An important book for our understanding of the cultures of late socialism, and one which has the capacity to stimulate further research far beyond the domain of architectural history itself.

Journal of Contemporary History

If postmodernism is indeed 'the cultural logic of late capitalism', why did typical postmodernist themes like ornament, colour, history and identity find their application in the architecture of the socialist Second World? How do we explain the retreat into paper architecture and theoretical discussion in societies still nominally devoted to socialist modernization?Exploring the intersection of two areas of growing scholarly interest - postmodernism and the architecture of the former socialist world - this edited collection stakes out new ground in charting architecture's various transformations in the 1970s and 80s. Fourteen essays together explore the question of whether or not architectural postmodernism had a specific Second World variant.The collection demonstrates both the unique nature of Second World architectural phenomena and also assesses connections with western postmodernism. The case studies cover the vast geographical scope from Eastern Europe to China and Cuba. They address a wealth of aesthetic, discursive and practical phenomena, interpreting them in the broader socio-political context of the last decades of the Cold War. The result provides a greatly expanded map of recent architectural history, which redefines postmodernist architecture in a more theoretically comprehensive and global way.
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Introduction, Vladimir KulicPart I: DiscoursesChapter 1. The Retro Problem: Modernism and Postmodernism in the USSR, Richard Anderson Chapter 2. Humanizing the Living Environment and the Late Socialist Theory of Architecture, Maroš KrivýChapter 3. The Discontents of Socialist Modernity and the Return of the Ornament: The Tulip Debate and the Rise of Organic Architecture in Postwar Hungary, Virág MolnárChapter 4. An Architect’s Library: Printed Matter and PO-MO Ideas in 1980s Belgrade, Ljiljana BlagojevicPart II: PracticesChapter 5. Bogdan Bogdanovic's Surrealist Postmodernism, Vladimir KulicChapter 6. One Size Fits All: Appropriating Postmodernism in the Architecture of Late Socialist Poland, Lidia Klein and Alicja GzowskaChapter 7. Werewolves on Cattle Street: Estonian Collective Farms and Postmodern Architecture, Andres KurgChapter 8. Incomplete Postmodernism: The Rise and Fall of Utopia in Cuba, Fredo RiveraChapter 9. Anti-Architectures of Self-Incurred Immaturity, Alla Vronskaya Part III: ExchangesChapter 10. Cultural Feedback Loops of Late Socialism: Appropriation and Transformation of Postmodern tropes for Uran and Crystal in Ceská Lípa, Ana MiljackiChapter 11. Mobilities of Architecture in the Late Cold War: From Socialist Poland to Kuwait, and Back, Lukasz StanekChapter 12.East-East Architectural Transfers and the Afterlife of Socialist Postmodernism in Japan, Max HirshChapter 13. Defining Reform: Postmodern Architecture in Post-Mao China, 1980-1989, Cole RoskamPostscriptA Postmodernist International? Reinhold Martin
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The first study of postmodernist architecture in the communist-socialist ‘Second World’.
Explores the intersection of two areas of fast-growing scholarly interest, postmodernism and the architecture of the socialist and former-communist world

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9781350166189
Publisert
2020-12-24
Utgiver
Vendor
Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Vekt
381 gr
Høyde
234 mm
Bredde
156 mm
Aldersnivå
U, 05
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet

Redaktør

Biographical note

Vladimir Kulic is Associate Professor, College of Design, Iowa State University.