Reception of modern movement architecture of second half of the XX century in local context comparative analisys method on examples of housing estates in İzmir, Turkey and the Upper Silesia Agglomeration, Poland

Abstract

Housing architecture – multi-storey houses, housing estates, and their urban layouts – of the second half of the XX century is a spectacular representation of the transformation process from traditional to modern architecture. Modernism, referred to as the “International Style”, created numerous variations depending on local conditions. The main thesis of this study is to reveal that the reception of the Modern Movement known as “International Style” in local contexts results in differences in the form of apartment buildings and their urban layouts, among others. We study this phenomenon by examining and comparing examples of housing estates. The effects of global Modernism in the local context will be compared with selected examples from Izmir, Turkey and the Upper Silesia Agglomeration, Poland in the second half of the XX century. Analyzing how two different regions adopted modernism under different conditions, their differences and similarities, are an important point of the research problem. The main goal of this article is to present the scientific problem of the study and the methodological approach for further in-depth studies on selected examples. It is advocated that the comparative research method to be applied to local modernism is a convenient approach for understanding the transformation of housing and settlement patterns.