ABSTRACT
The chapter illustrates and analyses the context to Jerzy Sołtan’s biography in his mature years in relation to the broader international exchanges in architecture. It starts with the analysis of Sołtan’s involvement in CIAM congresses and his firm belief in the need of CIAM in Central and Eastern European countries as they were emerging from the socialist realism propaganda period. It follows with Sołtan’s role in the reorganisation of CIAM and his exchanges with other architects. The chapter discusses further Sołtan’s involvement in Team 10 and in extending the reading of modern architecture as a more interdisciplinary approach, building on the legacy of CIAM. It positions Sołtan in Team 10’s discourse on modern architecture and clarifies how his architectural theory and designs relate to the group’s discussions on the future of modernism. Finally, the chapter discusses Sołtan’s involvement in architectural education at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard, a school deeply rooted in Le Corbusier’s heritage after Sert’s deanship. It explains how his work as chairman influenced the school’s profile and moved it closer to his vision of modernism, and how the growing influence of postmodern criticism made him one of the last modernist architects.
