Modernism for the Future: An International Conference Conference Proceedings September 12–13, 2018, Kaunas, Lithuania European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018 Modernism for the Future 1 Organizers Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO International Scientific Committee Edward Denison (The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL) Marija Drėmaitė (Vilnius University) Giedrė Jankevičiūtė (Lithuanian Institute for Culture Research) Vaidas Petrulis (Kaunas University of Technology) Viltė Migonytė-Petrulienė (Vytautas Magnus University) Renata Kepežinskienė (Lithuanian National Commision for UNESCO) Vladimir Šlapeta (Brno University of Technology) Proceedings Editor: Vaidas Petrulis Language editor: George Vaitkunas Designer: Vytis Gruzdys Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 kaunas2022.eu Kaunas, 2019 Copyright according to Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND, unless otherwise stated Terms on creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/ ISBN 978-609-96109-0-0 2 Modernism for the Future 3 Contents INTRODUCTION 6 Approaches for the Conservation of 20th Century Architectural Heritage 140 Vaidas Petrulis (The Madrid Document): A Good Example to be Followed Fernando Espinosa de los Monteros OPENING SESSION SESSION IV – Artistic interpretations of Modernism Self-Realization of the Newly Liberated: Architecture in the Baltic States 10 Between the World Wars Why Do We Need to Decentre Modernism? Art History and 150 Mart Kalm Avant-Garde Art from the Periphery Partha Mitter SESSION I – National Modernisms Dialoghi Urbani – Urban Dialogues 156 Temples of Modernity? Avant-Garde Church Architecture Between the Wars 32 Camilla Borghese Matthew Rampley Unhomeliness: When Architecture is Dysfunctional 164 The Palace of Health: The Influence of Manorial Architecture on Modernist 42 Aideen Barry Sanatoriums in Latvia, 1918–1940 Karīna Horsta SPEAKERS 176 Czech Modern Architecture and the Long Shadow of Karel Teige 52 CURATORS 194 Vendula Hnídková REFERENCES 200 Rationalism and Fascism: The Italian Case 60 Serena De Dominicis SESSION II – Multiple Modernities / Modernisms 100 Years of Bauhaus and the Three Lives of Things 72 Ines Weizman Modernist Krakow 78 Michał Wiśniewski Ankara: Between the Modern and the Contemporary 92 Bilge İmamoğlu Reports of Modern Building Reach Us: Modernism and the Serried Array 100 Mark Crinson SESSION III – Historic Urban Landscapes of Modernism as UNESCO World Heritage Sites Modernism, HUL and the Age of the Anthropocene 112 Edward Denison Landscapes of Modernism on the UNESCO WHL 124 Michael Turner The White City: A UNESCO World Heritage Site in Flux 132 Sharon Golan Yaron 4 Modernism for the Future 5 In 2018, the European Year of Cultural Heritage, interpretation strategies for modern architecture Introduction: all forms of heritage throughout the European and future visions for the 20th century Union were celebrated as the source of memory, architectural legacy. identity, dialogue, unity and creativity. These celebrations coincided with the centenary of Conference participants discussed the legacy Modernism for Lithuania’s independence, inviting a re-evaluation of modernism as a collection of unique cultural of the symbols of modernization and modernist references with a rich diversity of building types, architecture, which bears witness to an optimistic technological solutions and aesthetic strategies the Future and progressive Europe before World War II. which is far from being just a collection of white masterpieces by great masters of the Modern Kaunas is the most important city in Lithuania Movement. Kaunas, as a unique urban landscape to be associated with the legacy of modernism. of modern times, serves as an example of such From 1918 to 1940, Kaunas’s urban and aspirations for modernity. architectural character was forged by the processes that were essential to that period The emergence of Kaunas as a city of modernism – modernisation and progress. The modernist suggests putting the issue of heritage on the architecture of Kaunas was granted European European Capital of Culture platform. Being on Heritage Label status in 2015, while in 2017 it was the ECOC agenda invites discussion of the legacy placed on the Tentative list of the State Parties of the 20th century as a potential laboratory of of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention. In heritage where creative interpretations and new, 2022, Kaunas will be the European Capital of contemporary narratives are equally important Culture. All of these events have been stimulated as authentic relics of the past. by a growing appreciation for modernist heritage, its recognition, reinterpretation, and reverence. We sincerely hope that the proceedings of the the conference will give inspiration for everyday This interest transcends physical monuments, practice of cultural heritage professionals and, in buildings and interiors, and touches the way we a broader perspective, a better understanding of feel about the city based on our knowledge of the Modern Movement as a diverse phenomenon the past and our aspirations for the future. One of the past that can be successfully transferred to of the main aims of the 2018 European Year of the future. Cultural Heritage was to explore these often more complicated aspects of heritage and discover the deeper significance of the places and spaces that we encounter everyday, rarely acknowledging their impact on our surroundings and quality of life. Once identified with progress and future, the architecture of the 20th century is experiencing a contradictory period of cultural transformation. Stylistic and technical innovations that have borne witness to social progress have lost their primary function and gradually became historical Vaidas relics. Buildings and places that were never intended to become monuments acquired a new dimension of meaning and became cultural Petrulis heritage. This process provokes huge social, cultural and economic challenges. Despite these contradictions a lot of effort has been made to understand the architectural legacy of the 20th century as cultural heritage with a great potential for the future. Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 invited participants of the conference to continue this process by sharing their diverse experiences of 6 Modernism for the Future 7 Opening Mart Kalm Session 8 Modernism for the Future 9 When the ageing empires of Europe began to The following article will meander through the Jewish and Russian populations, there were implode as a consequence of World War I, the typology of the architectural briefs and the over half a million people before World War I. Self-Realization Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stylistic solutions provided. At the same time Tallinn’s population had only – along with Finland and Poland became inde- just exceeded 100,000 and the university town pendent from Russia. And even though tsarist Different Starting Positions of Tartu had a population of close to 50,000. of the Newly Russia was no pariah in Europe in the early 20th In the provincial capitals of Vilnius and Kaunas, century but a nation to be reckoned with, and there were over 150,000 inhabitants and close to was not poor like the Soviet Union before its When the Baltic States restored independence 100,000 respectively, but in both cities there were Liberated: collapse, these newly independent nations, as as the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, to many few Lithuanians among the predominantly Polish they started to build up their new economies, they seemed interchangeably similar. But in and Jewish populations. felt that belonging to Russia had hindered their 1918, their starting positions were fairly different. development and they now had the opportunity Linguistically, Latvians and Lithuanians are close Architecture in relatives because their languages belong to the Though the people of the Baltic States may not to accomplish something for themselves. This like to hear this, the differences between their meant building up new nation states and a rank- Baltic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Estonians do not understand them relative starting positions were determined by less democratic polity, a challenge that lay before the concentrations of Baltic Germans (living in the Baltic States all newly independent European peoples who because their language belongs to the Finno- Ugric language group and is a close relative their respective countries). The centre of the had to rapidly progress through developments Baltic German world was Riga, where in 1862 a that older nations had had centuries to work of Finnish. Culturally, however, Latvians and Estonians have more similarity because they polytechnical school was founded (since 1896 Between the through. The Baltic States, though small and poor, Riga Polytechnical Institute) and as a result were eager beginners and had great ambitions share a common history. The Lithuanian kingdom stood up to Christianity, whereas Estonians and technical know-how increased greatly and many regarding modernisation. The most obvious fields became professionalised. In addition, many physical and visual manifestations of the validity Latvians, without a nation of their own, accepted World Wars Christianity when it was brought to them by Baltic Germans studied in German universi- of these new nations was in the buildings they ties and Germans from Germany, with a range built. Architecture has a unique ability to reflect a the crusaders from Germany. An upper class developed on the territory