English

WS-2014

 

A critical look at the current fate of modernism, brutalism and socialist architecture.

All over Europe we are faced with a phenomenon of disappearing architectures and urban ensembles. Even widely acclaimed and outstanding examples of Modernism are being torn down to make way for neohistoricist structures, completely preserved and working ensembles are being brutally ravaged through “densification” and “recontextualisation”.

Are these new trends more than just the ugly face of new reactionary politics translated into the built sphere, manifestations of nationalism and revisionism, or are they the necessary by-products of societies in the process of defining a new role for themselves in a rapidly changing world order?

We will research examples of modernist and brutalist architectures that are being rebuilt or replaced to reflect current historicist trends.

A series of lectures will explore this subject on a theoretical level. Students will prepare case studies and present these to the group. A graphic synopsis (1 Image) of the individual case study will be exhibited in an end-of semester-event at an art venue in Berlin.

Deutsch