Architects and their Societies

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).

Anna Kobylińska, Maciej Falski Seismographs of culture. Prolegomena 9 Dragan Damjanović Gothic Revival at the borders of Catholic Christianity: State politics, patrons and architects in 19th-century Croatian architecture 37 Anna Kobylińska Architects from the periphery: Ján Nepomuk Bobula and Blažej Félix Bulla. Genealogy of localness 75 Dominika Kaniecka Zagreb after the 1880 earthquake – The revived city and its architect 103 Maciej Falski Architects of a provincial town 119 Jasenka Kranjčević Tourism architecture by Czech architects on the Croatian Adriatic coast during the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy 139 Michał Burdziński Poets who moved the air: Stanisław Witkiewicz – Dušan Samuel Jurkovič 153 Aleksander Łupienko Architects in Galicia and the city. The question of history and modernity before World War I 179 Magdalena Bystrzak Languages of interwar progressivism: Friedrich Weinwurm in Bratislava 193 Danuta Sosnowska Beyond the limits – eccentric H. 211 Index of people 237 Index of places 244