Doctoral Dissertation Research, Architects and the Puzzle of State Socialist Modernization: Architectural Discourse in Hungary and East Germany After the Second World War

Princeton University, Princeton NJ

Investigators

Abstract

This dissertation investigates major architectural debates in Hungary and East Germany between 1950 and 2000. Issues such as Socialist Realism, Public Housing, and Postmodernism are analyzed to uncover changes over time and across countries in the social role of the architect. The principal goal is to show how the production of expert knowledge is shaped by the political, cultural, and economic conditions in which experts practice their trade. The project will also examine the complex interaction between authoritarian states and professional knowledge: both the authority of the state over professional conduct and the ways in which state predominance was challenged or legitimated by professionals. The research uses 1) archival materials such as architectural journals and legal regulations, 2) interviews with architects, and 3) secondary statistical data such as census data on architects.