference: Latent Futures, Figurations. Superstudio EPFL. Lausanne, 11.10.2022)
Javier F. Contreras and Paule Perron. Scènes de Nuit (Lecture at Quinzaine de l’Urbanisme. Geneva, 30.09.2022)
Javier F. Contreras. Scènes de Nuit: on Night, Media and Architecture (Conference: 15th Pan-European Conference on International Relations. Athens – Online, 03.09.2022)
Javier F. Contreras and Kai Reaver. Research Case Studies on Architectural Heritage and Mixed Reality (Conference: (In)Tangible Heritage(s). Canterbury – Online, 16.06.2022)
Javier F. Contreras. Scènes de Nuit: Un programme de recherche qui explore le rôle de la nuit dans la construction des villes et des sociétés contemporaines (Conference: Claustophilie. Les univers de la claustration, entre désirs et transgressions. Paris – Online, 17.05.2022)
Javier F. Contreras. Scènes de Nuit (Seminar: Making is Thinking: Design, Craft, and the Practice of International Relations. The Graduate Institute. Geneva, 16.02.2022)
Javier F. Contreras. Scènes de Nuit (Lecture at EPFL. Lausanne, 27.05.2020)
Javier F. Contreras. Work, Night, Space (Conference: Worktech 19. Geneva, 24.09.2019)
Javier F. Contreras and Youri Kravtchenko. Scènes de Nuit (Event: Nuit Blanche Lausanne. Forum d’architectures (f’ar). Lausanne, 21.09.2021)
Javier F. Contreras. Non-monumentality: Miralles/Tagliabue’s Project for the Utrecht Town Hall (Conference: On Monumentality. Athens, 06.04.2019)
CONVERSATIONS
Julien Magnollay. Les influenceurs pour animaux. Interview with Javier F. Contreras (Radio program: Tribu, RTS. 02.04.2025)
India Mahdavi. Éloge de l’ornement. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras (Festival: Le Goût de M. Paris, 24.03.2024)
Jonathan L. Austin, Gilles Carbonnier, Javier F. Contreras, Pascal Hufschmid, and Anna Leander. What is the Future of Humanitarian Design? (Roundtable discussion at Maison de la Paix. Geneva, 27.11.2023)
Laura Odene. ¿Cómo influyen las redes sociales en el diseño de interiores? Interview with Javier F. Contreras (Radio program: El Gallo que no cesa, RNE. 21.08.2023)
Ghaith Abi Ghanem and Jad Melki. The Power of Place: Exploring Cultural Landscapes through Exhibition Design. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras on the scenography for the mudac exhibition Beirut: The Eras of Design (mudac. Lausanne, 03.05.2023)
Bas Princen. Photography & Architecture: Unbeleuchtet. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras and Leonid Slonimskiy (HEAD – Genève. Geneva – Online, 28.04.2021)
Richard Levene. El Croquis Night. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras and Sven Högger (Large Kiosk. Geneva, 21.02.2020)
Marina Otero. Talking Heads. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras and Charlotte Laubard (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 08.10.2019)
India Mahdavi. Talking Heads. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras and Valentina de Luigi (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 19.02.2019)
Benedetta Tagliabue. Talking Heads. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 25.04.2018)
Program Chair / Scientific Committee
Addressing Interior Violences (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 23-24.03.2025)
Animals Inside: A History of Objects and Furniture for Pets in Domestic Interiors (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 17.11.2025)
Nothing About Interior Architecture (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 23.09.2024)
What’s the Future of Humanitarian Design? (HEAD – Genève / Geneva Graduate Institute. Geneva, 13-14.05.2024)
Interior Ecologies (II) (MAIA, Master of Arts in Interior Architecture, HEAD – Genève / Institute for Postnatural Studies. Online, 20-21.12.2023)
Night Scenes: For a Nocturnal History of Architecture. Session co-chairs: Javier F. Contreras and Roberto Zancan (Conference: 76th Annual International Conference, Society of Architectural Historians. Montreal, 14.04.2023)
Interior Ecologies (I): Research on Non-human Environments (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 5-6.12.2022)
Nocturnal History of Architecture (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 6-7.12.2021)
Archipelago: Architectures for the Multiverse (HEAD – Genève / HEPIA. Geneva, 6-8.5.2021)
From the Page to the Screen: Entanglements between Heritage and Media (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 01.12.2020)
Architectural Models: Theory and Practice in Scale (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 2-3.12.2019)
Intimacy Exposed: Toilet, Bathroom, Restroom (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 10-11.12.2018)
LECTURES
Javier F. Contreras. The Miralles Projection (Lecture at CUHK. Hong Kong - Online, 01.04.2026)
Javier F. Contreras. The Interiors of Social Media (Lecture at SUPSI. Mendrisio, 09.03.2026)
Javier F. Contreras. Screens Within Screens: The Architecture of Social Media (Conference: Research Day 2025: Hors Catégorie. Flanders Architecture Institute. Antwerp, 20.11.2025)
Javier F. Contreras, Aida Navarro, and Damien Greder. Learning from Bukavu (Conference: Learning from Bukavu. University of Antwerp. Antwerp, 19.10.2025)
Javier F. Contreras and Pascal Hufschmid. The Role of the Arts and Design in Building Dialogue and Fostering Humanitarian Action (Conference: ELIA Leadership Symposium 2025: The Power of Many. Geneva, 16.10.2025)
Javier F. Contreras. The Evolution of User-Generated Content in Video Gaming: The Case of Roblox (Conference: Historicizing G.A.M.E.S. 2025 – Gaming, Artifacts, Memory, Experience and Society. Bern, 11-12.09.2025)
Javier F. Contreras and Damien Greder. Architecture, Humanitarianism and Social Media (Conference: Tenth International Conference on Communication & Media Studies. From Democratic Aesthetics to Digital Culture. Paris - Online, 11-12.09.2025)
Javier F. Contreras, in conversation with Henri de Riedmatten. Pet Influencers - Portraits d’animaux, domesticité et réseaux sociaux (Conference: Festival Histoire et Cité. Geneva, 04.04.2025)
Javier F. Contreras. Mediated Interiors (Lecture at NPATAK International Architecture Festival. Yerevan, 05.09.2024)
Javier F. Contreras. The Interiors of Social Media (Lecture at MMMAD - Madrid Urban Digital Art Festival. Madrid, 11.05.2024)
Javier F. Contreras and Roberto Zancan. A Nocturnal History of Architecture (Lecture at House of Switzerland. Milan, 17.04.2024)
Javier F. Contreras. Experimentalismo: Interiores, Arquitectura y Medios en el Siglo XXI (Lecture at COAC. Tarragona, 21.03.2024)
Javier F. Contreras and Paule Perron. Mediated Archives. The Interiors of Instagram and TikTok (Conference: Architecture Archives of the Future. Jaap Bakema Study Centre. Delft, 22.11.2023)
Javier F. Contreras. Interiores Mediados (Lecture at Post Like, I Biennal d’Arquitectura Jove de Catalunya. COAC. Barcelona, 06.10.2023)
Javier F. Contreras. Intérieurs dans les intérieurs. Les laboratoires d’architecture au XXIe siècle (Conference: L’enseignement des arts à Genève. Du XVIIIe siècle à nos jours. HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 13.09.2023)
Javier F. Contreras. The Miralles Projection (Lecture at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University. Suzhou – Online, 02.03.2023)
Javier F. Contreras. Architectural Figurations, Mediated Spaces (Conference: Latent Futures, Figurations. Superstudio EPFL. Lausanne, 11.10.2022)
Javier F. Contreras and Paule Perron. Scènes de Nuit (Lecture at Quinzaine de l’Urbanisme. Geneva, 30.09.2022)
Javier F. Contreras. Scènes de Nuit: on Night, Media and Architecture (Conference: 15th Pan-European Conference on International Relations. Athens – Online, 03.09.2022)
Javier F. Contreras and Kai Reaver. Research Case Studies on Architectural Heritage and Mixed Reality (Conference: (In)Tangible Heritage(s). Canterbury – Online, 16.06.2022)
Javier F. Contreras. Scènes de Nuit: Un programme de recherche qui explore le rôle de la nuit dans la construction des villes et des sociétés contemporaines (Conference: Claustophilie. Les univers de la claustration, entre désirs et transgressions. Paris – Online, 17.05.2022)
Javier F. Contreras. Scènes de Nuit (Seminar: Making is Thinking: Design, Craft, and the Practice of International Relations. The Graduate Institute. Geneva, 16.02.2022)
Javier F. Contreras. Scènes de Nuit (Lecture at EPFL. Lausanne, 27.05.2020)
Javier F. Contreras. Work, Night, Space (Conference: Worktech 19. Geneva, 24.09.2019)
Javier F. Contreras and Youri Kravtchenko. Scènes de Nuit (Event: Nuit Blanche Lausanne. Forum d’architectures (f’ar). Lausanne, 21.09.2021)
Javier F. Contreras. Non-monumentality: Miralles/Tagliabue’s Project for the Utrecht Town Hall (Conference: On Monumentality. Athens, 06.04.2019)
CONVERSATIONS
Julien Magnollay. Les influenceurs pour animaux. Interview with Javier F. Contreras (Radio program: Tribu, RTS. 02.04.2025)
India Mahdavi. Éloge de l’ornement. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras (Festival: Le Goût de M. Paris, 24.03.2024)
Jonathan L. Austin, Gilles Carbonnier, Javier F. Contreras, Pascal Hufschmid, and Anna Leander. What is the Future of Humanitarian Design? (Roundtable discussion at Maison de la Paix. Geneva, 27.11.2023)
Laura Odene. ¿Cómo influyen las redes sociales en el diseño de interiores? Interview with Javier F. Contreras (Radio program: El Gallo que no cesa, RNE. 21.08.2023)
Ghaith Abi Ghanem and Jad Melki. The Power of Place: Exploring Cultural Landscapes through Exhibition Design. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras on the scenography for the mudac exhibition Beirut: The Eras of Design (mudac. Lausanne, 03.05.2023)
Bas Princen. Photography & Architecture: Unbeleuchtet. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras and Leonid Slonimskiy (HEAD – Genève. Geneva – Online, 28.04.2021)
Richard Levene. El Croquis Night. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras and Sven Högger (Large Kiosk. Geneva, 21.02.2020)
Marina Otero. Talking Heads. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras and Charlotte Laubard (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 08.10.2019)
India Mahdavi. Talking Heads. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras and Valentina de Luigi (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 19.02.2019)
Benedetta Tagliabue. Talking Heads. Conversation with Javier F. Contreras (HEAD – Genève. Geneva, 25.04.2018)