XY 18 — Non-Aligned Points: Roberto de Rubertis Award, First Edition (2026)
Call Brief
XY Digitale, the Italian peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to critical studies on the representation of architecture and the use of image in science and art, has announced the “Non-Aligned Points” call for papers for Issue 18 (July–December 2026). This issue introduces the Roberto de Rubertis Award, a new annual prize honoring the intellectual legacy of Roberto de Rubertis: architect, scholar, and teacher whose work was organized around four foundational words: drawing, design, survey, and evolution.
The competition is open internationally without age restrictions to professors, researchers, and scholars. Submissions must be original academic essays written in two languages: English plus one of Italian, German, French, or Spanish. The full paper submission deadline is 28 August 2026. The issue is scheduled for release on 4 December 2026. The monetary prize for the most outstanding essay is €1,500, granted by the Fondazione Roberto de Rubertis TSO. A special mention of €500 may be awarded for exceptional iconographic quality.
Thematic Framework
The call centers on fields of thought structured and reciprocally interconnected through an infinite multiplicity of directions, relating these fields to the four words defining de Rubertis’s intellectual legacy:
Drawing: the act of representation as both tool and thought, the trace as cognition, the drawn line as the first gesture of architectural intention.
Design: the projective dimension of architectural and visual thinking, the relationship between idea and form, between intent and realization.
Survey: the act of measuring and interpreting the existing, the relationship between observation, documentation, and critical understanding of built heritage and spatial condition.
Evolution: change over time in architectural form, design thinking, representational practice, and the disciplines that constitute visual and spatial knowledge.
The four terms are not sequential themes but interconnected nodes that authors are invited to explore through any combination or intersection. The call explicitly seeks contributions that position image and representation as epistemological instruments rather than merely illustrative tools.
Multimedia Enhancement
Starting with XY 18, issues associated with calls for papers introduce a specific new feature: the possibility of being enhanced with multimedia contents accessible through an interactive PDF. This extension of the journal’s format into interactive and multimedia territory reflects the journal’s ongoing engagement with the evolution of architectural representation and image theory.
Review Process
All contributions undergo double-blind peer review by recognized experts who verify scientific content. Editorial review precedes scientific review as a preliminary quality assessment. Essays that pass peer review are not only published in XY 18 but are also submitted to the Selection Committee for the Roberto de Rubertis Award, whose judgment is based on scientific quality and originality of both text and images.
Selection Committee
- Selection Committee: Composed of members of XY Digitale’s Scientific Committee and Editorial Board, in accordance with journal policy. Individual names not listed on the call page. Contact info@xydigitale.it for further information.
Submission Fees
| Category | Fee |
|---|---|
| All contributors — professors, researchers, scholars, all nationalities, no age restriction | Free (open-access journal, no submission or publication fee) |
Prizes and Rewards
| Award | Prize | Additional Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Roberto de Rubertis Award — Most Outstanding Essay | €1,500 | Granted by Fondazione Roberto de Rubertis TSO. Publication in XY 18 (peer-reviewed, double-blind, open-access). International distribution via the journal’s academic network and OJS platform. |
| Special Mention — Exceptional Iconographic Quality | €500 (may be awarded at jury’s discretion) | Recognition for outstanding quality of the essay’s image and visual apparatus. Publication in XY 18. |
| All accepted essays (after peer review) | None | Peer-reviewed publication in XY 18. Open-access distribution. Academic citation record. Interactive PDF with multimedia enhancement. |
Key Dates
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Call for Papers Announced | 28 May 2026 |
| Abstract Submission (max 2,000 characters including spaces) | 28 May 2026 (already open) |
| Full Paper Submission Deadline | 28 August 2026 |
| Notification of Acceptance or Rejection | 2 October 2026 |
| Final Paper Submission | 23 October 2026 |
| Journal Release (XY 18) | 4 December 2026 |
✦ ArchUp Competition Review
XY Digitale is a peer-reviewed academic journal with a documented publishing history dating back to 1986 in its original print form, and continuously since 2016 in its current digital format. It is affiliated with the University of Trento and adheres to double-blind peer review, COPE standards, and Creative Commons licensing. The Roberto de Rubertis Award is a newly announced prize for Issue 18, funded by a named private foundation (Fondazione Roberto de Rubertis TSO), which gives it genuine institutional grounding beyond the journal’s own resources. The thematic framework of the call is intellectually substantive and specifically focused on representation, drawing, and image theory in architecture — a field with a rich and internationally active research community. The four terms (drawing, design, survey, evolution) are sufficiently open to accommodate a wide range of scholarly approaches from historical to theoretical to computational, while remaining specific enough to exclude general architectural research not anchored in representational practice. The prize of €1,500 for the best essay and a potential €500 mention for iconographic quality are real and pre-committed. The bilingual submission requirement (English plus one other language) reflects the journal’s Italian origins and European intellectual positioning while ensuring international accessibility. The abstract submission was already open from 28 May 2026, with the full paper deadline on 28 August 2026 — giving contributors approximately two months from the current date to develop and finalize a submission. For researchers and academics working in architectural drawing, representation theory, survey methods, design history, and image studies, this is one of the more rigorously structured academic publication opportunities in the 2026 calendar with a meaningful cash award attached.
Final Thoughts
The XY 18 call for papers is an academic publication opportunity rather than a design competition in the conventional sense. Its value is in the peer-reviewed publication record, the Roberto de Rubertis Award prize (€1,500 for the best essay, €500 for iconographic quality), and the journal’s established standing in the field of architectural representation and image studies.
All proposals must be submitted through the OJS platform (teseo.unitn.it/xy-rivista) following the editorial guidelines and graphic templates available on the XY Digitale website. Abstract submissions should be prepared in advance of the 28 August full paper deadline. Contact: info@xydigitale.it.
Registration Deadline
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