An initiative of the
A Utopia of Modernity : Zlín
An anthology with contributions by renowned architects, historians, sociologists, and cultural experts on the Zlín phenomenon, the city’s present state and prognosis on its future development. Editor: Katrin Klingan in collaboration with Kerstin Gust. Based on the symposium of the same name held in Zlín and Prague in May 2009.
The development of the Czech city of Zlín since the 1920s is closely tied to the name Baťa. It was here that Tomáš Baťa and his stepbrother Jan Antonín transformed a small shoemaking factory into a global enterprise. Their employees were subjected to the strict discipline demanded by Fordist serial production, but at the same time enjoyed the benefits of education and modern housing. Baťa’s ‘model city’ was built on strict Functionalist principles. Today Zlín is a lively medium-sized city and home to the Tomáš Baťa University.
For the anthology “A Utopia of Modernity : Zlín” renowned architects, historians, sociologists, and cultural experts analyse the Baťa phenomenon and link historical analysis with consideration of the city’s present state and prognosis on its future development. Numerous plans, photographs and film stills highlight the outstanding aesthetic quality of the model city. A series of photographs by the Dutch photographer Bas Princen presents contemporary Zlín from a hitherto unknown perspective.
With contributions from Daniel M. Abramson, Regina Bittner, Lucie Galčanová, Adam Gebrian, Petr Hlaváček, Ladislava Horňáková, Joan James, Igor Kovačević, Rostislav Koryčánek, Dagmar Nová, Jiří Novotný, Zdenĕk Pokluda, Nina Pope, Jitka Ressová, Jaroslav Rudiš, Andrea Scholtz, Vladimír Šlapetá, Annett Steinführer, Rostislav Švachá, Petr Szczepanik, Barbora Vacková, Petr Všetečka, Karin Wilhelm.
Katrin Klingan, Kerstin Gust (Eds.):
A Utopia of Modernity : Zlín
English, 300 pages with numerous images
Softcover with flaps, 17 x 24 cm
Euro (D) 28.00/ISBN 978-3-86859-034-0
Berlin : JOVIS Verlag, 2009
Selection of texts:
Preface
by Katrin Klingan and Kerstin Gust
An Outline of the History of Baťa and Zlín in Dates
by Zdeněk Pokluda
The Baťa Legacy: The Realization of a Utopia
by Vladimír Šlapeta
Obsolescence and the Fate of Zlín
by Daniel M. Abramson
The Aesthetics of Rationalization: The Media Network in the Baťa Company and the Town of Zlín
by Petr Szczepanik
All rights rest with the authors and Zipp/relations e.V.
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