Postmodern architecture in socialist Poland : transformation, symbolic form and national identity / Florian Urban.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Urban, Florian, author.

Series:

Architext series.

The Architext series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Architecture and society--Poland--History--20th century.

Architecture and society.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (239 pages).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York, New York : Routledge, [2021]

Summary:

Garish churches, gabled panel blocks, neo-historical tenements--this 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 shortages, and designed houses and churches which adapted eclectic historical forms and geometric volumes, and were based on traditional typologies. 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 individualised counter-propositions 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 of 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 traditions, 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.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Endorsements

Series Page

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Postmodern Architecture Across the Iron Curtain

Architectural Innovation Under a Weakening Authoritarian Regime

Private Houses and Small Cooperatives

Sacred Architecture and the Influence of the Catholic Church

Methodology

Literature

Chapter Structure

1. Architectural Debates in Late Socialist Poland

Poland Around 1980

International Postmodernism and the Polish Discourse

The Polish School of Historic Conservation

In Search for Truth

Expressing National Identity

The Post-functionalist City

2. Churches, Semiotics, and Patriotism

The Ascension Church in Warsaw-Ursynów

A House of Prayer in a Socialist Complex

Semiotics and Patriotism

Resourcing "Outside the Plan"

Łazienkowska Street Church, Warsaw

Immaculate Heart of Mary in Śródborów Near Warsaw

Our Lady Revealing the Miraculous Medal, Zakopane

Our Lady Queen of Poland, Glogów

St Jadwiga, Kraków

Seminary of the Resurrectionist Congregation, Kraków

The Postmodern Church and the Functionalist Block

3. Bottom-up Village Churches

Neo-historicism in the Countryside

St Lucia in Rembertów: Pastiche Deconstructivism

St Michael the Archangel in Kamion: Neo-historicism as Criminal Offence

St Francis of Assisi in Mierzowice: a Neo-medieval "Decorated Shed"

Church Building and Disobedience

Traditional and Forward-looking

4. Postmodern Mass Housing Complexes

Humanising the Housing Complex

Łódź-Radogoszcź-East and the Spirit of Structuralism

Łódž-Rojna and the Customised Panel House

Poznań-Róźany Potok and the Revised Modernist City Extension

Kraków-Na Skarpie and the International Context

Postmodern Mass Housing.

5. Postmodernism from the Spirit of Historic Conservation: the New Old Town of Elblag

A Postmodern Old Town

Rebuilding Through the Backdoor

The Unrealised Neo-Historical Panel Plan

Elbląg Old Town and the Nikolaiviertel in East Berlin

Postmodernism from the Spirit of Historic Conservation

Momentum at the National Level

Fledgling Market Capitalism

The Realised House-by-House Design

Completing the Old Town of Gdansk

Postmodern Reconciliation

6. The Urban Context

Warsaw Infills

The Ursynów Arcades in Warsaw

Socialist Gentrification in Wrocław

"Tooth Fillings" in Łódź

Historical Pastiche in Kraków

Medieval Gables in Upper Silesia

New Urbanism in Zielone Wzgórza Near Poznań

Conclusion

Bridging Contradictory Desires

Beyond Compliance and Dissidence

Increasing Individual Agency

National Narratives

Symbolic Representation of Community

Urban Regeneration

Postmodernism Across the Eastern Bloc

Postmodern Architecture, International and Fluid Meaning

Pronunciation of Polish Names

Index of Buildings

Index of Architects

Index of Subjects.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-00-301673-1

1-003-01673-1

1-000-29193-6

9781003016731

OCLC:

1176319387