Postmodern Architecture in Socialist Poland: Transformation, Symbolic Form and National Identity (Architext)

Description

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. 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