1. INTRODUCTION

Integrative theories of space and the concept of synthesis began to develop in the early 1950s, as a critique of the functionalist paradigm and in relation to the need for the improvement of the quality of urban life. Those theories of space promoted the spontaneous development of an urban environment that accommodates and forms connections between various functions of living. Walter Gropius paved the road for the new integrative ‘experiment of living’ in his work Scope of Total Architecture (1956), which underlined the importance of the analysis of living urban organisms in restoring human merits to the city (Gropius, 1961, pp. 154). The significance of this book in Yugoslavia is implicated by the fact that it received the Yugoslav edition in 1961 entitled Synthesis in Architecture. The concept of synthesis was crucial for Yugoslav society, which recognised synthesis as one of the fundamental ideological and political postulates developed from the humanistic orientation of self-managing socialism. The establishment of humane principles and overcoming alienation through the synthesis of the living environment was the priority because of the need for harmonic relationships between an individual and society, focusing on the human as an integral biological and social being (Stojiljković, 2021). The idea of synthesis and integrative theory of space is associated with the concept of organic architecture that emerged in the late XIX century concerning ecological issues. In addition to technological utopia, the first half of the XX century saw the expansion of natural philosophy in architecture, which is evident in the concept of the organic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. Organic architecture is presented as synthesis – the unity and harmony between humans and the environment. The return to the sources of synthesis, aimed at the humanisation of urban space, became a standard process in progressive societies, such as in Scandinavian countries, following WWII. Avant-garde concepts pointed out that a functionalistic city does not show autonomous value and does not match society’s actual needs. They advocated a more complex approach to analysing the city and re-establishing the organic living environment. 

The Yugoslav political system represented an avant-garde Marxist concept that tried to establish a utopian society with a balance between the global system and humans. Regarding this, a connection between the natural and built environment became an assignment of Yugoslav architectural theory, reflected in the design of spatial structures that promote harmony between humans and space. Yugoslav architect Vjenceslav Richter was probably the most persistent in developing the concept of synthesis, proposing a global, holistic and systematic approach. Richter aspired to transform the self-management concept into a real and palpable political function of living space, focusing on the synthesis problem. His central thesis of ‘Synturbanism’ was based on a systematic approach to urban planning. This paper starts from the premise that the ideas of synthesis in a utopian model of Vjenceslav Richter reflected an original ideological agenda of Yugoslav Socialism based on the value of Marxist humanism. Although innovative concepts of Synturbanism remain utopian, they call for a new understanding within the contemporary context. The synthesis of natural and architectural landscape regains relevance with the sustainability paradigm.

2. CONCEPT OF SYNTHESIS AND YUGOSLAV HUMANISTIC MARXISM

The introduction of the concept of synthesis as a principle of life required a comprehensive social and philosophical orientation in the perception of the world. A significant segment of cultural imagination of the socialist self-management system in Yugoslavia was an attempt to articulate the alternative Marxist ‘new left’ approach based on free human action and humanistic Marxism (Stojiljković & Ignjatović, 2019). A factual foundation of the Yugoslav socio-political project was based on a humanistic interpretation of the teachings of Marx and Engels and advocated the synthesis of philosophy of science, art and society. Edvard Kardelj, a Yugoslav ideologist and the key figure in the democratisation of culture, postulated in 1954 that cultural creatorship has to be ‘organically connected to great socialist efforts of the working people’ (Kardelj, 1981, pp. 171-172). Critical Marxist thought perceived humans as natural-social beings with multifaceted connections with nature (Marković, 1996). Marxist dialectics provided an analogy and method for analysis of developmental processes in nature that could be used to explain across-the-board interconnections.

The reflection of the humanistic idea of synthesis could have been achieved only through a comprehensive integral view of the life socialist society. The importance of the interdisciplinary approach was implicated by a series of symposia on the synthesis theme that brought together many intellectuals, including Yugoslav architects (Vrnjacka Banja 1973, 1975, 1977). It was postulated that the idea of synthesis requires interconnection and collaboration of the educational system, cultural workers, institutions, urban planning, architectural design, art, and humanistic, biological and environmental sciences intending to establish urban-spatial development that is in accord with the values of Marxist self-management (Group of authors, 1978, pp. 7). Architect Aleksej Brkić on the Second Symposium of Synthesis, put forward broad philosophical foundations of synthesis and placed architecture into the context of large natural systems and systems of nature:

This is why synthesis is not only nature’s nature but also the nature of human existence. Only in the establishment of relations and order and reconciliation can one find the real human sense and human abilities, just like the true sense of human creation can only be revealed in art. And precisely for this purpose, the law of synthesis in its essence and final character ultimately becomes the law of beauty. (Venturini, 1978, pp. 8)

It was humanistic Marxism that stood at the very core of the interpretation of the synthesis of numerous Yugoslav architects. Architect Zvonimir Radić stressed the importance of synthesis as a crucial aspect of the social environment, claiming that: ‘the future of all human growth inevitably lies in synthesis, in man’s agency to change matter, in his power to unite, break or assemble it into a unique world’ (Radić, 1963, pp.13). In the text entitled ‘Thought, ambient, time, synthesis and reality’ (1977), Slobodan Jovanović underlined that modern architectural-urbanistic thought was reflected in its integration with contemporary analytics and philosophical concepts that thought, ambient, time, and synthesis represent elements of architecture. The synthesis in architecture defines the design of a physical environment that is based upon ‘continual inherent development’ and ‘an update of truth’, and that does not represent a collection of aesthetics (Jovanović, 1978, pp. 21). Jovanović concluded that the functionalistic approach is insufficient, and that contemporary architecture calls for an organic connection of science, technology and art in architectural-urbanistic realisations to generate simulative spatial compositions. The Yugoslav social ambient design and shaping of space could be realised only through the synthesis in art and without compartmentalisation (Petrović, 1955, pp.4). Critical reappraisal of architectural theory pointed out the integrative and comprehensive nature of architecture which defined the identity of shape, function and construction as aesthetic conditions of integrity of art in Yugoslav society (Pasinović, 1969, pp. 6). Following this line of thought in Yugoslav urbanistic theory, new concepts emerged, viewing the environment as a system of intertwined functions. The synthesis, as a result of the integrative coordination of all factors in design and construction, was presented as a harmonious aggregate of elements that lose their autonomy. The phenomena in the environment and their interconnections were perceived as a complex system. This was different to functionalistic urbanism, which simplified urban space compared to real processes (Dakić & Kritovac, 1973, pp. 36).

3. THE CONCEPT OF SYNTHESIS IN THE WORK OF VJENCESLAV RICHTER

Architect Vjenceslav Richter most consistently developed the concept of synthesis in Yugoslav architecture. As a member of the avant-garde group EXAT 51, he presented the group’s manifesto in 1954 in his publication ‘The prognosis of life and art synthesis as a reflection of our time’. The manifesto offered a unique ideological and working program based on a careful analysis of the structure of a new language of plastic art, as well as the use of the program in achieving the goals of a socialist society (Richter, 1964). Richter found the rationale for the organisation of living synthesis in a socialistic system that was interested in humans as integral biological and social beings, within a general search for harmonious relations between individuals and collectives. According to Richter, introducing the concept of synthesis as a principle of life requires a broader social and philosophical orientation in the perception of the world as a whole. The whole is a subject of integration and synthesis programs involving large and small spatial and temporal complexes (Richter, 1964, pp. 86).

In his theoretical works and discussions in EXAT 51 group, Richter built a hypothesis of artistic synthesis, amalgamation of architecture, plastics and art, and the thesis of plastic art. The theme of synthesis of decorative art was promoted in CIAM by Sugfried Giedion after WWII. Giedion planted a theory of relations in the late 1940s and early 1950s in his discussions on the synthesis of arts (Deyong, 2014). A structural connection between the technique and aesthetic of architecture, Richter presented the concept of the Yugoslav pavilion at the Expo 58 held in Brussels in 1958. This was the first world exhibition after WWII (Kulić, 2012). On the roof of the pavilion, Richter styled a self-standing sculpture composed of six arches representing the idea of synthesising society, culture, and the visual arts.