Construction cultures of the recent past: Building materials and building techniques 1950–2000

With this thematic session we set out to gain insight into building practice and construction culture 1950-2000 by examining both innovative and pioneering experiments, as well as day-to-day building practice based on typical, common and traditional building materials and techniques. We aim not only to understand the technical and material properties of these materials and their applications, but also to link these technical aspects with cultural properties to discern how building culture is embedded in building materials. Additionally, we intend to capture the tension and interaction between global developments and local applications of particular building materials to encourage an intercultural perspective.