Vesper. Journal of Architecture, Arts & Theory

Aims and Scope

Vesper is a six-monthly, double-blind peer-reviewed scientific journal, multidisciplinary and bilingual (Italian and English), which deals with the relationships between forms and processes of thought and of design. Gazing into the dusk, when light slowly merges with darkness and the illuminating object is no longer visible, Vesper aims to interpret the act of designing through tracing and revealing the movement of transformation. Pythagoras identified in the planet Venus both the evening star (Hesperos) and the morning star (Phosphoros), assigning the two names to the same star observed in different temporal conditions. Vesper thus states a perspective rather than an object, privileging the condition that defines its status. Rather than the sharp light of dawn, heralding a brand-new day and promising a brighter future, it is the twilight that allows you to have a glimpse at the potential of what is already there.

Following the tradition of Italian paper journals, Vesper revives it by hosting a wide spectrum of narratives, welcoming different writings and styles, privileging the visual intelligence of design, of graphic expression, of images and contaminations between different languages.
The journal is conceived as a series of thematic issues that build a discourse on the contemporary. Each issue is divided into sections that offer a range of diverse perspectives on the theme analysed: editorial, quote, project, tale, lecture, essay, extra, translation, archive, journey, ring, tutorial, dictionary. Throughout the different sections, reverberations between ideas and reality change, connections emerge between tangible facts and their potentials, transformative prospects, collective perception. The principal aim of these sections is not to provide instant news, but to offer an in-depth investigation of different instances of design and to provide tools and materials that have a long-lasting effect. 

Vesper is as a wide-ranging research tool: it is aimed to scholars of the forms of thought and the design of reality. At the same time, the journal presents itself as a working tool with the intention of fuelling debate in the world of applied research, professionals, professional assosiactions, representative associations and institutions.

Published and further issues: No. 1 Supervenice, No. 2 Materia-autore | Author-Matter, No. 3 Nella selva | Wildness, No. 4 Esili e esodi | Exiles and Exoduses, No. 5 Moby Dick: avventure e scoperte | Adventures and Discoveries, No. 6 Magic, No. 7 Cielo | Sky, No. 8 Vesper, No. 9 L’avversario | The Adversary, No. 10 Progetto Eden | Eden Project, No. 11 Miserabilia.

Circulation

The dissemination of the Journal is geared towards fuelling the theoretical-critical debate both within the academic and scientific community and in the world of applied research, professionals, professional associations, representative associations and institutions. 

Vesper has been selected for the ADI Design Index 2021 by the Osservatorio Permanente del Design in the section ‘Ricerca teorica, storica, critica’. The selected products compete to the assignment of the 27. ADI Compasso d’Oro award in their respective thematic categories.

Indexing

Since 2023 Vesper has been included in the list of the National Agency for the Evaluation of the University System and Research (ANVUR) of Class A journals in the competition sectors: 08/D1 ‘Architectural Design’, 08/F1 ‘Urban and Landscape Planning and Design’, 11/C4 ‘Aesthetics and Philosophy of Languages’, from No. 1 Supervenice, published in November 2019, and following.

Since 2021, Vesper has been included in the ANVUR list of scientific journals for the non-bibliometric areas: 08 ‘Civil Engineering and Architecture’, 10 ‘Antiquities, Philology, Literary Studies, Art History’, 11 ‘History, Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology’, from No. 1 Supervenice, published in November 2019, and onwards.

Vesper is included, since 2022, into the Norwegian Register for Scientific Journals, Series and Publishers (Register over Vitenscapelige Publiseringscanaler) compiled by National Board of Scholarly Publishing and Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills.

The Journal in 2022 was included in Elsevier Scopus bibliographic database.

The Journal is indexed on: Jstor (from 2022), Torrossa (from 2021), Ebsco (from 2020).

Project

Vesper is a project by PARD (Publishing Actions and Research Development), coordinator Professor Sara Marini, IR.IDE (Infrastruttura di Ricerca Integral Design Environment), Department of Architecture and Arts – Department of Excellence of the Università Iuav di Venezia, published with the Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca (MUR) financing for the Departments of Excellence 2018-2022. Vesper is published by Quodlibet, Macerata.