Digital architecture history of the first half of the 20th century in Europe

Abstract

The book proposes a survey of buildings from the first half of the 20th century in Europe. A first article will give an overview of the spread of the buildings from this time in Europe, focusing on a new construction material: the reinforced concrete, on the basis of a chapter from the doctorate thesis of Maria Bostenaru supervised by Cristina Gociman. For the documentation of these, Maria Bostenaru did study trips to investigate the buildings on site in the past 15 years. At the basis of these study trips was the literature review in the field, from which we highlight the references provided by a study seminar at the University of Karlsruhe about architecture in the first half of the 20th century in Eastern Europe and the series of books on 20th century architecture by Prestel. Apart of this monographs dedicated to the countries subject of the research were consulted. The result of the research on site were mostly the investigation through photography of the facade, which displayed a new language compared to the previous period. Where it was possible, this was combined with the investigation of the interior space. Also, sources of the floor plan were looked for, from the references but mostly from archives. As a result, the book includes a review of the study trips documentation, with example images, references and the connection to the online database of photography. The online database built the subject of a common research of Maria Bostenaru with Alex Dill during a short visit funded by NeDiMAH at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the goal of this publication is to document this database. Browsing the database is predecesed by forms on selected architects, for which we present also the biography, along with main works and visual material. In the idea of forms are also the posters of Cristina Gociman about Romanian architects which created cultural heritage during this time. The research thus started at the University of Karlsruhe, where Alex Dill, chair of DOCOMOMO Germany (The association for the documentation and conservation of buildings, sites and neighbourhoods of the Modern Movement) approached the second pillar of the association apart of documentation: conservation. A series of workshops were dedicated to invite specialists from different countries, thematically organised, who were involved in conserving these buildings. The book contains reviews of these conferences and a chapter by Alex Dill about this conservation.