Holidays after the Fall: Seaside Architecture and Urbanism in Bulgaria and Croatia

Every summer season, the sun-drenched coasts of Bulgaria and Croatia turn into densely inhabited, intensively exploited tourist hotspots. Holidays after the Fall traces the various architectural and urban-planning strategies pursued in these countries since the mid-1950s. It portrays late-modern tourist architecture and resorts of a remarkable diversity, which have endured as playgrounds for both the Bulgarian and Croatian working classes and the international market. These surprisingly glamorous architectural and urban endeavors were often ahead of their time in scope, design and refinement. The authors focus above all on how, in the wake of political change and the privatization of business, individual resorts and outstanding buildings have been economically and physically restructured, leaving a mixed and fascinating legacy of deserted ruins, cautious renovations and ongoing public protest.