Architecture and Modernization Histories of Cyprus

This research project casts the spotlight on the understudied history of modern architecture in Cyprus, and its complex interconnections with larger cultural aspirations regarding modernity, cultural identity, socioeconomic development, and techno-scientific progress. Focusing primarily on the recent history of post-independence Cyprus (1960-1974), this project investigates public and semi-public institutional buildings which exemplify the ways in which architecture became entangled with larger historical circumstances and debates about nation-building and modernization, the preservation of cultural heritage, possibilities for bi-communal coexistence, and alignments with global socioeconomic trends. The objective is twofold: First to unveil a systematic and critical analysis of architectural modernism in Cyprus and to fill an important gap in current scholarship on the broader Eastern Mediterranean region's architectural history and culture. Second: this research aims to situate the history of Cyprus modern architecture within current international scholarly debates on the larger history of mid-twentieth Century modernism. This project moves away from encyclopaedic or stylistic analyses of architecture, and instead, it is premised on an interdisciplinary methodology that employs critical theoretical tools from architectural history, postcolonial theory, and cultural studies. The outcomes of this historically-grounded research are multiple. A series of scholarly articles are being planned that connect the architectural culture of Cyprus to larger architectural historical and theoretical debates on post- WWil politics of modernization, development, environment, and cultural identity. A workshop is also being planned, as well as an edited volume, and a website on modern architecture in Cyprus and global perspectives. All these activities promise to be of interest to historians of architecture, social scientists and other scholars dealing with questions of culture and modernity Cyprus. This project will also be of interest to architecture students and practicing architects who are interested in the recent history and heritage of their profession. On an international level, this scholarly endeavour promises to also make a significant contribution to scholarship on the history of modern architecture and interrelated discourses of modernism, modernization, and cultural identity.