The first half of the twentieth century witnessed the rise of modernist architects in Europe. Brokers of Modernity studies how East Central Europe turned into one of the pre-eminent testing grounds of the new belief system of modernism. By combining the internationalism of the Congrès internationaux d'architecture modern (CIAM) and the modernizing aspirations of the new states built after 1918 such as Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, the reach of modernist architects extended far beyond their established fields. Yet, these architects paid a price when Europe’s age of extremes intensified and modernism was challenged on different levels. Mainly drawing on Polish, but also wider Central and Eastern European cases, and focusing on quickly modernizing cities such as Warsaw, this book delivers a pioneering study of the dynamics of modernist architects as a group. The six chapters of the book explore the training of architects, new forms of organizing the profession, the communication of architects from avant-garde journals to world-exhibitions and scrutinizes how architects attempted to live the modernist lifestyle themselves. In doing so, Brokers of Modernity raises questions concerning collective work in general and also invites us to examine the social role of architects today.

Available in open access.