The Destruction of Architecture

German Cities in Literature during and after World War II

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59490/footprint.18.1.6942

Abstract

The Allied bombing campaigns over the German cities during World War II produced a vast landscape of destruction, which has been the object of reports, accounts and fictional narratives. Cities and buildings, a fundamental architectural heritage binding individuals and communities to their existential spaces, were annihilated in the most extensive act of deliberate destruction in human history. In this article, I look into the work of three authors – Heinrich Böll, Stig Dagerman and Hans Erich Nossack – to outline the effects of the bombings on the survivors, and on their relationship to both urban space and architectural heritage.

Author Biography

Federico De Matteis, University of L'Aquila

Federico De Matteis is an architect and professor of design at the University of L’Aquila, Italy. His research focuses on the affective dimension of space and the corporeal resonance between the experiencing subject and architecture, and on the possible tools to express this relationship. His recent books are Affective Spaces: Architecture and the Living Body (Routledge, 2020), I sintomi dello spazio: Corpo architettura città (Mimesis, 2021); The Affective City: 1. Spaces, Atmospheres and Practices in Changing Urban Territories and 2. Abitare il terremoto (both edited with S. Catucci, LetteraVentidue, 2021 and 2022).

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Published

2024-09-30

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 1 (2024): Issue # 34 | Narrating Shared Futures

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Article

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Copyright (c) 2024 Federico De Matteis

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