Modernism as Memory: Building Identity in the Federal Republic of Germany

Abstract

Since the late nineteenth century, modernism and memory have increasingly come to influence various aspects of urban life in Europe. As a historian of early modern and modern architecture, Kathleen James-Chakraborty has, in previous works, thoroughly examined the relationships between German architecture and modernism. Now, in her newest book, she explores the role of ‘remembering’ modernism in the construction of German national identity, through buildings from different corners of the country in their changing contexts (pp. 4–5). In short, she highlights the role of architecture in connecting ‘ruined historic structures’ with the ‘re-creation of modernist idealism’ (p. 11), to produce new meanings and symbols for the post-war era. Within this broader analytical framework, the book is divided into eight chapters, including the introduction and conclusion. In her opening chapter, James-Chakraborty begins with a discussion of the origins of modern German architecture. Cologne’s Model Factory, Werkbund Theater and Glashaus, as well as Stuttgart’s main train station, Schocken Department Store and Weissenhof Housing Estate provide a diversity of examples for the remembered modernism and challenge the preconceptions of modern architectural theory surrounding new technology, objectivity and the role and work of heroic geniuses, being politically progressive, and being masculine and Western.