N. Belli “Postwar mass housing in Europe: Anatomy of a decline?” doctoral dissertation defence

Author, Institution: Nicola Belli, Kaunas University of Technology

Science area, field of science: Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003

Scientific Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vaidas Petrulis (Kaunas University of Technology, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)

 Dissertation Defence Board of History and Theory of Arts Science Field:
Prof. Dr. Kęstutis Zaleckis (Kaunas University of Technology, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003) – chairperson
Prof. dr. Edward Denison (The Bartlett School of Architecture UCL, The United Kingdom, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)
Prof. dr. Marija Drėmaitė (Vilnius University, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Indrė Gražulevičiūtė-Vileniškė (Kaunas University of Technology, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Edita Riaubienė (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Humanities, History and Theory of Arts, H003)

Dissertation defence meeting will be at Dissertation Defense Hall at Kaunas University of Technology (K. Donelaičio g. 73-403, Kaunas).

The doctoral dissertation is available at the library of Kaunas University of Technology (K. Donelaičio g. 20, Kaunas).

Annotation:

The aim of the research is to study the physical and discursive construction and the post-transition(s) heritage of the mass housing era in Europe (1950s-1980s), through the comparative analysis of three cases of study. The objects of the study are the neighbourhoods of Vällingby (Stockholm, Sweden), Lazdynai (Vilnius, Lithuania), and San Polo (Brescia, Italy). The dissertation is structured in three chapters. The first and the second chapters of the dissertation introduce and discuss the historical and theoretical roots of modern urban planning, the golden age of postwar modern mass housing in Europe, as well as the intellectual deconstruction, the decline, and the heritage of the phenomenon. In the third chapter Vällingby, Lazdynai, and San Polo are analysed according to specific criteria. The first criterion of analysis concentrates on the historical and political conditions that fostered the construction; the second focuses on the physical and architectural attributes of Vällingby, Lazdynai, and San Polo; the third criterion of analysis is committed to present the construction of a discourse aimed at celebrating the neighbourhoods after the construction; the fourth focuses on the heritage of the selected cases of study. Within this framework the research is committed to apply the concept of dissonant heritage to the analysis of the legacy of postwar modern mass housing. In particular, the research identifies the obsolescence and the undesirability of the messages embedded in mass housing and the issues connected to class and socio-economic conditions as the main factors of dissonance. Due to the peculiarities of each case of study such factors act with different intensity in Vällingby, Lazdynai and San Polo.