In the context of 10th week’s ARCH484 course, we have discussed Rotterdam and its reconstruction process after the carpet bombing which led its transformation from a historic to a modernist city. First of all, The Polder and The Water City were in a problematic condition due to the increases in the population and traffic flow so the history city was improper accommodating the increased traffic. In this manner, there was a desire to reconstruct the city by modernizations to prevent the desperate conditions and struggles that Rotterdam experienced. New building typologies and decisions took place and when the bombardment happened; designing a new city became a must. For the former blitz conditions, remaking or designing a new urban plan would have been impossible, however post-blitz enabled designers to make their own decisions without any strict boundaries like a laboratory for architects. This condition had briefly defined as the cultural reconstruction, or in other words, “doelen effect”. In this manner, the case of Rotterdam can be related or compared with reconstruction of cultural sites since its approach is significant and particular.
It will not be a contemporary example but also in the case of Kalisz the post-war reconstruction of the town in modern but also “national” forms exists which is to shape “Polish” identity. Kalisz was conceived to be the oldest town in Poland and the mentioned occasion took place in the 20th century similar to the case of Rotterdam. In the reconstruction process of Kalisz the incoherent and unfinished projects were introduced and the uncertainty that existed about the issues of the national style to be introduced and the goals to generate the restored town also a modern one were seen. In this manner, the desired reconstruction was about the implementation of proper infrastructures, communication and sanitation which actually shapes the main pieces of evidence of the Kalisz reconstruction phase where also the new town hall and the theatre constitute material for broad case studies. Thus, Kalisz illustrates the concept of a significant historical project of shaping identity through architecture and urbanism similar to the reconstruction of Rotterdam after the carpet bombing. In this context, the main discussion point emerges considering the question of how world wars affected the historical urban landscape in Europe and how it changed the role of preservation and historical or cultural reconstruction in theory and practice.
bilgesu · an architect and a researcher 