engleski

Synthesis in Architecture - Towards a New Architectural Expression

After the traumatic experience of the World War II, the focus of architectural theory and practice was shifted towards the synthesis of arts in order to enrich and humanize classical interwar Modernism. Seen in the context of political changes occuring in 1948, and the disruption of political and cultural relations with the USSR, the introduction of the synthesis in Croatia in the early 1950's is undoubtedly related to the establishment of an independent approach, that is, a return to Modernism (which had only formally been abandoned). The leading proponent of the synthesis was EXAT-51, a group of artists and architects who treated a building as a platform for the demonstration of all visual arts. Almost simultaneously, an alternative approach to the synthesis was introduced under the influence of French architecture, namely, Le Corbusier. In opposition to EXAT-51's reflections on interwar architectural avant-garde, Le Corbusier achieved synthesis by using structural elements (load bearing structure and exterior walls), colours and roof accessories as principal means of expression. Labelled as an architect of the bourgeoisie during the first years of newly established socialist Yugoslavia, Le Corbusier (the most influential foreign architect of the period between the two world wars) was publicly rehabilitated already in the late 1940's. The travelling exhibition Le Corbusier held in five out of six capitals of Yugoslavian republics in late 1952 and early 1953 significantly contributed to this process. One of the main exhibits was Unité d'habitation in Marseilles (along with United Nations Headquaters in New York one of the first Western buildings published in journal Arhitektura), the key building for a new approach towards the synthesis. The presentation's focus is on the introduction of sculptural and coloristic expression as an integral part of building's architectonic form achieved in Croatian architecture in early 1950's.

Croatian Post-War architecture; Synthesis; Le Corbusier; EXAT 51

Konferencija je dio trogodišnjeg projekta Pariška likovna scena i hrvatska moderna umjetnost Instiuta za povijest umjetnosti u Zagrebu i Odsjeka za povijest umjetnosti Filozofskog fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu financiranog od Ministarstva kulture RH.