Join us for the next Research Tuesday lecture and discussion – at Viadukt Karlín – Arch #36 , Prague 8 – Karlín.

February 17 at 18h30

Architecture Against Capitalism : Tracing Transnational Histories 

In our era of multiple crises (climate catastrophe, housing emergency, war), how can the history of modern architecture help us imagine, design, and build a just future? This talk explores this question by looking back to the work of architects and intellectuals who sought to rearticulate relationships between architecture, society, and politics. Focusing on a network of individuals working in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and elsewhere, it traces the emergence of the architect as activist—an advocate for political and social change who uses spatial knowledge to engage in public affairs. By connecting a range of activist practices across Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, this project highlights radical approaches to modernism that have been marginalised in canonical histories. It examines sociological theories of architecture, activist exhibitions, proposals for housing reform, and a range of other practices that provide a genealogy for the activist architect of today.