During the period delimited by the Potsdam Conference of 1945 and the upheavals of 1968, artists and architects working in Europe confronted diverse conditions that tested the foundations of European culture. In addition to the significant political shifts that occurred in many countries following World War II and the massive effort of reconstruction, there was unprecedented technological and economic progress, built upon the techniques and methods of wartime production. Increasing internationalism, the rapid spread of capitalist consumer culture, and the political tensions of the Cold War also mark this era as distinct in many ways from the interwar years. In response to these developments, artists and architects began to question traditional agendas, ideologies and techniques in the hope of formulating a practice that could successfully address these changed conditions. Although the developments of this period are most often defined in strict relation to the heroic development of modernism and the formal alertness of postmodernism, this conference proposes to explore alternative conceptions in order to develop a more sophisticated and nuanced framework with which to understand the diverse developments in post-war Europe.

The dramatic events that have occurred in the past fifteen years, beginning with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, call for a reassessment of the period in which the shape of Europe in the later twentieth century was originally determined. In addition, recent shifts in scholarship away from the particular biases of postmodernism make this an opportune time to reconsider the techniques of the post-war avant-garde. Proposing a thematic approach that focuses on several key issues that transcend the boundaries of any single group, discipline, or technique, this conference will address issues that seem particularly relevant to the European situation. This approach, which does not designate any particular practice as more central than others, allows for a thorough evaluation of not only the many different individuals working at this time, but also of the various connections (personal, political, theoretical, and technical) between them.

The conference is structured around four panels, each of which has a distinct thematic focus: Space Making and Social Meaning; New Technologies, New Techniques; Urban Interventions; and Memory and Recovery. These themes expressly allow for papers that address the wide variety of artistic and architectural practices realized during the post-war period, as well as the important relationships between them. Each panel will be composed of three graduate students and one advanced scholar, who will not only respond to the student papers but also present their own work. Ample time will be provided for questions and discussions.

This conference will explore the sociopolitical impact, reformative dimensions, propagandistic power, and diverse aesthetic approaches of post-war European art and architecture and aims to enrich the existing scholarship through new perspectives that are less concerned with political judgments and are focused more on the intrinsic values of art and architecture during this time. As it stands, the questions surrounding art and architecture in Europe in the second half of the twentieth century are unresolved, much contested, and ripe for reexamination.