ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discuses from two of the editors' longstanding research interests: the representation of architecture in print media, and the complex identity of the second phase of modernism in architecture given the role it played in postwar reconstruction in Europe. Professional architecture journals are often seen as conduits of established facts and knowledge. No two journals are exactly alike, as each owner, publisher and editor seeks to establish a professional marketplace for their product. However, the involvement of journals, as conduits or as active participants, varied. The most extreme positions were to be found in the Netherlands and in Germany. Initially, the postwar journals tended to idolise the 'masters' identified with the modern movement of the preceding interwar period: Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Gropius, August Perret and Aalto all appear in monographic issues or special articles, often introduced with supportive editorials.
