In the mood of postwar Europe, nostalgically looking back, modern buildings often appeared too sudden, too violent. Restorations and careful reconstructions of historical edifices using traditional, skillful craftsmanship were considered more valuable than the new buildings of the day. In the absence of clear city contours, contemporary architecture searched desperately for identity alongside the sentimental populistic motifs of arcades, oriels. This “skinny”, mediocre architecture of the fifties, precariously balanced between art and kitsch, always had an episodic character.