scholarly journals Hidden Modernism: Architecture Theory of the Socialist Realist Gap

2018 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Borbála Jász
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Socialist Realism ◽  
Le Corbusier ◽  
Architectural Theory ◽  
Public Buildings ◽  
Socialist Realist ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Architecture Theory ◽  
Late Modern

The aim of this paper is to clarify and exemplify the difference between modern, socialist realism and late modern in architecture. In the general pre-theoretical use of these terms, this distinction is often blurred; a unified expression, socialist realism, is used for all the aforementioned terms. This paper will examine a possible answer for this phenomenon by using examples from different areas of eastern-Central Europe, especially from Hungarian architecture.The paper first focuses on the façadism of socialist realism in the architecture of eastern-Central Europe. Following this, it shows that the architectural tendencies of classical modernism did not disappear in this period; they were just not explicitly manifest in case of public buildings for example. Finally, the paper argues that after this socialist realist gap, architectural theory and planning tendencies of the interwar period returned and continued, especially the work of Le Corbusier.

scholarly journals Architectural Theory and Analytic Philosophy in the Interwar Period

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-53
Author(s):  
Borbála Jász
Keyword(s):  
Interwar Period ◽  
Vienna Circle ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Analytic Philosophy ◽  
Le Corbusier ◽  
Architectural Theory ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
Language Of Science ◽  
Architecture Theory ◽  
The Aesthetic

Abstract The basis of the connection between analytic philosophy and architecture theory was developed in the interwar period. The results of analytic philosophy – especially the neo-positivism of Vienna Circle – and modern, functionalist architecture theory were utilized in an interdisciplinary approach. The comparison was based on language puzzles, science-based building processes, the method of justification and verification, and designing an artificial language in order to express the theoretical (philosophical) and the practical (architectural) approach as well. The functionality was based on the modern way of architectural thinking that relied on the results of Carnapian neo-positivism. Interpreting modern architecture is possible by referring to the keywords of logical positivism: empiricism, logic, verification, unity of language, and science. In my paper, I first list the bases of the comparison between the philosophy of the Vienna Circle and the architecture theory of the interwar period – the Bauhaus and Le Corbusier. In the 2nd and 3rd sections, I show the dialectical succession between form and function. After that, I discuss the aesthetic verification of the turn of the century and the scientific justification of the interwar period. I focus on the interwar period with the positivist approach and the theory of the ‘new architecture’. I emphasize the importance of the language of science and the machine paradigm – in contrast to historicism.

“Socialist Realist” Critiques of Neoliberal “Shock Therapy”

2019 ◽  
pp. 431-451
Author(s):  
April A. Eisman
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
East Germany ◽  
Shock Therapy ◽  
Socialist Realism ◽  
Neoliberal Capitalism ◽  
Works Of Art ◽  
German Art ◽  
Socialist Realist ◽  
East German ◽  
Insight Into

This article focuses on the East German artistic response to the 1973 putsch in Chile, an event now recognized as foundational in the development of neoliberalism. Outraged and saddened, artists in East Germany responded to the putsch with thousands of works of art. These works disrupt Western expectations for East German art, which was far more modern and complex than the term “socialist realism” might suggest. They also offer insight into the horrors of the putsch and remind us that there have been—and can once again be—alternatives to neoliberal capitalism. In addition to creating prints, paintings, and sculptures, East German artists organized solidarity events to raise money for Chile and spearheaded a book project with artists from sixteen communist and capitalist countries to document the event and losses suffered. This article ultimately shows that communist visual culture can serve as a model for art as an activist practice.

Socialist Realism and Socialist Realist Romanticism

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-277
Author(s):  
Irina Zavedeeva ◽  
Albina Ozieva ◽  
Jeremy Howard
Keyword(s):  
Socialist Realism ◽  
Socialist Realist

scholarly journals Contribution of avoidable causes of death to premature mortality in Poland and selected European countries

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogdan Wojtyniak ◽  
Jakub Stokwiszewski
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Average Rate ◽  
Premature Mortality ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Annual Percent Change ◽  
Death Rates ◽  
Central European ◽  
The Difference

Our study, availing the new, agreed by the OECD and Eurostat, lists of preventable and treatable causes of death, seeks to quantify the contribution of avoidable causes to premature mortality and its dynamics in Poland and Central European countries – Czechia, Hungary, Lithuania and Slovenia, in comparison with Sweden serving as a benchmark country in 1999–2017. We calculated age standardised death rates for the broad groups of avoidable causes and more specific ones, which comprised preventable and treatable cancer and diseases of the circulatory system (DCS), preventable injuries and alcohol-related diseases. Deaths from not avoidable causes were also analysed. The analysis of time trends in the death rates and calculation of the Average Annual Percent Change (AAPC) for the overall trend were performed with joint-point models. The contribution of changes in mortality from avoidable causes to increase life expectancy during 1999–2017 and contribution of the difference in mortality from these causes to the difference in life expectancy between five countries and Sweden were based on the decomposition of temporary life expectancy between birth and age 75 [e(0-75)]. For the calculation of life expectancy, we used the classic Chiang method and the decomposition of life expectancy by the death causes and age was conducted with the Arriaga method. The AAPC of death rates from avoidable causes in 1999–2017 was similar in all the countries but Lithuania, where the decline started later. The decline in the death rates from not avoidable causes is much slower than the rates from avoidable causes. Mortality from treatable causes was decreasing faster than from preventable causes in most populations. In 1999–2017, the average rate of mortality decline for preventable cancer was greater among men than among women, while for treatable cancer the sex-related differences were much smaller and in favour of women. As for preventable and treatable death from DCS, their decrease was faster among women than men in all the countries but Sweden. Improvements in mortality from causes that could be avoided through prevention or treatment made substantial positive contributions to the overall change in life expectancy in all the countries. The differences in temporary life expectancy e(0-75) between the analysed Central European countries and Sweden were much smaller in 2017 than in 1999, due to the reduction of the gap in mortality from avoidable causes. Our results show that among men, and to a lesser extent among women, mortality from preventable causes contributes more than mortality from causes that can be effectively treated to shorter life expectancy in the countries of Central Europe than in Sweden. This indicates that in reducing the health gap between the inhabitants of Central Europe and Western Europe, the healthcare system should consider disease prevention even to a greater extent than just treating them.

scholarly journals « L’espace indicible »: conceptions et textualités

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mickaël Labbé
Keyword(s):  
Le Corbusier ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Spiritual Experience ◽  
The Other ◽  
Architectural Theory ◽  
Mots Clés ◽  
The Past ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
Experiential Quality

Résumé: La notion d’« espace indicible » occupe sans conteste une position centrale dans la théorie architecturale de Le Corbusier après 1945. Loin d’être un simple mot-valise ou un signifiant vide de sens, le concept d’espace indicible vise à penser le sommet de l’expérience esthétique et spirituelle dont est passible l’architecture, cela tant pour rendre compte de l’émotion plastique ressentie face aux chefs-d’œuvre du passé que pour décrire la qualité de l’expérience que l’architecte cherche à produire par ses propres œuvres. Ainsi, dans l’œuvre de Le Corbusier, l’expression « l’espace indicible » désigne non seulement un concept, mais également un ensemble textuel dans lequel la notion est thématisée et au travers duquel elle se constitue progressivement. L’objectif de cet article est double : d’une part, proposer une description des déterminations principales du contenu donné par Le Corbusier à la notion d’« espace indicible » ; d’autre part, à partir de l’examen des archives, faire le point sur les textes dans lesquels ce concept se formule. Abstract: The concept of “ineffable space” unquestionably occupies a central place in Le Corbusier's architectural theory after 1945. Far from being a portmanteau or a signifier devoid of meaning, the concept of ineffable space is aimed at conceiving the height of aesthetic and spiritual experience rendered possible by architecture. This is as much to realise plastic emotion felt in front of masterpiece from the past as to describe the experiential quality that the architect seeks to produce in his/her own work. Thus, in Le Corbusier’s oeuvre, the expression “ineffable space” not only denotes a concept but also a textual whole in which the concept is thematised and through which it is progressively constituted. The aim of this article is two-fold. On the one hand, I propose a description of the principle determinants of the content that Le Corbusier assigns to the concept of “ineffable space”, and on the other hand, analysing the archives, I wish to take stock of the texts in which this concept is formulated.  Mots-clés: Le Corbusier; espace indicible; théorie architecturale. Keywords: Le Corbusier; ineffable space; architectural theory. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/LC2015.2015.470

scholarly journals Sobre una caracterización 'corbuseriana' del mobiliario moderno

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Villanueva Fernández ◽  
Héctor García-Diego
Keyword(s):  
Special Reference ◽  
Interwar Period ◽  
Le Corbusier ◽  
Comprehensive Overview ◽  
Modern Equipment ◽  
The Real ◽  
Joint Development ◽  
The One ◽  
Selection Of

Resumen: A partir de 1920 Le Corbusier comenzó a elaborar un cuerpo teórico sobre el diseño de objetos que iría difundiendo a través de sus escritos y conferencias. Libros como Vers une architecture, L´art décoratif d´aujourd´hui o Précisions sur un état présent de l'architecture et de l'urbanisme han constituído un rico legado de ideas e imágenes interrelacionadas que permiten analizar la propuesta del arquitecto desde el plano de la teoría. Sin embargo, el poder de sus postulados fue continuamente experimentado y corroborado por su obra en materia de mobiliario, hasta el punto de establecerse relaciones directas entre teoría y obra. Esta evolución conjunta proporciona una completa visión del concepto de mobiliario moderno desarrollado por Le Corbusier. Por tanto, esta investigación persigue, por un lado, sacar a la luz un verdadero cuerpo teórico de cuño 'corbuseriano' y específico del equipamiento moderno, haciendo especial mención a los postulados y dibujos originales del arquitecto y, por otro, comprobar la correspondencia real entre sus teorías y sus obras mediante el análisis de una escogida selección de obras del arquitecto pertenecientes al periodo de entreguerras, para, finalmente, ofrecer una caracterización 'corbuseriana' del mobiliario moderno. Abstract: From 1920 Le Corbusier began to develop a theoretical body on the objects design that went spreading through his writings and lectures. Books like Vers une architecture, L'art décoratif d'aujourd'hui or Précisions sur un état présent de l'architecture et de l'urbanisme have constituted a rich legacy of interlinked ideas and images to analyze the proposal of the architect from the level of theory. However, the power of its principles was continuously experienced and corroborated by his work in furniture, to the point of establishing direct relations between theory and work. This joint development provides a comprehensive overview of modern furniture concept developed by Le Corbusier. Therefore, this research aims on the one hand, to expose a 'Corbusian' and specific theoretical body of modern equipment, with special reference to the principles and original drawings by the architect; and, secondly, to check the real correspondence between his theories and works by analyzing a choice selection of works by the architect belonging to the interwar period, to finally offer a 'Corbusian' characterization of modern furniture.Palabras clave: Teoría; mobiliario; moderno; escritos. Keywords: Theory; furniture; modern; writings. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/LC2015.2015.569 

Stalinallee

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Stangl
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Socialist Realism ◽  
State Building ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Housing Issue ◽  
Socialist Realist ◽  
Building Program

For more than a century before the war, debate over the “housing issue” engaged politicians and reformers in Berlin, although Communists refused to participate, seeking revolution rather than reform. After World War II, newly empowered Communists had no choice but to address the housing crisis. Initially they joined others in supporting modernist planning efforts, with a first “residential cell” that would be constructed along Frankfurter Allee in Friedrichshain. The introduction of socialist realism necessitated a halt in construction as new plans for a monumental Stalinallee were developed. This formed the centerpiece of the state building program until the 1953 Uprising, which along with a shift to industrialized construction in the Soviet Union would result in a search for a new “socialist architecture.” As a result, the section of the street between Straussbergerplatz and Alexanderplatz would be built combining some socialist-realist tenets with modernism, while highlighting technological power.

Lyrical Socialist Realism

October ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
pp. 56-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Kiaer
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Socialist Realism ◽  
Large Piece ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Critical Response ◽  
Geometric Patterns ◽  
Soviet Art ◽  
Socialist Realist ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Revolutionary History

The thirty-three-year-old artist Aleksandr Deineka was given a large piece of wall space at the exhibition 15 Years of Artists of the RSFSR at the Russian Museum in Leningrad in 1932. At the center of the wall hung his most acclaimed painting, The Defense of Petrograd of 1928, a civil-war-themed canvas showing marching Bolshevik citizens, defending against the incursions of the White armies on their city, arrayed in flattened, geometric patterns across an undifferentiated white ground. The massive 15 Years exhibition attempted to sum up the achievements of Russian Soviet art since the revolution as well as point toward the future, and Deineka, in spite of his past association with “leftist” (read: avant-garde) artistic groups such as OST (the Society of Easel Painters) and October, was among those younger artists who were anointed by exhibition organizers as leading the way forward toward Socialist Realist art—a concept that was being formulated through both the planning of and critical response to this very display of so many divergent Soviet artists. Known for his magazine illustrations and posters, Deineka had also established himself at a young age as a major practitioner of monumental painting in a severe graphic style that addressed socialist themes, such as revolutionary history (e.g., Petrograd), and, as his other works displayed at the Leningrad exhibition demonstrate, proletarian sport (Women's Cross-Country Race and Skiers, both 1931) the ills of capitalism (Unemployed in Berlin, 1932), and the construction of the new Soviet everyday life (Who Will Beat Whom?, 1932).

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