From W53 to WBS 70: (east)modern?!
Utopias of a Future of the Past
14/12/24—16/02/25
Benjamin Badock, Sibylle Bergemann, Christian Borchert, Jan Brokof, Günther Friedrich, Andreas Gefeller, Joseph W. Huber, Joachim Jansong, Thomas Kläber, Uwe Pfeifer, Ulf Raecke, Uwe Steinbrück, Susanne Theumer, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Helmut Wengler, Karin Wieckhorst, Ulrich Wüst, Archiv Dosfilm/Donald Saischowa/Amateurfilmzirkel TKC
„Build faster, better and cheaper!“, Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev announced the end of the socialist classicism of the Stalin era – and at the same time announced the beginning of a new phase of modern urban development, characterized by the advances in industrialized construction planning, which was also promoted in the GDR as a building policy turnaround from the mid-1950s. The aim was to tackle the rampant housing shortage after the destruction of the Second World War with concrete technical and design solutions. Enabling efficient and cost-saving construction was declared the top priority. Ideologically, one of the arguments was that an end to social differentiation through construction – as an expression of the socialist way of life – was brought about. Aesthetically, the construction of a lot of living space in less time and under more favorable conditions was reflected in the politically enforced theoretical development and technical optimization of industrial construction through standardization and rationalization processes. As a high point in the industrial construction history of the GDR, after numerous experimental buildings and series, the housing series (WBS) 70 in large-panel construction („Platten“) was introduced nationwide in 1970.
The works presented in the cabinet exhibition are dedicated to the image of modern architecture and urban planning in the GDR in photography, painting, graphics, film and installation. In 25 works by 18 artistic positions from the collection of the BLMK from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s and from the time of unified Germany, the areas of tension of the architectural idea of the modular system are revealed. The standardization of floor plans, components, etc. gave rise to a unique formal language in the cityscape, which is negotiated in a differentiated manner by the assembled works, between the poles of documentary observation and hyper-realistic staging. While the image of the large prefabricated housing estates in Halle-Neustadt, Hoyerswerda and Berlin-Hellersdorf is nowadays associated with dreary monotony and precarious social living conditions, the contemporary artistic perspectives on the „built environment“ of the GDR open up possibilities for nuance in the relationship between people and architecture. It is above all the children who, as the motif, convey a specific attitude to life that evades one-sidedness.
The artistically diverse views range from safe long-distance to intimate close-up views, from (supposedly) value-free design experiments to satirically caustic comments on the self-image of socialist building policy. In addition to the aesthetic positioning, the exhibition also provides insights into a specific cultural and architectural history of the GDR, which is influenced by the ideas of modern construction from the beginning of the 20th century. The more recent works also point to further questions about today’s social and personal dealings with the architectural heritage of Eastern Modernism, whose contribution to international architectural history should no longer be questioned.