The old guard modernists in Western Europe and post-war urban visions

Abstract

Urban visions drawn on paper, assessed in competitions, and circulated through
journals and books can have a huge impact on city planning. They can be as
influential – perhaps even more influential – as realized plans that, after all, have
to withstand the realities of funding, land use planning or everyday use. Prizes
awarded for competition entries and the publicity that comes with them can
influence urban planning practices for decades to come. It was therefore a decision of far-reaching consequences when leading modernists were chosen as members of the jury for the Hauptstadt Berlin competition 1957-58 – a competition set up to plan for a future city center of a reunited Berlin as the capital of Germany. Among the selected jurors were Dutch urbanist Cornelis van Eesteren and the Finn Alvar Aalto, his friend from the Congrès Internationaux d’Architecture Moderne (CIAM). The selection of the jury was a conscious choice aimed at continuing and updating pre-war modernist discussions.