This position paper addresses the ways that we historicise architectural modernism, especially within the context of the unprecedented global movements of people, ideas, materials and labour that characterised the post-war period. It suggests an alternative theoretical framing and corresponding historiography of global modernism, based on the concept of cross-cultural "contact zones." A notion first coined by literature scholar Mary Louise Pratt in the context of colonial studies, architectural contact zones-competitions, exhibitions, congresses, biennales, summer schools-offer the possibility to rethink what innovation in architecture culture entails. Rather than underscoring the originality of the single genius-architect, contact zones offer a conception of architectural development that is based on a more global and multidirectional exchange of knowledge. Scrutinising the mechanisms behind architectural contact zones can result in a reframing of the history of architectural modernism as a cross-cultural, multi-authored and poly-conceptual matter.
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