The Embassy of the Czech Republic in collaboration with the Slovak American Society of Washington and American Sokol, Washington, DC , presents a book talk with Kimberly Zarecor, Professor of Architecture at Iowa State University, speaking about her book “Manufacturing a Socialist Modernity: Housing in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1960,” on February 23, 2017, at 6 pm.

“Manufacturing a Socialist Modernity: Housing in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1960,” published in 2011,focuses on the intersection of architects, housing design, and the state apparatus in the early years of Communist Party rule. It follows the development and deployment of standardized mass-housing types such as the prefabricated structural panel building and examines the relationship between communism and architecture. It was awarded an honorable mention by the Czechoslovak Studies Association for the 2011–12 Book Prize and was an official selection for the Book Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale. Academia Press published a Czech translation of the book in February 2015 in the series “Šťastné zítřky."

Event Details:

Location: Embassy of the Czech Republic
3900 Spring of Freedom Street, NW
Washington, DC 20008

RSVP by February 22 to https://booktalkwithkimberly.eventbrite.com

Embassy policy: No bags or suitcases allowed. Only small purses permitted but will be checked at the door. No coat check available. You must pass through security for entrance. RSVP confirmation and photo ID required. Doors close at 6:15 pm.

Light refreshments follow the event.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Kimberly Elman Zarecor is Associate Professor of Architecture and Director of the Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Design Program in the College of Design at Iowa State University where she teaches courses in architectural history and design. She holds a M.Arch (1999) and Ph.D. (2008) from the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation at Columbia University. Her research examines the cultural and technological history of architecture and urbanism in the former Czechoslovakia. She is the author of Manufacturing a Socialist Modernity: Housing in Czechoslovakia, 1945-1960 (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2011), which appeared in Czech translation in 2015 with Academia Press. Her work has also appeared in Architektúra & urbanizmus, East European Politics and Society, and Home Cultures, as well as a number of edited volumes and conference proceedings. She is currently working on new research about socialist cities as a regional typology and writing about the history of Ostrava, an industrial city in the northeast of the Czech Republic.

More about the book can be found at:
https://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Socialist-Modernity-Czechoslovakia-1945-1960/dp/0822944049/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1474326049&sr=8-1&keywords=zarecor+socialist