With a starting point of the brutalism return to the foreground of the architecture practice and its positive shift and acknowledgement by users and critics, the essay tries to construct a narrative around the formation of prismatic forms. There is a chance of analysis of a broader group of buildings - works that converge similar traits. This analysis revisits and adds to former essays of this thematic area, which were written in the decade of 1990. The renew aims to indicate fragments that have not presented or have not studied in an adequate degree and also to encapsulate the secrets behind those type of creations.

For the holistic study of the topic the narrative searches manifestations of monolithic structures from history, myths and tales, adding a symbolic background to sociopolitical values. Myths assist unravelling the clew of continuity, urges behind the consistent use of prismatic forms through different time periods. There is a tendency of humans to return to more primitive forms, as they encapsulate meaning, so some architectural forms work more as statements, symbols rather than function and space. Symbolism and Monumentality, aligned with the essence of monolithic architecture, indicate an examination of the feeling of uncanny.

As a dominant factor of Monolithic architecture, uncanny and its effects on human mind and senses are getting into consideration, through the lance of terms as gothic, terror, sublime. Aspects of uncanny will be the core of discovery and definition of monolithic architecture’s characteristics. Traits as darkness, lack of orientation, continuity of form, insecurity are embedded in the design process or created unconsciously. They provide except for morphology, atmospheres that end up in a design identity, a typology of monolithic architecture.

Afterwards a categorization of contemporary examples is discussed, based on their affiliation with exterior and interior form and design. Examples include works of the past two decades, which encapsulate the characteristics of monolithic terminology and differentiation from the previous traits found in bibliography. There is a redefinition of monolithic architecture in contemporary design of past two decades, revealing forms more close to nature and landscape. Alejandro Aravena Center of Innovation of Chile, Ensample’s studios Musical studies center, Olafur Eliasson’s ilusisat Icefjord Park and Peter Zumthor’s Serpentine Pavilion describe new possibilities in design and readjust the atmospheric values brought with the term uncanny. Presentation of examples aims to discover new design tools for architects and designers, accompanied with the understanding and rational behind those creations.

This study contributes to the understanding of Breuer's architectural style and provides insight into the evolution of modernist architecture in the mid-twentieth century whereby it examines the progression of Marcel Breuer's architectural style using Breuer House I (1939), Breuer House II (1948), and Breuer House, New Canaan II (1951) as case studies. Using Viollet le Duc's conceptual framework of absolute and relative style, Breuer's correspondences from the archive about the project are analysed to classify his style accordingly. Thereafter, a comparison is made between the dwellings to extract his progression. The study finds that Breuer's style is characterised by astute attention to detail, an emphasis on materiality, and a strong economic awareness. Breuer's style also progressed in terms of layout and organisational principles, with a shift towards prioritising all spaces in the dwelling, as opposed to just served spaces.

The literature about public life is mainly focused on the city as a whole. This research applies the literature about public life to architecture by analyzing two case studies. The design elements of two building in The Spaarndammerbuurt neighborhood in Amsterdam, Het Schip (1921) and The Spaarndammerhart (2020) are related to the literature about public life. A cohesive definition of public life is formed by reviewing the relevant literature. Then the cases are analyzed by looking at the conception of the building and the architect’s aim of the project. Furthermore this is done by comparing the strategies outlined in the literature with site photos taken of the case studies. The research shows a strong presence of design tactics that foster public life in the two case studies. Even though being built a decade apart both buildings have strong similarities in the tactics they apply.

During the post-war period in the 1950s, brutalist architecture originated in Great-Britain as a reaction to previous architectural movements. It derived from an architectural style of building with exposed concrete called ‘béton brut’. It later became more popular when a new generation of modernist architects started using this exposed concrete in their designs. Brutalist architecture expressed itself using distinctive materials such as excessively exposed concrete and it has generic properties which can be clearly identified too. Though, architects tended to incorporate own unique features into their designs. Brutalism was a movement that thrived up until the 1970s, inspiring many architects. Among which the architects Marcel Lajos Breuer with his St. John’s Abbey in 1961, and Jo van den Broek and Jaap Bakema with their University Auditorium in 1966.
The research is intended to detect which brutalist design characteristics have a relevance for contemporary building culture. This is done by investigating and comparing design characteristics of the two brutalist buildings; the University Aula and the Saint John’s Abbey. Both buildings have been selected for this research because of their clear referencing to brutalist architecture. The comparison of these buildings is made because the function of both buildings demand space for large groups of visitors.
An objective architectural analysis of design characteristics is executed with drawings retrieved from the Marcel Breuer Digital Archive (n.d.), Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam and the TU Delft Academic Heritage archive. This analysis will be held on both brutalist buildings to discover which parts of each design specifically are more valuable and which parts are less well developed. Subsequently, in case of overlapping proper design characteristics, statements can be made regarding which architectural or compositional decisions that have been made are tied to a particular effect on the sensory and spatial experience. These statements made in the comparison will lead to a grounded conclusion on characteristics of brutalist architecture that are potentially instructive for contemporary building culture.

During the second world war, Middelburg was destroyed by a major city fire and much of the historic, romantic Dutch architecture has been destroyed. The aim of the thesis is to get more information about the differences and comparisons of aesthetics of streets including morphology and materials between before and after the war. First, multiple sources will be analysed. Old pictures, drawings and façade views can be studied at municipal archives. Construction drawings of restorations from architects, articles and studies published on the internet about the restoration of the city centre will be analysed. There will be an average analysis of the most common differences and similarities between the facade aesthetics between before and after the war. Presumably there is a chronological connection between buildings and/or streets of changes in materials, form or window arrangements. This thesis can be used as a guideline in the restoration and preservation of façade images in Middelburg for the future. By giving answer to the research question: How did the bombing during the second World War change the aesthetics of historic buildings in the city Middelburg? architects can bring back and design elements of the past in future renovation or new construction projects.
Suppose this research has shown that there is a rhythm in the use of materials, brick bonds, rod divisions, roof mouldings, etc. can provide a guideline for restoration architects in Middelburg. The expectation is that many historic buildings have been restored to the original destroyed building. The city centre still has a historic character with old ornaments. Even though the city was destroyed, its romantic, characteristic appearance has been retained. Therefore during the case study it is expected that many elements of the destroyed facades have been restored to the new facade.

To answer the question of women’s empowerment in mid-century landscape architecture, this essay will focus on the legacy of the “mother founder”¹ of Polish landscape architecture, Alina Scholtz admitted for her immense independence and involvement at work.
Scholtz was a designer and educator, serving as a professor of landscape architecture at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences. Her diverse portfolio ranged from palace gardens to housing estates and playgrounds. Her realisations were changeable in time, as a living matter of plants, which are led by the sun and water, create an architectural mass and systems of components in the urban landscape.

From the beginning, landscape architecture, similarly to interior design, was treated as a “decorative” addition to “prime” architecture.² Women dominated the discipline. Over the course of her career, Scholtz has worked with many aspiring women architects, landscape architects and urban planners whose names are unknown. Alina Scholtz was an exception to the rule. She was the leader of the landscape architecture team strongly feminised - in the „Zieleń” („Greenery”) studio at the Biuro Odbudowy Stolicy (BOS)³. She made major contributions to the International Federation of Landscape Architects⁴ and the SARP⁵ conferences, promoting the value of greenery designs in reconstructing cities after WWII and advocating Poland’s opinions on the subject on a global scale.
The methodology will include an analysis of the documents belonging to archives of the BOS in Warsaw, the Landscape Architecture department, archives of the Museum of Architecture in Wrocław, archives of the Frederyk Chopin Museum in Żelazowa Wola and National Archive in Warsaw, Otwock section, an interview with the Centrala Group, Małgorzata Kuciewicz and Simone De Iacobis, who were responsible for the exhibition on Alina Scholtz in Warsaw, in 2022, and study of photographs, official correspondence as well as letters to the Scholtz family and drawings and publications related to the subject.

1 Czerniewska-Andryszczyk, Klara, Ewa Perlińska-Kobierzyńska, Natalia Budnik, Małgorzata Kuciewicz, Simone De Iacobis. Alina Scholtz Projektantka warszawskiej
zieleni. Warsaw: Muzeum Warszawy, 2021., P. 8
2 Czerniewska-Andryszczyk, Klara, Ewa Perlińska-Kobierzyńska, Natalia Budnik, Małgorzata Kuciewicz, Simone De Iacobis. Alina Scholtz Projektantka warszawskiej
zieleni. Warsaw: Muzeum Warszawy, 2021., P. 9
3 Biuro Odbudowy Stolicy (BOS) - an institution established in 1945 by a decree of the National Council to rebuild Warsaw, destroyed during World War II.
4 Scholtz was a foundation member of IFLA in 1948
5 Stowarzyszenie Architektów Polskich (SARP) - founded in 1934, the national professional association for Polish architects.

Marcel Breuer is an iconic figure not only in the world of architecture but also in design. The interesting turn in his career and his professional journey from a craftsman to a designer and later to an architect gives a very good example of the important role of craft in architecture. The following paper analyses selected projects from the different periods of his career development. A red thread is defined through the years in terms of design approach and style. His work is analysed and used as a starting point on a discussion about the current architectural development. The paper offers interesting comparative analysis and conclusions about the place of art and craft in architecture nowadays and the existing paradox between it and the industrialization and mass production taking place.

In this thesis the modern office typology will be the main object of this research. Giving an answer to the question: how did the open floor plan in offices emerge in the twentieth century? The buildings Johnson Wax Headquarters (1939) by Frank Lloyd Wright and Centraal Beheer Apeldoorn (1972) by Herman Hertzberger will be analysed to illustrate the principles and ideas of the before-mentioned architects. How these projects influenced office architecture and how the workspace has changed in the period from the beginning to the end of the twentieth century. The analysis of buildings will show how the ideas of the architects are visible in the design, relating to the historical and theoretical framework of that time. This research can be useful in understanding the means and functioning of open office spaces and could help with designing future offices.

Although formed by thousands of individual practices, the field of architecture is represented in media by only a narrow group of offices that gained a significant influence throughout their career. On highly visited internet websites such as ArchDaily, or Dezeen, we recognize a reoccurring pattern of these influential offices with their most recent projects or theories. The frequency and visibility of their work provide them with the power to set up trends and directions within the field, thus becoming an interesting subject of research. This paper focuses on what makes these world-renowned offices stand out from the average via parameters provided by architectural councils' annual reports.

The research is limited to US and EU markets only, for the reason of quick data accessibility and the presence of mutual current and historical influence on each other. Furthermore, a time frame was chosen between 2008, at the time of the last great financial crisis, and 2020 at the time of the covid pandemic. Both crises had a significant influence on the capital and workability of individuals, larger corporates, or even countries, thus including the building industry. On the contrary, between these two terms, a stable rise of economies around the world was occurrent, allowing architecture to flourish providing valuable data for the research.

The key sources became study reports by architectural councils in the US and EU bringing exact data about the markets. This data was then compared to interviews with renowned offices and a theoretical body about management in the field of design. At the end of the paper, conclusions are made about what are some of the keys to a successful architectural practice and what problems stand against that endeavor. Such info then serves as an inspiration for other offices, talent-seekers, investors, governmental institutions, scholars, and new generations of architects in the field.

In the field of architecture, there reigns a stigma of long working hours, in university, and practice. This paper sets out the causes of the long work hour culture that relate to the practice of architecture and the consequences and choices it may bring along. Based on existing research findings, seven major causes provoke long work hour culture, among which are primarily associated with the practice of architecture: joy and pleasure derived from work, striving for perfection, love for their job, and the function of hours of colleagues. Long work hour culture, which is working more than 49 hours a week, besides physical damage, reduces the well-being of its participants and thereby their productivity. Even though a long work hour culture sometimes feels imposed, it is ultimately the actor’s choice. Out of interviews deducted from practitioners of two architecture practices, the seven causes are examined, but the proposed hierarchy in terms of relatability, varied between the two firms, showing the variation of applicability in the wide range of different firms. The addition of alternative proposed causes by actors in the field shows the complexity and extent of the long work hour culture in the practice of architecture, and the stringent work ethics it brings along in the 21st century.

CIAM’s Charter of Athens and Le Corbusier’s books stipulated new urban planning and new laws of architecture. The theory of the modern architectural movement, which defines the principles of modern cities, has been systematically applied since the construction of the French apartment complex. “Mapo Apartment” was the first complex-type apartment in South Korea built by the government in 1962, and Korean call it “Apatu.” However, contrary to the original intention of modernist high-rise apartments, it actually played an object of desire as an urban landmark for the upper class of South Korea. Over the next sixty years, apartments have completely established themselves as Korea’s representative residential typology, and about four hundreds thousands housing units continue to be produced until now under the leadership of large capital.

First, a comparative analysis between US and Korea explains the success and failure of modern architecture. This movement of modernization appeared in different forms between US and Korea. “Pruitt-Igoe” in US can be said to be “a house is a machine for living in” as a product of industrialization. It was an apartment building to accommodate a sudden increase in the urban population, but it soon faced limitations symbolizing poor management, poor architectural beauty, and poor living conditions. On the other hand, Korea’s “Apatu” was, conversely, used as a tool for industrialization. At that time, the government built “Apatu” to urbanize the capital city Seoul, thereby achieving the goal of increasing the population and development of the city. Since then, “Apatu” has successfully operated as “A house is a machine for industrializing,” which symbolizes modernized and luxurious lifestyles.

Next, the history of Apatu will be studied. The Korean modernity of the modernist ideal proposal will be investigated. In Korea, the history of high-rise housing called Apatu can be largely divided into three stages. From the early 1930s to the 1960s, it was used as a solution to solve the housing problem in Seoul in the process of modernization after the Korean War. However, from the 1970s, the target class of Apatu was changed to the middle class, and from that time the supply of it began in earnest. In the process, private construction companies participated in the industry. After that, There was fierce competition between major construction companies, and as a result, Apatu product of more value than necessary continued to be produced. Since then, each construction company has taken various strategies to sell Apatu to the public at a higher price.

Le Corbusier’s utopian theory was left as a dystopia of commercialization of architecture contrary to his intention through the process of Korean modernization. As a result, major elements closely related to the residential environment, such as school districts of good quality and comfortable infrastructure have been determined depending on which brand’s apartment complex it is, which soon caused a continuous rise in its housing prices. In other words, it has served as a place for reproduction, where wealth is continuously transferred and high-quality education is provided. Fundamental solutions will be studied to overcome the problems created by the top-down development of such standardized housing.

This essay contextualises and analyses the development of shopping centres in the 20th century by their connection to postmodernism and capitalism, through Frederic Jameson’s theories on the advent of the architectural style and cultural movement, positioning the act of shopping as a cultural production of the economic system. Using Jameson's tools for the interpretation of postmodern creations, a connection can be established between the architectural designs of shopping centres and the cultural productions of capitalism, identifying traits of depthlessness, pastiche, subject fragmentation, liminal space, mechanised circulation, and the waning of affect in case studies of shopping malls in The Netherlands.

The case studies include the ‘Passage’ in The Hague (1885 to compare neoclassical and contemporary juxtapositions, the ‘Lijnbaan’ in Rotterdam (1953) as an example of Modernist space, the ‘Heuvel’ in Eindhoven (1992) as an example of postmodern planning, and ‘Westfield Mall of the Netherlands’ in The Hague (2017) as example of sustainability themed mega malls. These examples provide a timeline for the evolution of shopping malls in the 20th century, but more importantly as physical illustrations for the relationship between architectural theories on shopping and the cultural production of Postmodern space.

The aim of this research is to understand creativity related to three separate subjects, ‘creativity in mind’, ‘creativity in space’ and ‘creativity in practice’. All of the three subjects are linked to the creative spaces of the architectural office. It is the question, ‘’How did the interior of creative spaces within the architectural office form and how has it developed as a reflection of the architects creativity?’’ that will be answered. Creativity proves to be essential for arts, new inventions, innovations and human expression. Creativity often takes place in the studio, which is in essence a workspaces to bring creatives together to work hard, collaborate and learn from each other. The workspaces can both facilitate and stimulate the creativity of the people inside. The ability to produce something that is both original or innovative and possess utility or value for someone, proves to be an important part of the work of an architect. Creativity is, however, an integral part of the architect and architecture, which reflects on the workspaces of an architect. Personal preferences and the personal quest for creativity claim to a large extent the influence on the architect's workplace. Famous books about creativity, written by authors and philosophers are used as a source of information. Researches and studies of scientists are added to support and prove the literature. Creativity linked with the workspaces of architects and as a reflection of the mind of the architect, fills the gap between separate researches about creativity, architects and its workspace. The case studies of architectural firms, all located in the north of the Netherlands, add an additional layer of renewed information.

With the exponential growth of high-rise buildings in Rotterdam over the past decades the city is now the 10th highest city in Europe. The role that high-rise plays in the city of Rotterdam has been developing throughout the years and started becoming more important. Through literature and municipal archival research, the significance of high-rise buildings and their role have been explored through three different aspects: cultural physical and economical. High-rise buildings emerged from the culture of congestion but were merely used as a tool for the densification of the city after World War II. While the early urban planning did not address high-rise buildings it laid down the urban foundation for the designated high-rise zones in the city. With the exponential growth the municipality set up policies for high-rise buildings to keep the built environment in check. Because of the lack of historic city value of Rotterdam, the high-rise buildings and structures form the iconic image of the city. While high-rise buildings fulfil their role of accommodating people it also functions as a tool for city branding to not only promote the city but also revitalize the built environment However, high-rise buildings can also have a negative impact on the social wellbeing of its users. Both anonymity and the lack of connection with the public realm high-rise buildings can bring more harm than good to its users. Although the municipality is already addressing this problem in their most recent high-rise policy and urban planning it appears from this research that it is important to explore how high-rise buildings can sustain communities and the future generations.

Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud was a Dutch architect who lived from 1890 till 1963. In 1917 he and six other well-known architects, started a magazine ´De Stijl´, a manifest for Dutch Modernism in art and architecture. Five years later, in 1922, Oud withdrew himself from De Stijl, but he continued to design according to the manifest of ‘De Stijl’. Examples are ‘Het Witte Dorp’ (1923) and ‘Café de Unie’ (1924). With the residential district ‘De Kiefhoek’ (1928), he gained national and international fame.

Oud always struggled with the style of Modernism. After a period of strictly designing modern buildings in the 1920s, he experimented with forms that did not relate to the Modern architectural bases. Before and during WWII II, from 1938 until 1942, he built the head office of Shell in The Hague. The building was completed in 1946. His design of this building was poorly received. Most of the Modern architectural critics had no sympathy for this ‘old fashioned’ way of designing. As a result, Oud’s name was removed from all the magazines and his articles were refused in other countries.

This thesis will investigate why the Shell building of J.J.P. Oud was generally rejected by critics. Through thorough investigation in literature and notes of Oud, regarding the design of the Shell building, the explanation of the frame of mind behind the design will be analysed. In addition to the first hand sources, also secondary resources, such as books and articles, will be explored. These secondary resources will give an explanation of the rejection of the critics towards the design of the Shell building.

This thesis aims to critically examine the design process of two cultural centres-landmarks, built in the Netherlands in the past decades. The examined projects include the EYE Filmmuseum (DMAA-2011) and the TU Delft Library (Mecanoo-1998). Despite the differences between the two buildings, they share similar starting points regarding the sites they are located in. The plots alone comprised a challenge for the architects who had to deal with the strong presence of natural elements, such as water and soil, as well as their adaptation to the historic built environment that they belong to.In order to indulge in projects’ architectural characteristics, it entails the understanding of the reasons that led to a specific design - the main factors that shaped the compositions. Therefore, this thesis questions how their syntheses were developed, what were the starting points of each design, as well as the differences between each architectural approach. It is significant to understand the main references of each project, as well as the ultimate aspiration of each building, meaning what the architects wanted to achieve apart from a functional building. Comprehending the theoretical framework of the architects, is an imperative step for answering the question of what can be learned from the design process in architecture.The research topic requires the adoption of a mixed-methods approach. The sources used, consist of archival material, preliminary sketches, literature, and material of the design phase provided by the projects’ architects upon request. Aiming to gain a better understanding of the physical buildings on a personal level, site visits are a mandatory prerequisite too. Besides, municipal documents give valuable insights into the development of these projects, in the context of their greater setting. Finally, conducting interviews with the principal architects of the projects, will give a new perspective on the design process of the projects. Moreover, the studied literature will be translated and visualized through personal illustrations, allowing for the development of a personal proposal of the5design process of the projects. Overall, the thesis uses and reflects on the most relevant sources of the subject, leading to a clear understanding of the design process and finally showcasing its impact on the architectural comprehension of a realized project.

Between 2013 and 2016 a striking number of 11665 architecture competitions were held in the EU, which is around 3888 competitions per year. Competitions were a way to be innovative, experimental and idealistic. However, due to the strike regulations and entry requirements, small businesses and young architects are often excluded. The question whether and how a building would be built or not becomes a political and social discussion. So considering the above, can architectural competitions still be considered to be innovative and experimental, as their organizers claim?This research will focus on Boijmans Van Beuningen Depot in Rotterdam. The 61,5 million euro project designed by MVRDV will be finished in September 2021. The design is the winning design out of the international competition where 47 firms participated in. The selection committee chose five designs to continue to the final round, the five firms included: MVRDV, MAD/NIO/Okra, Neutelings Riedijk, Koen van Velsen and Zwitserse Harry Gugger/Barcode Architects. The interest in the competition will be who the judges were and how they selected the winning design, the various designs will be compared using simple drawing. Despite winning the competition, MVRDV was almost disqualified from the competition, due to a mistake by Sjarel Ex, the director of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. After the court declared they were the winner, various parties such as the government and surrounding institutes doubted if the building should be built. The main reasons for the disagreements were based on political standpoints, concerns on vision of the museum park and health concerns created by the mirror façade. In order to receive the building permit, compensation had to be made with the respective parties. What were the difficulties Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen faced in order to achieve this? Was the choice of MVRDV’s design over others a notion of innovation and change or political and economical?

Czechoslovak architecture built in the Communist period, which lasted from 1948 until 1989 holds a negative image in the eyes of the public (Národní Galerie Praha, 2020). Architecture built during the communist regime is frequently criticized for its strong political and ideological background. Moreover, many of these structures are being neglected which further increases their general disfavour. However, this paradigm has started to shift. This is the case, especially amongst the post-communist generation who seems to enjoy this architecture more for its aesthetics and function and they can disconnect this architecture from the regime it was built in (Hatherley, 2015).A more professional audience argues that these buildings are the heritage of the past which should not be seen only in the light of the period when they were built (Národní Galerie Praha, 2020). Many of these structures are deeply functional while maintaining a unique and high aesthetic quality which is often so rare in the region. It is often assumed that the architects who designed these buildings had to collaborate or affiliate with the regime of that time. Yet, almost always the opposite is true (Vladimír Brož, 2019). One of the obvious proofs of this is that many of these architects were removed from their position and any public appearances after they condemned the invasion of the Warsaw pact in 1969. Second, architecture in Czechoslovakia was much more closely associated with art at the time than it is now. As a result, its position in reflecting on the current state of society may have been more significant during Communism, when freedom of expression was more restricted than it is now.An example of these aspects of the former architecture is a building of the Federal Assembly, nowadays known as the New National Museum designed by Karel Prager. The building was built as an extension of an older building that served the stock exchange. Its new function was a Federal Assembly, a parliament. Yet, it only ever held a formal function because it was finished after the invasion of 1968 thus in the period of Normalisation when the ‘power’ was no longer in the hand of Czechoslovakia but rather in the USSR’s.The original purpose of the building was to represent a new, more progressive ruling of the communist party and the architecture should have been the way to communicate this message. However, this never happened because of Normalisation. After 1969, the trust in the communist party fell massively and its physical representation in the form of architecture followed suit. This caused the buildings to become hated objects, despite their design never intending to represent anything closely related to what was happening in the post-invasion period. This hatred still remains in both the Czech Republic and Slovakia who are failing to embrace their past. Yet, the younger generation perceives this architecture more objectively. This fact gives these buildings hope that their future might be still bright.

Radical experimentation, formal plurality, and oscillation between architecture and visual arts permeated the 50s and 60s generation of architects and artists on both sides of the politically divided Europe. Central and Eastern European examples from this period are often undervalued, if addressed at all, both by Western European standards and even their local contexts. VAL—Voies et Aspects du Lendemain—collective was formed in 1968 Czechoslovakia by the conceptual artist Alex Mlynárčik and the architects Viera Mecková and Ľudovít Kupkovič. VAL developed eight distinct utopias and megastructures in parallel to the global trends and Michel Ragon’s techno-centric theory of prospective architecture. As the height of VAL’s activity coincides with the peak of the normalisation period in the 70s Czechoslovakia, their utopian projects remain resistant to clear-cut interpretation then and now. Heliopolis, Akusticon, and the People’s Assembly of Argillia are three distinct projects of VAL explored in reference to the themes of monumentality and architecture-sculpture, prospective architecture, and performance art influenced by Nouveau Réalisme. Despite the unobstructed idealism that VAL emanates, it is argued that VAL’s proposals go beyond an uncritical techno-positive utopia and can hardly be distilled from the irony and socio-cultural critique. And it is in the act of designing the libertarian utopias that VAL members found a form of individual escapism as means to express themselves creatively and to manageably live in a totalitarian regime—utopia as escapism. By subverting the expectations of what are the forms of expressing architectural dissent, escapism is understood as an act of resistance. Resistance to socio-cultural regression, economic depression, professional frustrations, and personal disillusionment with the failed Communist utopia—escapism as protest. The thesis questions our contemporary standing towards Central and Eastern European architects and artists whose work—as illustrated by VAL—entails complexities and contradictions of its socio-cultural and political context.