Postmodern Architecture in Socialist Poland—Transformation, Symbolic Form and National Identity
Urban, Florian (2020) Postmodern Architecture in Socialist Poland—Transformation, Symbolic Form and National Identity. Routledge. ISBN 9780367860738
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Creators/Authors: | Urban, Florian |
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Abstract: | Garish churches, gabled panel blocks, neo-historical tenements – the book is about these and other architectural oddities that emerged in Poland between 1975 and 1989, a period characterised by the decline of the authoritarian socialist regime and waves of political protest. During that period, committed architects defied repressive politics and persistent shortage, and designed houses and churches, which adapted eclectic historical forms and geometric volumes, were based on traditional typologies, and often displayed conspicuous ornamentation. These buildings show a very different background of postmodernism, far removed from the debates over Robert Venturi, Philip Johnson or Prince Charles in Western Europe and North America—a context in which postmodern architecture stood not for world-weary irony in an economically saturated society, but for individualized counterpropositions to a collectivist ideology, for a yearning for truth and spiritual values, and for a discourse on distinctiveness and national identity. Postmodern Architecture in Socialist Poland argues that this new architecture marked the beginning socio-political transformation and at the same time showed postmodernism’s reconciliatory potential. In light of massive historical ruptures and wartime destruction, these buildings successfully responded to the contradictory desires for historical continuity and acknowledgment of rupture and loss. Next to international ideas, the architects took up domestic traditons, such as the ideas of the Polish school of historic conservation and long-standing national-patriotic narratives. They thus contributed to the creation of a built environment and intellectual climate that have been influential to date. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars interested in postmodern architecture and urban design, as well as in the socio-cultural background and transformative potential of architecture under socialism. |
Official URL: | https://www.routledge.com/Postmodern-Architecture-in-Socialist-Poland-Transformation-Symbolic-Form/Urban/p/book/9780367860738 |
Output Type: | Book or Monograph |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | postmodern architecture, socialism, Poland, Elblag, Ursynów, Warsaw, Kraków, representation of authoritarian states, housing, panel construction, sacred architecture, Gdansk, |
Schools and Departments: | Mackintosh School of Architecture > History of Architecture & Urban Studies (HAUS) |
Date: | 14 December 2020 |
Output ID: | 7447 |
Deposited By: | Florian Urban |
Deposited On: | 15 Oct 2020 15:27 |
Last Modified: | 19 Oct 2020 09:31 |