One Year Without Milka Bliznakov

Prof. Dr. Milka Bliznakov
passed away
at her home
in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
on November 4th 2010.
https://sofiazanas.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-post.html

She was a profound scholar and expert of the 20th century architecture

She was born a gifted teacher who presented her books
and endowed her knowledge how to feel and interpret architecture

She was a passionate classical music and opera lover

She was a dreamer and a passionate democrat
striving for the rights of each and everyone

She was the founder of the International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA)

She was the most generous person we have ever known
She was a great individual

She is our spiritual mother
She is unforgettable

Rest in Peace, dear Milka
Lju & Pepi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyQyaIl2rfI&feature=related

http://www.womenarchitectsca.com/in-memoriam/
http://sofiazanas.blogspot.com/2010/11/blog-post.html
http://20c-arch-bg.blogspot.com/2010/11/milka-bliznakov.html















































Milka's home in Tall Oaks Drive, Blacksburg - October, 1995.

The interior of her house with unique pieces of Modernist furniture 

and with a Bulgarian corner.

In Tall Oaks Drive in front of Milka's house in Blacksburg, V.A.
with Solange d'Herbez de la Tour,
then President of the International Union of Women Architects (in Paris),
on the way to the conference lectures at Virginia Tech
on the occasion of the
10th anniversary jubilee conference of the
International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA) -
October, 1995
















At the front door of her home in Blacksburg, V.A. -
in a hurry for the farewell party of IAWA's
jubilee conference - October 1995























At the Faculty of Architecture, Virginia Tech, V.A. - October, 1995
















In Washington, D.C. - in front of the White House - October, 1995
















In Washington, D.C. - at the Museum of Modern Art - October, 1995























The start of a long trip to the West Cost with Greyhound - November, 1995























Farewell to BLacksburg, V.A. - December 12, 1995
















At the American University in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria - October, 1996
















With colleagues at the rest house of the Bulgarian Union of Architects n Bansko, Bulgaria - October, 1996 (from left to right) :
standing: a Bulgarian architect, Milka Bliznakov, Lois Gottlieb, Ljubinka Stoilova, Petar Iokimov;
sitting: Nikola Kamenov, Sarelle Weissberg, Inge Horton, Kamenov's wife Katya.
















At the restaurant to the rest house of the Union of Bulgarian Architects
in the Monastery of St.St. Cyrique and Julita,
near Asenovgrad, Bulgaria - October, 1996
(from left to right) Milka Bliznakov, Lois Gottlieb, Ljubinka Stoilova, Petar Iokimov, Robert Gottlieb, Sarelle Weissberg, Inge Horton

















The farewell party in Sofia, Bulgaria - October, 1996

















In the Rila Monastery, Bulgaria - August 1997























Hunting for new contributions to the IAWA
with the Bulgarian architect Nadezhda Budevska
during Milka's last stay in Sofia, Bulgaria - September 2008

Conferences on hot problems in Europe

The ACE draws public attention on some conferences that will be held soon:


LOCAL RENEWABLES Freiburg 2011 “Green Buildings and Renewable Energy: The Way Forward in Urban Development” – 27 and 28 October 2011, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.
http://www.local-renewables-conference.org/freiburg2011

ELISAN conference "Territories, laboratories for social Europe" – 8 November 2011, in Brussels. To read more on the conference, go to:
http://www.elisan.eu/photos%5C468821_EN-DRAFT-Innovation%20sociale%20-V%20envoi.pdf

JOINT EUKN and Polish EU Presidency Conference “The Urban dimension of Cohesion Policy” – 8 and 9 December 2011, Warsaw.
http://www.eukn.org/Meetings/Register_for_the_EUKN_Annual_Conference_2011

EU RESEARCH AND INNOVATION: “What role for regions and cities after 2013? ” – Tuesday 13 December 2011 in Brussels.
http://www.cor.europa.eu/pages/EventTemplate.aspx?view=folder&id=2e3f8137-c827-4b72-9bb7-ed46ece11d86&sm=2e3f8137-c827-4b72-9bb7-ed46ece11d86

12th International Docomomo Conference

Docomomo Suomi/Finland will host the 12th Docomomo International Conference
in Espoo, Finland in August 2012.



The conference will be held in cooperation
and with the support of the City of Espoo and Espoo City Museum.
http://www.docomomo-fi.com/conference2012/


DATES TO REMEMBER:

25th July 2011: call for papers -
http://www.docomomo-fi.com/conference2012/index.php?k=218277
October 15, 2011: deadline for abstracts
December 15, 2011: notification of acceptance
March 1st, 2012: deadline first version full paper
April 10, 2012: deadline final version full paper
May 31, 2012 early registration ends
August 2-7, 2012: workshop
August 7-10, 2012: conference
August 11-12, 2011: post-conference tours

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Espoo is part of the greater metropolitan Helsinki area and parts of the the program are held over the capital region. The program is prepared and realized in collaboration with public and private organizations, the principal ones being the Alvar Aalto Foundation, the City of Helsinki, the Architectural Department of Aalto University, Museum of Finnish Architecture, the National Board of Antiquities, the Ministery of Environment and the Ministery of Culture and Education.

The time of the proposed conference coincides with the greater Helsinki region being the World Design Capital 2012, with numerous events and exhibitions dealing with design in all its aspects.

The proposed theme is
THE SURVIVAL OF MODERN, FROM COFFEE CUP TO GENERAL PLAN

http://www.docomomo-fi.com/conference2012/index.php?k=218277

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://www.docomomo.com/

Националният институт за недвижимо културно наследство в Интернет

Най-сетне
Националният институт за недвижимо културно наследство(НИНКН)
има сайт в Интернет
http://ninkn.bg/

The Twentieth Century Society

The Twentieth Century Society is a British organization dedicated to safeguarding the heritage of architecture and design in Britain from 1914 onwards.
The Society’s prime objectives are conservation - to protect the buildings and design that characterize the Twentieth Century in Britain, and education - to extend the public's knowledge and appreciation of them.

Founded in 1979 as the Thirties Society in response to the need for a conservation focus on structures built after 1914 (where the Victorian Society, founded twenty years earlier, concludes its scope),
it was re-named The Twentieth Century Society in 1992
with the broader mission to create understanding and appreciation of the best of all kinds of buildings erected in Britain in the 20th century.

To learn more about the Twentieth Century Society - www.c20society.org.uk



Preston Bus Station

Author: Alan Powers,
architectural historian,
Chair of the Society

Recessions normally give breathing space to buildings threatened by development. The period up to 2008 was increasingly hectic, and post-1945 buildings were especially under threat owing to the development value of their sites.
In several cases, such as the Commonwealth Institute (RMJM, 1962) in Holland Park, buildings protected by listing suffered attrition from the concessions made by the authorities established to make this protection real.
In others, English Heritage, the government’s expert advisers on listing, recommended major civic buildings such as the Birmingham City Library (John Madin, 1974) or the Preston Bus Station (BDP, 1969) for protection, but the government refused. It was hard not to hear the developers’ money talking off stage. Both of these are large concrete structures, and both still standing in 2011, as the redevelopments proposed for their sites may or may not go ahead.
Both have become national news stories, with local defenders whose enthusiasm has provoked the standard responses of ‘brutalist monstrosity’.

Journalists are often part of the problem, since many of them only see one story where modernist heritage is concerned – the one that goes ‘these crazy people want to keep this rubbish.’ This story came out in the high-profile campaign over the Robin Hood Gardens flats in the East End of London, designed by Alison and Peter Smithson in 1968-72. The Twentieth Century Society challenged the decision not to list and has published a book recording the building and the campaign. It still stands and is fully occupied by people who enjoy living there, even though the building needs refurbishment.

Architecture of the 1920s and 1930s tends to be less problematic.
A large number of the famous London Underground stations have recently been listed, while campaigns are afoot to win lottery money for Lubetkin’s Dudley Zoo (1937) in the West Midlands.
The Twentieth Century Society has played a key role in helping both these campaigns, while continuing to run its programme of events and issue publications, including the series Twentieth Century Architects in association with RIBA Publishing, now comprising six titles since 2009 and more to come.

A Museum for Werkbundsiedlung in Vienna

Docomomo Austria would like to ask all Docomomo WPs for support in creating an appropriate on-site museum for the Viennese WERKBUNDSIEDLUNG
similarly to that of Weissenhofsiedlung in Stuttgart, Germany.

Please sign the online petition http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/werkbundsiedlung/
For further information see the Attachment or www.docomomo.com!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/werkbundsiedlung/





Werkbundsiedlung Vienna
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35144812@N07/4225395638/
Vienna’s Werkbundsiedlung, a workers’ association housing complex, is one of the few Werkbund ensembles from the 1920s and 1930s that remains intact. Thirty-one renowned architects, including Josef Hoffmann and Alfred Loos, worked under the direction of Josef Frank and constructed the modernist architectural complex in 1932. Thirty houses remain, ranging from one to three stories, and sit on a triangular plot of land in the periphery of Vienna. The houses exemplify the architects’ modernist philosophy combined with the Viennese estate house style. They created a comfortable and suitable living space with minimal financial expenditure. Although the different types of houses were made uniform through the similar treatment of facades, fencing and roofs, the architects personalized each house through the creative use of colors.
the true Viennese form of Modernism is exhibited in the Vienna Werkbundsiedlung. The individual houses by Loos, Rietveld, Hoffmann, Plischke, Neutra et al were intended as residential models, not technological or functional manifestos. Josef Frank was the initiator of this housing estate. A scholar of Loos, he wanted to demonstrate a new, modern living culture in small houses using economical means. However the Werkbundsiedlung development, completed in 1934, came late, and Austro-Fascism, the Austrian corporative state, put an end to the Modernist movement in Vienna. Josef Frank emigrated to Sweden, establishing his globally successful “Scandinavian furniture style”.
What had begun in 1934 was over by 1938. Viennese Modernism was forced to emigrate. A whole generation of talented architects and open-minded developers were driven out, and their dwellings, houses and land confiscated. Hitler hated Vienna, and so the Nazi period contributed very little in terms of construction activity. However, six flak towers still leave their mark on the urban skyline as “memorials”.
Today, a majority of the houses are owned by the city of Vienna, and are treated as public housing. The residents are largely unaware of the architectural significance of their surroundings. Repairs and routine maintenance of the buildings are lacking. A participatory planning process that includes the city of Vienna, the private residents, and local and international stakeholders, is sought to ensure the preservation and sustainability of the estate.

http://www.vitruvio.ch/arc/contemporary/1880-1945/werkbundsiedlung.php
Construction: 1932
Architects: Gerrit Thomas Rietveld, Josef Hoffmann, Adolf Loos, Heinrich Kulka, André Lurçat, Ernst A. Plischke, Hugo Häring, Anton Brenner, Josef Frank, J Wenzel, R.Bauer, W. Sobotka, O. Wlach, J. Jirasek, Oswald Haerdtl, Emst Lichtblau, Hugo Gorge, J. Groag, Richard Neutra, G. Schütte-Lihotzky, H. Vetter, A. Grünberger, Josef F. Dex, Otto Breuer, H. Wagner-Freynsheim, K. A. Bieber u. O. Niederoser, Walter Loos, E. Wachberger, C. Holzmeister, Anton Brenner, Oskar Strnad.





http://eng.archinform.net/projekte/23205.htm
http://www.simplegreenchoices.com/2009/11/03/wmf-2010-watchlist/
http://eng.archinform.net/projekte/5203.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfgang-ante/2442833421/
http://eng.archinform.net/projekte/22770.htm
http://eng.archinform.net/projekte/370.htm

Belgrad \\ Momente der Architektur

Архитектурната галерия на застрахователната компания
Viena Insurence Group
http://www.vig.com/en/press/image-database.html
подготвя поредната архитектурна изложба.
Този път тя ще бъде посветена на модерната архитектура на Белград
и ще може да се види от 19.07 до 11.11. 2012 г.























The architectural gallery of
Vienna Insurance Group
http://www.vig.com/en/press/image-database.html
is preparing the next architectural exhibition.
This time it will be devoted to
the Modern architecture of Belgrade.

Second Wave of Modernism II:

Landscape Complexity and Transformation
November 18, 2011
New York, NY


Today designers are returning to modernist sites with new motivations,
in attempt to balance the complex values of natural and cultural systems.
Three groups of thematic presentations have been assembled in order to investigate this significant evolution of professional practice.
They will collectively explore landscape transformations at residential, urban and metropolitan scales.

Presented by the Cultural Landscape Foundation.

Architecture, Informal Empire, and the Scottish Cast Iron Industry in Argentina

informs about a PhD Scholarship Opportunity
proposed by
University of Edinburgh - School of Arts, Culture and Environment
AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Award Studentship

The University of Edinburgh and Historic Scotland
seek applicants for a PhD project
entitled 'Trading Nations: Architecture,
Informal Empire, and the Scottish Cast Iron Industry in Argentina.'
The partner institutions have received
a full AHRC studentship
to fund the project, including fees,
a maintenance grant (14k p.a.),
and research expenses for three years.


Project
The project concerns the study of the Scottish pre-fabricated architectural ironwork industry in Argentina during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At the time Scotland enjoyed a commanding position in the pre-fabricated ironwork industry, facilitated by its creative response to market demand as well as its extraordinary production and export capacity. Latin America constituted one of the industry's principal markets, with Argentina leading the way through rapid industrialisation, increased wealth, and its strategic importance to British national interests. The project aims to document and analyse for the first time the significant contribution that Scottish foundries made to the built environment of Argentina.


The studentship offers a fantastic opportunity to study architecture in a wider social, cultural, and economic context. Those with an interest in cultural history and architecture are encouraged to apply. A working knowledge of Spanish is required. Funded travel to Argentina to document buildings and work in relevant archives is also expected.


Eligibility
Applicants should have a good undergraduate degree (at least 2:1 Honours standard UK or equivalent). The studentship is also open to EU students. However, only fees are payable to non-British residents (i.e., no maintenance stipend is available).


Application procedure
Please send CV, two academic references, and a 500 word statement outlining your suitability for the project, to:


Dr Alex Bremner
School of Arts, Culture and Environment
University of Edinburgh
20 Chambers Street
Edinburgh, EH1 1JZ
UK
or email to: alex.bremner@ed.ac.uk


Deadline
Deadline for submissions is Friday 22 July.
Interviews will take place on Thursday 25 August.


For further information, please contact Dr Alex Bremner.
EAHN
c/o TU Delft
RMIT - Faculty of Architecture
PO Box 5043
2600 GA Delft
Netherlands

SCUP Campus Heritage Symposium - Washington, DC

Society for College and University Planning
Integrated Planning for Higher Education

November 3 - 4, 2011
Washington, DC

This symposium brings together together renowned experts to discuss the state of campus heritage planning in light of the lessons learned from Getty Foundation-funded research on 86 campuses.

The intimate, one and a half day event is designed for professionals engaged in planning related to campus heritage, cultural landscapes and the importance of mid-century campus buildings.

For more information and to register, visit the SCUP website.
http://www.scup.org/page/campus_heritage_symposium