Team 10 East: Revisionist Architecture in Real Existing Modernism

The recent proliferation of research and contributions regarding post-war architecture in Eastern Europe now includes a valuable collective study entitled “Team 10 East: Revisionist Architecture in Real Existing Modernism”, edited by Łukasz Stanek. This book underlines how the architectural context in Eastern bloc countries at a time when various forms of socialism were being defined and developed is still a largely unexplored subject, and one that is full of surprises. The volume brings together studies on four diverse political and cultural environments – Polish, Czechoslovak, Hungarian and Yugoslavian – and examines the figures, designs, creations and debates which, in the wake of the explosion of critique and methodological innovation carried out in the West by the architects of Team 10, attempts to redefine the themes and methods of architectural design and urban planning in their respective countries. This is an intriguing subject that in many cases validates [its] theoretical and design approaches  – such as in the studies on Oskar Hansen and Charles Polónyi – and yet also reaches some unpredictable conclusions. However, the idea that we can speak of a movement, a Team 10 East identity, is a risky one, a contrived notion noted by the editor in the introduction.

— Luka Skansi, „Abitare”

•

[A]s Stanek puts it in his introduction with Dirk van den Heuvel: ‘Rather than being a retroactive manifesto, Team 10 East is a generative conceptual tool that grasps at an understanding of what was shared by these fellow travelers of Team 10.’ This understanding comes from five long essays interspersed with seven shorter ones in the handsome book whose size reminds me of a Readers Digest – with nicer paper, design and illustrations.

— John Hill, „A Daily Dose of Architecture blogspot”, 15 września 2014 

•

Opens up a new, nuanced perspective onto the established narrative of the transition from CIAM to Team 10.

— Niloufar Tajeri, „dérive: Zeitschrift für Stadtforschung”, no. 58

•

Excellent research.

— Agata Pyzik, „Icon”