Counter-Conduct; The Architecture of Fools in the city of Nowa Huta

Drozynski, Charles

Abstract

During Communism in the second half of the 20th Century the ‘analytical space’ of Polish cities was dominated by the architectural intent of creating a new type of human: ‘homo-sovieticus . Any distancing from the prescribed mode of behaviour that would create this entity could be subject to the authorities’ intervention. In spite of this places for Counter-conduct against the prescribed manner of behaviour were produced.
The paper is based on Michel Foucault’s Theories on ‘Heterotopias’ and ‘Analytical spaces’ . The paper will engage with these to explore conduct and counter-conduct in spatial terms in the environment of Soviet reality in Poland, concentrating on the city of Nowa Huta.
This paper explores the way in which the principle of creating fluid and irregulated heterotopias worked in the framework of a regimented and structured architectural language of the Soviet influence. It investigates the political and architectural situation of the Eastern Block in the 20th century and Nowa Huta in particular as an example of typical Soviet urban planning. It also analyses examples of ways that Polish people (in particular those that lived in Nowa Huta) engaged in counter conduct. This analysis focuses on an architectural example that fostered countering the conduct of the regime: The church of the Lord’s Ark.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 10, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Mar 10, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 2, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 3, 2019
• Journal: Global Societies
• Print ISSN: 1360-0826
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-798X
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 360-386
• Keywords: The Lords Ark, Nowa Huta, counter-conduct, architecture, Foucault, Communism
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1494403
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13600826.2016.1144566
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Global Society on 10 March 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13600826.2016.1144566.
• Contract Date: Jul 2, 2019