Second World Postmodernisms: Rethinking Late Socialist Architecture

Vladimir Kulić's edited volume 'Second World Postmodernisms: Architecture and Society Under Late Socialism' (Bloomsbury, 2019) challenges Western-centric definitions of postmodern architecture by examining its manifestations in socialist states during the late Cold War. The book's thirteen chapters, spanning Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, Cuba, and China, argue that postmodernism in these contexts was not merely an import of Western neoliberalism but a complex phenomenon shaped by local political, social, and cultural dynamics. Key contributions include Richard Anderson's analysis of Soviet theoretical debates, Fredo Rivera's study of Cuban 'transculturation,' and Cole Roskam's examination of Chinese architectural discourse post-Mao. The volume highlights the role of printed media, paper architecture, and international exchanges, while acknowledging the difficulty of applying a uniform definition of postmodernism across diverse socialist contexts. Kulić's own chapter on Serbian architect Bogdan Bogdanović exemplifies the paradoxes of labeling late socialist design as postmodern.