Nortopia

topics

Publishers

Architecture

ISBN: 9783868590272
English edition
Jovis Verlag
Softcover, 176 pages
17 x 24 cm
colour
September 2009
€28,11 (excl. VAT)

Nortopia

Nordic Modern Architecture and Post War Germany

Caroline Spliid Høgsbro, Antje Wischmann

Fifty years after the international architecture exhibition Interbau (1957), and after decades of neglect, Berlin has rediscovered its Hansaviertel area. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Hansaviertel – now shrouded by rampant vegetation – and its importance for modern city planning was forgotten by most Berliners.

In light of the strong representation of Nordic architects at the Interbau '57, and the resemblance of the area to similar projects in the Nordic countries, this anthology attempts to answer a number of obvious questions: Did Nordic modernism inspire the architects of the post-war era in Germany? If so, could this influence be connected with the image of the highly developed Nordic social system, the Nordic Model? What is common to modernism in the Nordic countries, and what were the specialities of each country? The contributions deal with issues such as the 'folkhem', geopolitics and architecture, and the Nordic path to modernism, and were written by leading specialists from Germany, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.