Provider: - Institution: - Data provided by Europeana Collections- The subject of this research is the methodological concept of architectural critical practice: its theoretical postulation and historical examination through the study of the critical discourse of modern architecture in Yugoslavia. Its main objective is to examine modern architecture in Yugoslavia in the theoretical context of critical thinking and to explain its specificities within the frame of reference of the critical architecture of modernism in an international context. In a broader sense, the particular aim of this research is to gain scientific insights into the possibilities and principles of establishing architectural critical discourse, and thus to make a contribution to the contemporary theoretical debate on the role, forms and scope of critical thinking in architecture. The first section of this dissertation establishes the theoretical framework of the research, examines referential concepts of architectural theory and critical theory and situates the subject of investigation in the geographical and historical context. The second section is conceived as historical-interpretative research composed of four case studies in which previously postulated theses are examined in specific historical circumstances and theoretical models of architectural critical practice are constructed based on research results. The theoretical framework is set up through the examination and systematization of key notions: critique, critical theory, critical architecture, practice, theoretical practice and architectural critical practice. The hypotheses proposed in thus formed glossary are further tested through a critical analysis of referential texts from the fields of architectural theory, aesthetics, philosophy and social theory, among which the works VI of Manfredo Tafuri and Theodor Adorno stand out as the main theoretical points of reference. The concept of architectural critical practice is theoretically explained as a term broader than the concepts of architectural criticism and critical architecture, which were explicated by Tafuri in his book Theories and History of Architecture Teorie e storia dell’architettura (Bari: Laterza, 1968) and theoretically developed in the 1980s by K. Michael Hays. The problems of critical discourse are viewed in the context of the current debate on the role of critical thinking in architecture, as one of the most significant topics of contemporary architectural theory. Throw the notions of the postcritical theory, presented in the work of Michael Speaks, Sarah Whiting, Robert Somol, Stan Allen and Silvia Lavin, the major problems of radical criticism, i.e. problems of negativity, destruction and inhibition, are identified, and a key question of this theoretical research is raised: can an efficient remedy be found within the framework of the very concept of criticism? On the assumption that the philosophical concepts of the Frankfurt school are relevant to understanding the phenomena of modern art and architecture and that the thesis about the double character of art, put forward by Adorno in his Аеsthetic Theory Äesthetische Theorie (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Verlag, 1970), has the capacity to unify different forms of critical thinking through a unique conceptual mechanism, a secondary research hypothesis is postulated. It argues that the critical discourse in architecture is determined by the continuity of the principle of critical ambivalence (i.e. of the double character of art, as both autonomous and fait social) and by the changeable position of the subject, object and devices of criticism. Furthermore, it is established that the changeability of the critical positions is conditioned (prompted or inhibited) by the changes of the historical, cultural, and socio-political context. In keeping with the ideas of the philosophy of practice, explained in the works of Louis Althusser and the Yugoslav philosophical group Praxis, architectural critical practice is defined as a field of broad professional activity which entails qualities of a general, social practice. Underscoring the conceptual shift from the singular VII architectural building as an instrument of criticism to a complex methodological apparatus in which different forms of theoretical and design work are understood as an extended medium of architectural critical thought and activity, we point out the basic characteristics of this concept and, relying on Pierre Bourdieu’s research of social practice, we identify its specific features: situational logic, dispersedness and adaptability. The theoretical concept thus established is examined through a historical analysis of the key examples of critical discourse of modern architecture in Yugoslavia. The principle of contemporariness is singled out as the basic critical paradigm and, based on the theses advanced in Tafuri’s theory, elements of transcendent (avant-garde) and immanent (experimental) criticism are identified in individual examples of architectural practice. The study shows that Tafuri’s theory is not fully applicable to the Yugoslav cultural context and points out the specificities of the Yugoslav critical discourse. On the margin of the Tafuri’s critical opposition between the avant-garde and experimentalism, four separate historical situations, subjects of the second part of the research, are identified as precedents indicating the possibilities of transforming, extending and opening up critical discourse in architecture. The first critical model is structured as a study of early projects of architect Nikola Dobrović (1897-1967). The object of this analysis are his first constructed buildings, built in Prague between 1927 and 1934, among which Antonin Jindrak’s house stands out (Krč, 1928). The particularity of his critical position is viewed in the wider context of Central European architectural avant-garde and theoretically explained as latent criticism. The second model is conceived as a case study of the design and construction of the Yugoslav Journalists’ Association Center in Belgrade (1930-1935), by architect Ernest Weissmann (1903-1985). This research focuses on the problem of the critical reception of architectural avant-garde and examines the process of its mediation through the construction of this building. The construction of the Museum of Revolution in Belgrade (1961-1982), based on the designs of architect Vjenceslav Richter (1917-2002), is the subject of the third critical study, which explores the phenomenon of interrupted criticism and points out the inconstancy, changeability and VIII transformability of critical discourse in architecture. The last critical model analyses the work of architect Milan Zloković (1897-1965) on the design and construction of the Tourist Settlement in Ulcinj (1961-1964). Through a study of the basic characteristics of Zloković’s design method, in relation to the particularities of the specific cultural context, the problem of establishing the appropriate critical distance is questioned and analysed. In each of the these cases a complex critical attitude towards the existing social reality and the unique critical moment of emancipation is recognized. The research shows that the concept of architectural critical practice is founded on the principle of the double character of architecture and it involves invention, construction and use of diverse critical instruments of architectural and urban design, as well as the critical methods of the history and theory of architecture. Through the study of the unique experience of the Yugoslav modernism, by shifting the focus from the critical architecture to the extended field of architectural critical practice, the further possibilities of opening up contemporary critical discourse in architecture are conceptually indicated.- Tema ovog istraživanja je metodološki koncept arhitektonske kritičke prakse, njegova teorijska postavka i istraživanje kroz studiju kritičkog diskursa moderne arhitekture u jugoslovenskom kulturnom prostoru. Njegov osnovni cilj je da se moderna arhitektura u Jugoslaviji sagleda u teorijskom kontekstu kritičkog mišljenja i da se odrede i naučno objasne njene karakteristike i posebnosti. U širem smislu, cilj ovog rada je sticanje naučnih sazananja o mogućnostima i principima uspostavljanja kritičkog diskursa u savremenoj arhitektonskoj teoriji i praksi. U prvom delu istraživanja postavljen je teorijski okvir rada, analizirani su referentni koncepti arhitektonske teorije i kritičke teorije, i problem istraživanja je situiran u prostorno-vremenskom kontekstu. Drugi deo disertacije je koncipiran kao istorijsko-interpretativno istraživanje koje se sastoji iz četiri studije slučaja u kojima se prethodno postavljene teze ispituju u konkretnim istorijskim uslovima i, na osnovu rezultata istraživanja, konstruišu teorijski modeli arhitektonske kritičke prakse. Teorijski okvir je postavljen kroz ispitivanje i sistematizaciju ključnih pojmova: kritika, kritička teorija, kritička arhitektura, praksa, teorijska praksa i arhitektonska kritička praksa. Hipoteze postavljene u pojmovniku se dalje proveravaju kroz kritičku analizu referentnih tekstova iz oblasti arhitektonske teorije, estetike, filozofije i društvene teorije, među kojima se, kao glavna teorijska uporišta izdvajaju radovi Manfreda Tafurija (Manfredo Tafuri) i Teodora Adorna (Theodor Adorno). Koncept arhitektonske kritičke prakse je teorijski objašnjen kao širi pojam u odnosu na koncepte arhitektonske kritike i kritičke arhitekture, koje je u svojoj knjizi Teorie e storia dell’architettura (1968) objasnio Tafuri, i 1980-ih godina teorijski razvio Majkl Hejz (K. Michael Hays). Problemi kritičkog diskursa su posmatrani u kontekstu aktuelne debate o ulozi kritičkog mišljenja u arhitekturi, kao jednog od najznačajnijih pitanja savremene arhitektonske teorije. Kroz studiju ideja postkritičke teorije (Michael Speaks, Sarah Whiting, Robert Somol,