TEKTON

Material and Technical Perspectives on Architectural Design and Construction Processes in the Aegean Bronze Age

Athens – 12-14 March 2026

Acropolis Museum, Auditorium Dimitrios Pantermalis

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About the Conference

Long regarded as a static backdrop for spatial or contextual analysis, the built environment is now increasingly treated as an active subject of investigation in its own right.

At the TEKTON conference, specialists will explore current practices in Aegean Bronze Age architecture by using data on building materials and techniques to understand the process of architectural creation and to identify promising directions for research and methodological approaches to architectural studies in this region and period.

The conference is co-organised by Maud Devolder, Çiğdem Maner, and Andreas Vlachopoulos.

Partner institutions: ERC Project DAEDALOS (Grant 101043552 funded by the European Research Council); Ghent University (BE), Koç Üniversitesi (TR); University of Ioannina (GR); French School at Athens; Acropolis Museum

Program

Thursday 12 March

09.20
Introduction
09.40
Monumentality and materiality: construction techniques and symbolism at the Early Bronze Age acropolis of Vathy, Astypalaia.

Maria Magnisali, Themistoklis Bilis and Andreas Vlachopoulos

10.20
Maintaining the built environment in the Early Bronze Age Cyclades: new evidence from Dhaskalio, Keros.

Marie Floquet, Michael J. Boyd and Colin Renfrew†

11.00-11.40 Coffee break
11.40
The development of a complex domestic architecture in the Early Bronze Age Cyclades: the Early Cycladic II settlement of Skarkos on Ios.

Marisa Marthari

12.20
Liman Tepe: the architectural and spatial transformation of a coastal Western Anatolian settlement during the Early Bronze Age.

Vasıf Şahoğlu, Ümit Gündoğan, Ourania Kouka and Deniz Özkut

13.00
Local and regional planning and building perspectives in East Aegean island sites of the Early Bronze Age.

Ourania Kouka

13.40-15.00 Lunch break
15.00
Innovation and adaptation in Bronze Age building traditions: the case of Troy.

Rüstem Aslan

15.40
Decoding Minoan astraki, Mycenaean migma, and Hittite conglomerate through pyrotechnology: timber's overlooked role in the formation of unintended concrete masonry.

Pavol Hnila

16.20
Gathering grounds: what can the court building at Sissi tell us about the local development of the 'Minoan palace'?

Jan Driessen

Friday 13 March

09.20
Early Helladic building traditions in Attica.

Kyle A. Jazwa

10.00
Rethinking the life history of mudbricks and vernacular architecture through a transdisciplinary approach: the case of Thessaloniki Toumba, Northern Greece.

Andreas Samouris, Stella Kyrillidou, Stelios Andreou and Sevi Triantaphyllou

10.40
Wood in the earthen architecture of the Aegean Bronze Age: methodological approach and first insights.

Paul Bacoup

11.20-12.00 Coffee break
12.00
Pragmatic, versatile, and ecologically responsive: the Bronze Age architecture of Kaymakçı in Western Anatolia.

Christopher H. Roosevelt and Christina Luke

12.40
The walls of Midea: new evidence and interpretations.

Themistoklis Bilis and Nicoletta Divari-Valakou

13.20
Destruction – repair – transformation of the archetype: evidence for Bronze Age Aegean architecture from Akrotiri, Thera.

Ioannis Bitis, Fragoula Georma and Irene Nikolakopoulou

14.00-15.20 Lunch break
15.20
The Galatas Palace: an opportunity to reassess the innovative character of Minoan architecture.

Clairy Palyvou

16.00
Designing 'from above': new perspectives on Minoan upper-floor architecture from the Villa Reale at Haghia Triada.

Dario Puglisi and Marco Chiricallo

16.40
Building builders buildings: agency and social practice in Neopalatial Gournia.

John C. McEnroe

17.20-18.00 Coffee break
18.00
The Mycenaean acropolis at tis Baronas to Froudi: architecture and architectural practices in Siphnos and the Cyclades during the Late Bronze Age.

Ioannis Zogkos and Zozi Papadopoulou

18.40
Vernacular and monumental: what are we talking about?

James C. Wright

Saturday 14 March

09.20
Tracking designers and builders in Bronze Age Cretan architecture: a combined approach to cut-stone and timber masonry, masons' marks, and building form.

Maud Devolder, Eleni Christaki and Marco Prete

10.00
Building a new regime: materials used in the construction of the Zakros Palace as a reflection of the special requirements of the project.

Alexandra Salichou

10.40
Selective strategies in cut-stone features of East Cretan villas.

Eleni Mantzourani and Giorgos Vavouranakis

11.20-12.00 Coffee break
12.00
Gateways and boundaries: the design and function of the Early Mycenaean gates at Malthi.

Rebecca Worsham and Yannick de Raaff

12.40
Power, planning, and material practice: elite mobility and urban infrastructure in Late Bronze Age Beycesultan.

Eşref Abay

13.20
The 2nd millennium BCE settlement of Çine-Tepecik: architecture and reflections on social life.

Sevinç Günel

14.00-15.20 Lunch break
15.20
Managing the flow of materials in Late Bronze Age Aegean constructions.

Ann Brysbaert

16.00
The architectural creation of the West Stoa at Agios Vasileios, Laconia.

Nektarios Karadimas

16.40
Architecture and social production at Iklaina: interactions between elite and non-elite building traditions.

Michael C. Nelson

17.20-18.00 Coffee break
18.00
Constructing depth: architectural approaches to recessed façades in Mycenaean tholoi.

Nicholas G. Blackwell

18.40
Meaning-making in Hittite and Mycenaean architecture: elite consumption, internationalism or zeitgeist?

Çiğdem Maner

19.20
Closing remarks

Registration

To participate in the conference, please complete the registration form using the link below.

Register

Venue

Acropolis Museum

Auditorium Dimitrios Pantermalis

Dionysiou Areopagitou 15

Athens 117 42, Greece

Contact

For more information, please contact:

Email: tekton.conference@gmail.com