The Birth of Stavoprojekt, a Socialist Attempt to Collectivise Design Practice and Standardise Buildings and Technology

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F68407700%3A21450%2F24%3A00378724" target="_blank" >RIV/68407700:21450/24:00378724 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

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DOI - Digital Object Identifier

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Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The Birth of Stavoprojekt, a Socialist Attempt to Collectivise Design Practice and Standardise Buildings and Technology

Original language description

After the Second World War, Czechoslovakia became part of the Eastern Bloc of Europe and subject to the political influence of the Soviet Union. This change accelerated and was confirmed when the Communist Party seized power in 1948. Left-leaning architects were prepared for the situation and started to collectivise the work of design. In 1948, Stavoprojekt was founded as the state design organisation, which brought together architects, engineers, and other related professions. Its activities were mainly focused on the post-war economic revival, traffic and industrial infrastructure, centralised spatial planning, and solving the housing shortage. Typification (of buildings and elements) and later also prefabrication were significant tools widely applied in the field of housing. In order to efficiently achieve its goals, Stavoprojekt was affiliated to Czechoslovak Construction Works, which collectivised the production of building components. At the same time, the Research and Typification Institute was established, and its task was to prepare the basic manuals for typification. In the circumstances of postwar scarcity, however, reality lagged far behind the plans, and prefabrication in the late 1940s and early 1950s focused mainly on subcomponents of a building’s structure that did not require demanding technological solutions or the use of large amounts of scarce steel. The typification of whole buildings (especially buildings used to house smaller amenities) also developed slowly and was only promoted in a few cases. It was not until the 1960s and 1970s that prefabrication and typification were fully implemented. Nevertheless, the early search for universal concepts in the conditions of the collectivised economy of 1948–1953 is a remarkable example of the possibilities and limits of this modernist idea. The impact of the attempts to centralise design practice and attach it to construction production was far-reaching and continued to be felt in the ensuing decades.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

D - Article in proceedings

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60402 - Architectural design

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2024

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Article name in the collection

Modern Futures. Sustainable Development and Cultural Diversity.

ISBN

978-956-6204-22-0

ISSN

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e-ISSN

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Number of pages

8

Pages from-to

386-393

Publisher name

Docomomo International

Place of publication

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Event location

Santiago de Chile

Event date

Dec 10, 2024

Type of event by nationality

WRD - Celosvětová akce

UT code for WoS article

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