One of the central issues in the rich discourse on modern architecture since the beginning of the 20th Century has always been its relationship with the past. Often it was the perceived character of this relationship in certain buildings or urban environments that would help to endow them with significance for a particular group of citizens. By concentrating on three key junctures in the history of modern architecture (the era of European national consolidation, the interwar period, and post-WWII) this conference will investigate how, during certain periods of perceived rapid political, social, and economic change, various groups understood their identity to be derived from or reflected in the urban landscape, its history and its transformations. 

The symposium will consist of papers for the following three sessions: