For societies in transformations, the architectural heritage of the recent past is central to both urban planning and political campaigning. CONDEM explores how, after regime change, the fate of sites perceived as cultural products of the ousted regime is justified, debated and contested among the political establishment and the professional society of architects. While political decision-making on heritage is shaped by memory politics, CONDEM analyzes architects’ engagement with the issue as an expression of ‘politics of professionalization’ – a pursuit for expert agency and public recognition. In doing so, CONDEM highlights nationalist or civic values attached to heritage, and the inclusive or exclusive dimensions in its conceptualization.
This research focuses on Sofia and Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s two largest cities, in three periods of political transformation: nation-state building after 1878, state socialism after WWII, and liberal democracy after 1989. It traces the evolution of the problem of heritage in legal acts, political documents and architectural critique over more than a century, and conducts discourse analysis of heritage debates based on several case studies. By investigating how the value of architectural heritage changed over time reflecting competing political / corporate interests, CONDEM addresses the bigger question to what extent public representations of the past promote plurality or entrench discrimination.
This project is funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe (Grant no. 101130804)
