Seismographs of culture. Prolegomena
Seismographs of culture. Prolegomena

Author(s): Anna Kobylińska, Maciej Falski
Contributor(s): Katarzyna Wieleńska (Translator)
Subject(s): 19th Century, Pre-WW I & WW I (1900 -1919), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), History of Art
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: architecture; architects; Habsburg empire; cultural biography; social space
Summary/Abstract: The article demonstrates the relevance that research into professional biographies can have for understanding cultural and social change. By analysing the biographies of architects: their backgrounds, educational paths, professional contacts, as well as their entire professional milieu, it is possible to better recognise the causes and course of profound social, political or even civilisational changes in the Habsburg monarchy, during the crucial period of its existence and disintegration. It was the architects who found ways of creating space that responded to changing perceptions and expectations, both individual and collective, tangibly co-creating social space. Coming from different regions of the monarchy, architects practised their profession within the framework of an imperial state whose administrative apparatus and legal system had to be, in principle, constantly adapted to a dynamic and extremely diverse socio-cultural reality. It was made up of many ethnoses, religions, languages and even geophysical factors (always, after all, influencing the living conditions of specific communities). Authors believe that their biographies are - in themselves - already an important carrier of meanings and knowledge about the conditions of everyday life and the mentality of the people living at the time.

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