'Informal' Modernisms at Docomomo 2024
11th December 2024 | 18th International Docomomo Conference, Santiago, Chile | Conference Panel
'Informal' Modernisms: Urban Design, Planning Narratives, and New Cities
Chairs: Kuukuwa O Manful – Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, USA and Emmanuel Kusi Ofori-Sarpong – SOAS, University of London, UK
Panel Description
The emergence of modernist urban planning and architecture presented an inflection point in the history of spatial organisation around the world. It coincided fortuitously with the end of WWII and the need to rebuild, the emergence of new states, and heightened aspirations for human welfare and development (see Uduku, 2018). One of the most profound manifestations of the zeitgeist of this period was the birth of large-scale urban projects, such as new cities, envisioned as panaceas to urban social ills. These interventions provided opportunities for modernist ideas to be displayed and tested with relatively limited constraints, especially in the Global South.
Purported to be built from scratch, cities such as Chandigarh, Brasília, and Tema became symbols of desirable modernist futures, promising urban existences free from grime and crime. However, the production of these grand modern new cities also led to the creation of what were thought of as ‘informal’, ‘squatter’, or ‘slum’ settlements. These were often designed and built by the people who provided the labour for constructing the modernist cities, but could not afford to live in them. As evidenced in the Charter of Athens, these ‘informal’ settlements were among the very urban conditions that modernist planners and architects sought to eliminate.
Initially overlooked by many historians of modernism, these ‘informal’ settlements have recently been examined by certain historians with calls for their inclusion in the historical heritage of modernism. Some have asserted that, given the striking commonality (some might even say universality) of their material and spatial strategies, these should be included in the ‘international style’(Elleh, 2011, p. 59; 2014).
How can we understand these ‘city doubles’ (Murray, 2015, p. 92) – one group designed from scratch and built primarily according to a master plan and the other challenging the master plan? Or how might we complicate hegemonic narratives of new cities and modernist master planning through multidisciplinary approaches, and creative uses of sources? How have these projects addressed social disparities, or otherwise? And how might re-examining histories and narratives inform the continued quest for sustainable and equitable cities?
This panel invites contributions exploring these questions and more in the context of the histories and narratives of master plans, new cities, and urban renewal around the world. We are interested in submissions that highlight not just mainstream examples of modernist architectural ‘masterpieces’ but also broaden our thinking on what constitutes modernist heritage – particularly examples that have been long marginalised.
References
Elleh, N. (2011) ‘Perspectives on the architecture of Africa’s underprivileged urban dwellers’, Social Dynamics, 37(1), pp. 43–77. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2011.569996.
Elleh, N. (2014) Reading the Architecture of the Underprivileged Classes. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
Murray, M. (2015) ‘City Doubles: Re-urbanism in Africa’, in F. Miraftab, D. Wilson, and K. Salo (eds) Cities and Inequalities in a Global and Neoliberal World. Routledge, pp. 92–109.
Uduku, O. (2018). Learning Spaces in Africa: Critical Histories to 21st Century Challenges and Change. Routledge.
Presentations:
‘Informal’ Modernisms: Urban Design, Planning Narratives, and New Cities: Emmanuel Ofori-Sarpong and Kuukuwa O Manful
Between the musseque and the Neighbourhood Unit: spotting «compagnons de route» architectures in Luanda (1961-1975): Ana Vaz-Milheiro and Leonor Matos Silva
Narratives-within a narration: Unraveling the Complexities of Modern African Architectures and Urbanities: Ntetleng Orepa Mosidi
Palmas (TO): contradictions among the ways of living in a new city’s block: Mariana Verdolin dos Santos
Socialist Practice of Modern Planning in the 1950s’ China: the case study of Minhang Satellite Town and the associated rural planning project: Pengcheng Zeng
The Work Encampment: A Utopia by Rodrigo Lefèvre: Ana Carolina Buim Azevedo Marques and Ana Paula Koury
