What kinds of urban forms and architectural aesthetic did 'actually-existing' Soviet socialism produce, which other types of political system could not have? How were these forms and aesthetics, styles and shapes linked to types of rhetoric, ways of speaking, economic logics, modes of everyday behaviour, which were also unique to the socialist world? Which of these styles, shapes, moods and modalities have survived the collapse of the socialist regimes in 1989-1991; and how do they continue to reproduce themselves and mutate into new norms and forms of existence - new types of normality - in the 'wild capitalist' East European cities of today and tomorrow? This talk will delve into the progressive potentials and reactionary pitfalls of still-, zombie- and mutant-socialism, with particular (but not exclusive) reference to Warsaw's Stalin-era skyscraper, the Palace of Culture and Science. Three decades following the collapse of its guarantor regime, the Palace continues to loom, with increasing intensity, over the social, psychopathological, symbolic and aesthetic lives of its host city. Speaker: Michał Murawski, University of London.
New York City, NY; NYC