During the 1970s and 1980s, the construction of large housing complexes in Romania, particularly in the capital city of Bucharest, reached its peak as a result of urban systematization policies. The impact of built densification in those decades can be measured on the socio-economic scale of consequences after the 1990s, less in terms of architectural […]
Tag: prefabrication
The Path of Experiment. Experimental Apartment Construction During the 1960s and SIAL
Issue:
2011, Volume 45, No. 1 - 2
Massive apartment construction in the form of prefabricated tower blocks was never a major part of the interests of architects in the studio SIAL (Sdružení inženýrů a architektů Liberce – Alliance of Engineers and Architects in Liberec). Indeed, quite the opposite: under the leadership of Karel Hubáček, these architects founded their independent atelier in the […]
Czech Paneláks are Disappearing, but the Housing Estates Remain
Issue:
2012, Volume 46, No. 3 - 4
A common lament about the legacy of communism in Europe is the damage that it did to the built environment. Particular ire is directed at the concrete prefabricated housing blocks, known in Czech and Slovak as paneláks (structural panel buildings), groups of which were arranged in housing estates (sídliště in Czech and sídlisko in Slovak) […]
From ‘Grand Ensemble’ to Architectural Heritage, from Concentration Camp to Memorial
Issue:
2012, Volume 46, No. 3 - 4
The mass housing project of the Cité de la Muette in Drancy, near Paris This article deals with the pre-war Cité de la Muette at Drancy, in the suburbs of Paris, as one of the key harbingers leading to the international post-war phenomenon of mass social housing. It constitutes a reflection on the clash between […]