Architects and their Societies Cultural Study on the Habsburg-Slavic Area (1861-1938)

The idea of looking at the architects operating within the cultural framework of the Habsburg Empire, embedded in this book, stems from our previous research. It has its roots in the research on Slavic peripheral narratives, conducted by the Research Group on the Slavic Cultures in the Habsburg Monarchy (http://uwhabsburgstudies.uw.edu.pl/), which has operated since 2011 at the Institute of Western and Southern Slavic Studies of the University of Warsaw. We studied the issue of peripheral attitudes towards both national narratives, created after 1861 by the Slovak, Czech and Croatian elites, and the imperial project imposed by Vienna and Budapest. Faithful to the microlevel approach, we looked at figures, spaces and social phenomena that do not fit into the stereotypical view of national historiography (Anna Kobylińska, Maciej Falski).

The value of the book is in shedding light on quite many underrated or allegedly well-known persons, places, and buildings within a clear and persuasive theoretical framework. Original in its comparative perspective, as well as in its chronology (trespassing the demise of the Empire usually seen as a clear-cut caesura), the volume offers well-grounded hints in the interpretation of architecture. Written by specialists who convincingly provide synthetic information, it can be recommended to a wider audience interested in cultural phenomena. Going beyond disciplinary boundaries, the chapters sharpen the eyes of the reader and provide guidance in reading the specificity of places. Well-known monuments seem more complex and appealing. Provincial towns appear not as belated environments but receptacles of forgotten layers of modernity (Prof. Daniel Baric, Sorbonne Université, Paris).