Between ideology and design: Fred Forbat and the political space of modernism
The role of politics in the development of a modernist architectural style
F.I. ten Broecke (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
C Wagenaar – Mentor (TU Delft - History, Form & Aesthetics)
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Abstract
This thesis examines the interplay between political context and architectural design within the oeuvre of Fred Forbat, a modernist architect with roots in Hungary, Germany and Sweden. It discusses two case studies: the Großsiedlung Siemensstadt in Berlin and the Gröndal housing estate in Stockholm. It analyses how political conditions influenced the development and reception of Forbat's architecture. While his modernist language of form was gradually undermined in Germany by the rise of national socialism, the social-democratic and functionalist climate in Sweden actually provided space for the further development of his ideas. The analysis shows that Forbat's architectural style remained consistent in its modernist principles, but that the extent to which it could be realised depended heavily on the political and social support in the relevant context.