Once hailed as symbols of modern progress, serial buildings are now often linked to urban decay. But what if they could hold the key to future housing models? Join this seminar series of five sessions exploring their ecological and economic potential for shaping the cities of tomorrow.

This seminar series, consisting of five sessions, will explore the significance of prefabricated buildings, particularly in the context of East and West. Drawing from a range of disciplines, including film studies, history, literary studies, rhetoric and philosophy, the series will provide a platform to examine the impact of these buildings on society and culture. The seminar series will offer a multidisciplinary exploration of the role of architecture in shaping societal and cultural developments.

Welcome!

Lisa Källström, Corina Löwe, Jana Mikota, Astrid Hennig-Mohr and Ines Soldwisch
Supported by Ninna Mörner, Editor-in-Chief for the scholarly journal Baltic Worlds

• Modular Housing & DEFA | 22nd May

Time: 18.00-20.00
Moderator: Dr. Corina Löwe (Linnaeus university, Sweden)

1. Susanne Drogi & Raila Karst (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany) ‘Everything you do is just square, [...] in the end you become square yourself’ - Emotional experience of the “new way of living” in (Children's) Literature and Film in the GDR
2. Lydia Wistisen (Stockholm University, Sweden): Modular Housing in Swedish 1970s Children’s Culture
3. Corina Löwe (Linnaeus University, Sweden): The “Householders of Tomorrow” – Family Scenes in GDR Children's Literature

• Modular Housing & Visuality | 4th June

Time: 18.00-20.00
Moderator: Dr. Lisa Källström (Södertörn, Sweden)

1. Andrej Kostin (University of Grenoble-Alpes, France): Should we Color the White City? Modular Housing in Soviet Coloring Books, 1950s through 1970s
2. Jörg Meibauer (Mainz University; Germany): The illustrated Plattenbau. Exploring the visual culture of book illustrations in GDR children’s literature
3. Anita Wincencjusz Patyna (University of Wrocław, Polen): Depicting Plattenbau. Children's book illustrations in the times of the People's Republic of Poland.