Rethinking the block. The 1970s European discourses on the city and the IBA Berlin 1979-87

The dissertation explores the relationship between projects for urban blocks and the discourses on the city between the late 1960s and the 1980s, with a particular focus on the blocks of the Internationale Bauausstellung (IBA) Berlin 1979-87. The main research questions center on whether and how the block changed in connection with the emerging ideas of the city during this period and whether these changes had, in turn, effects on the whole city. Thus far, despite extensive research on the theories and the ideas of the city between the 1960s and 1980s, there is a lack of studies that interweave this research with insights into the block. To fill this gap, this dissertation examines how the block was thematized in the 1970s discourses on the city. It highlights projects for blocks designed between the late 1960s and the 70s in various European cities, particularly West Berlin. Then, it focuses on the blocks of the IBA Berlin 1979-87, examining them through theory, history, and drawings. The study of the examples reveals three distinctive aspects of all blocks considered in the dissertation: the overcoming of small private plots, the individualization of the buildings, and the accessibility of the courtyards from public streets. These aspects reflect the changing understandings of the city and of the urban spaces in the 1970s and 1980s, which resulted in new compositional logics of the block. When examined with critical distance, the blocks of the 1970s and 80s offer a lesson in architectural and urban composition which is still current. - The author has made every effort to contact the owners of the copyrights of the material in the dissertation. The author is available to the right holders with whom it was not possible to communicate as well as for any omissions or inaccuracies in quoting the sources.