Description
Book SynopsisIf 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 Ch
Trade Review
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 *
Table of Contents
Introduction, Vladimir Kulic Part I: Discourses Chapter 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 Krivý Chapter 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 Molnár Chapter 4. An Architect’s Library: Printed Matter and PO-MO Ideas in 1980s Belgrade, Ljiljana Blagojevic Part II: Practices Chapter 5. Bogdan Bogdanovic's Surrealist Postmodernism, Vladimir Kulic Chapter 6. One Size Fits All: Appropriating Postmodernism in the Architecture of Late Socialist Poland, Lidia Klein and Alicja Gzowska Chapter 7. Werewolves on Cattle Street: Estonian Collective Farms and Postmodern Architecture, Andres Kurg Chapter 8. Incomplete Postmodernism: The Rise and Fall of Utopia in Cuba, Fredo Rivera Chapter 9. Anti-Architectures of Self-Incurred Immaturity, Alla Vronskaya Part III: Exchanges Chapter 10. Cultural Feedback Loops of Late Socialism: Appropriation and Transformation of Postmodern tropes for Uran and Crystal in Ceská Lípa, Ana Miljacki Chapter 11. Mobilities of Architecture in the Late Cold War: From Socialist Poland to Kuwait, and Back, Lukasz Stanek Chapter 12.East-East Architectural Transfers and the Afterlife of Socialist Postmodernism in Japan, Max Hirsh Chapter 13. Defining Reform: Postmodern Architecture in Post-Mao China, 1980-1989, Cole Roskam Postscript A Postmodernist International? Reinhold Martin
