Modernist mass housing – towards a global and Scandinavian overview

Open public lecture by Miles Glendinning, Professor of Architectural Conservation at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the Scottish Centre for Conservation Studies. In collaboration with Docomomo DK.

This lecture is focused on the frequently vast programmes of modern mass housing or public housing that have been undertaken in many countries across the world since the mid 20th century – programmes that have generally benefited from state support of various kinds, and have shared in the very diverse housing solutions possible within the broad boundaries of Modernist architecture and planning.  

The lecture sets out to trace the reasons for their construction, and briefly characterise the built environments that resulted, providing an overview narrative of mass housing as a global phenomenon, that has stretched out over a century, and has jumped across the world to include many places, especially in Europe, America and Asia. 

This brief overview emphasises that mass housing is not just an architectural style but also a cultural and political movement, of many aspects and many layers – not least in its diverse interrelationship between international currents and the place-specific characteristics of individual nation-states and large cities.   

The interaction between ‘unifying’ and ‘place-specific’ approaches will be explored especially in relation to Scandinavia, emphasising the strong diversity in both the organisational/political and architectural fields.

Miles Glendinning is Professor of Architectural Conservation at the University of Edinburgh and Director of the Scottish Centre for Conservation Studies. He has published widely on modernist and contemporary architecture and housing, and is extensively involved in the international modernist heritage organisation, DOCOMOMO. His books include the award-winningTower Block (with Stefan Muthesius), and The Conservation Movement – a History of Architectural Preservation, published in 2013 by Routledge.  

The lecture will be in English.