Architectural transformation of urban centers. Czech towns 1945 - 1989.

The topic of this thesis is the architectural transformation (i.e. redevelopment and new buildings) of historical centers in Czech towns in the years 1945-1989. The author tries to put this process into context of the period architecture and heritage conservation and to answer some basic questions. How were the conceptions of an optimal form of new buildings intended for historical surroundings being generated and developed? What factors did these conceptions influence? Why were new buildings so often being located just to these valuable town parts and who did in the process of their formation participate? The thesis is divided into five parts which are connected in time and the author emphasizes the topic continuity with the pre-war period, because we can observe the conflict between traditionalism and modernism as well as the advantages and the limits both of these methods as far back as the 1930s. The examples are chosen within the set of 71 Czech district towns except the capital city Prague. Keywords: Modernisation of historical city-centers, urbanism, architecture, heritage, 1945-198