Al-Bayati, Sundus, "The Many Shapes of Postwar Reconstruction in a Divided City", Society of Architectural Historians, October 09, 2025, sah.org/2021/11/02/the-many-shapes-of-postwar-reconstruction-in-a-divided-city/, September 9, 2026
Claim: East Germany reflected soviet influence, and while it lost German culture, it became a "modernist utopia"(Al-Bayati) of housing.
Evaluation: Soviet architecture prioritized function over aesthetics. Leading to the unadorned apartments mentioned in Evidence 1. While they still reflected the architecture of the soviets as noted in Evidence 2, they mostly focused on housing as many people as they could. The scale of these modern apartments was so vast it could almost feel like a utopia.
Evidence 2: "...a change in the planning of Stalinallee occurred when a delegation of architects and planners travelled to Moscow and other cities in the Soviet Union to study their architecture and urban planning. The results were presented in the manifesto “Sixteen Principles of Urban Planning” that sought to unify the urban design and architecture of the GDR with a language that is consistent with Stalinist style of other Soviet cities."(Al-Bayati)
Evidence 1: "The prominent twin towers on both sides of the boulevard designed in the Stalinist classicist style by Hermann Henselmann mark the entrance into the long stretch of the project... Following the domed towers, one might notice a deviation in the street façade from the monumental Stalinist architecture; unadorned, modern looking, five-story apartment buildings stand behind a row of poplar trees... These apartments were designed in the modernist style of the 1920s and were a part of a bigger plan led by Hans Scharoun and his associates to reconstruct the new Berlin."(Al-Bayati)
Evidence 3: "It felt good to finally step inside a realized utopian modernist project, to be that scale figure that is dwarfed by the tall towers in the landscape. I noticed the decibel level drop down when I walked deeper into the neighborhood. As I looked up at the curvy apartment building by Walter Gropius, I imagined that it must be pleasant to live there, among all the trees, with a view of the Tiergarten... It remains, like Stalinallee, an architectural model for postwar reconstruction that envisioned a new urban identity for Berlin." (Al-Bayati)
Claim: The war between preservation and modernization during reconstruction was extra challenging in a Divide Berlin. It's tainted past and division lead to a complicated mix of the two.
Evaluation: There were advocates for both sides of reconstruction in the Divided Berlin. Certain people wanted Modernism. Other's wanted architecture that reflected the tradition of the country. On top of that there was the fight between the two sides of Berlin, two political ideologies. No part of it's reconstruction was easy with so many sides fighting to be seen. Where does one side end and the other begin.
Evidence 2: "The Heimatschulz movement (the word literally translates to homeland protection), which advocated for traditional styles, believed German architecture 'must be organically derived from the German landscape, climate, and historical traditions.' ”(Al-Bayati)
Evidence 1: "Modernism was also a contested style in postwar Germany. Modern architecture had already existed before the war, exemplified by the work of Walter Gropius and the Deutcher Werkbund, but years of the Nazis’ attack on modern art and architecture had limited its growth and popularity."(Al-Bayati)
Evidence 3: "Instead of one Berlin, there were two and each side claimed that theirs was the real Berlin. Before the Wall formally and physically divided the city in 1961, the governments of East and West Germany used architecture and urban design to express their political and ideological philosophies and to facilitate the creation of two separate German identities."(Al-Bayati)
Claim: While reconstruction considers the immediate and basic needs, like shelter and clearing debris, it focuses more on the culture of the place. This is usually given form in architecture and infrastructure planning. They aren't just rebuilding a country, but it's people morale too.
Evaluation: Reconstruction of a country is deeply personal as noted in Evidence 1. It focuses on the culture of the people. What is important enough to stay, what can be let go. As Evidence 2 notes the government makes that decision. Sometimes it asks for the feedback of the people, but sometimes it makes a desicion based on what benefits it most. Which can lead to a loss of culture in favor of "looking forward"(Al-Bayati).
Evidence 2: "Governments, politicians, planners, etc., rely on these images to advance proposals of what replaces a destroyed site."(Al-Bayati)
Evidence 1: "Rebuilding takes on more than just answering to the practical and aspirational needs of a conventional architecture project. The disruptive force of war forces the urban environment to choose between preserving the past and looking forward. If war is personal, then so is the way we rationalize rebuilding."(Al-Bayati)