Geopolitics and International Modernism in Architecture

Modernism in architecture has long been associated with human progress and universalism. It has also, at times, been criticized as contributing to a loss of identity and genius loci, and even blamed for the alienation and social failures of anonymous suburban landscapes.

This panel considers the relevance of these opposing verdicts and examines the geopolitical incentives behind the spread of modernist architecture across borders in the East, the West, and the Global South from the Cold War period to the present. Topics include utopian and dystopian visions of global modern architecture; architecture as a form of soft diplomacy; tensions between political motivations and architectural practice; the role of architectural tourism; and the status of international modernism today. It will be moderated by Joes Segal, the Wende's Chief Curator and Director of Programming.

Susan Horowitz is an artist/curator based in NY and LA whose case study/documentary projects explore modernist architecture, urbanization, architectural tourism and preservation. These interests reflect study of the UNESCO World Heritage program, Getty Keeping It Modern Initiatives, arts restitution, museum exhibitions on modern architecture and involvement with advocacy/preservation programs of the World Monument Fund and Docomomo. The focus of this art practice, which began with projects about early modern LA architecture, led to a parallel project as director of preservation projects for hamptons20centurymodern.org, presenting the under-the-radar, threatened modernist heritage in the Hamptons. Currently a monograph and exhibition based on a notable Hamptons architect team focused on their archive and the current house owners as preservationists is underway.

David Ruy’s work develops out of a single observation: what we take to be reality is largely built out of representations—buildings, images, interfaces, stories. This insight has driven thirty years of design practice and theoretical writing, work sustained by an ongoing engagement with emerging creative technologies. He has founded graduate programs and lectured throughout Asia, Europe, and the Americas. His work has been collected by prominent institutions and is frequently cited in studies of contemporary design culture. Presently, he writes and lectures on the ramifications of artificial intelligence for cultural production while advising institutions and companies worldwide on design innovation and cultural strategy. He is on the faculty at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles, having previously held appointments at Columbia University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and Pratt Institute.

Łukasz Stanek is Professor at A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He also holds a dry appointment at the Department of History, University of Michigan. Stanek is the author of Henry Lefebvre on Space: Architecture, Urban Research, and the Production of Theory (University of Minnesota Press, 2011) and Architecture in Global Socialism: Eastern Europe, West Africa, and the Middle East in the Cold War (Princeton University Press, 2020). He curated several exhibitions, including The Gift: Stories of Generosity and Violence in Architecture (Architekturmuseum der TUM, Munich, 2024). Stanek is co-curator of the Wende’s current exhibition Intersections: The Architecture of Victor Adegbite and Charles Polónyi in Ghana.

Joe Day is an architect and theorist in Los Angeles, where he leads Deegan-Day Design LLC and serves on the design and history/theory faculty at SCI-Arc. In both his design and writing, Day examines the intersections of contemporary art, urbanism and architecture as visual disciplines. He contributed an additional foreword to the 2009 edition of Reyner Banham’s seminal study, Los Angeles: Architecture of the Four Ecologies (University of California Press, 2009), and in the spring of 2012 taught at Yale School of Architecture as the Louis I. Kahn Visiting Chair. Day’s recent Corrections & Collections: Architectures for Art and Crime (Routledge, 2013) explores new polarities in contemporary architecture and urbanism. He serves on the Board of Trustees at SCI-Arc, and as a Director at the W.M. Keck Foundation.

This program is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Intersections: The Architecture of Victor Adegbite and Charles Polónyi in Ghana, guest-curated by Łukasz Stanek and Michael Dziwornu, in collaboration with Dana Salama.

Photo: Lina Bo Bardi (architect), Sesc Pompéia, São Paulo, Brasil. Photography: Susan Horowitz.

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