Soviet Architecture - Cold War DOCUMENTARY
for anyone who has either lived in or traveled through post-soviet spaces one of the Striking features that many people comment on is the remaining Legacy of the era's buildings drab repetitive unremarkable Beyond just how much of it was made from concrete the khrushchovka bonus litter Urban Landscapes to this day so it often comes as a surprise that there is some remarkable and unique building that came from the Soviet era I'm your host David and today we are going to look at the evolution uniqueness and surprising creativity of Soviet architecture this is the Cold War foreign history is often quite complex with deep threads related to culture and memory running through it but there is no denying the impact that specific individuals have had on that history which is why I am so pleased to recommend an outstanding biography I watched recently on Magellan TV on Yorkie zhukov part of their great Commander series the video looks at his personal background his tactical and strategic skills and the impact he had on history and this is just one video in a series which looks at other great commanders as well including Nelson Bonaparte and Grant and one of the best things about the video it is completely ad-free just like every video on Magellan TV including the new 4k content that's being added every week and Cold War viewers will get a one month free trial by clicking on the link in the description make sure to start your free trial of Magellan TV so you can join us in watching jorginhookov in previous episodes we've looked at the cultural experiences of Soviet citizens in the Spheres of Education tourism and consumerism among others but what about architecture in a society as authoritarian and ideological as the Soviet Union no form of cultural expression was immune from being used for propaganda purposes and this includes building design on the surface architecture might seem like an odd Choice given how standardized many things were in the USSR Western perceptions of Soviet architecture are far from inspiring and less depressing suburbs consisting of identical apartment blocks brutalist concrete public spaces and grandiose propagandistic monuments all immediately come to mind but this stereotype isn't altogether accurate the Cold War and other International influences in fact had a major impact on Soviet architecture in the post-war period resulting in a variety of rather bizarre and surprisingly expressive Creations across all 15 republics and even internationally before we jump into this topic a quick definition Cold War Soviet architecture is often associated with the brutalist movement of the 1950s to quote brutalist buildings are characterized by minimalist constructions that showcase the bear building materials and structural elements over decorative design the style commonly makes use of exposed unpainted concrete or brick angular geometric shapes and a predominantly monochromatic color palette other materials such as steel Timber and glass are also featured the word brutalism is not linked to an aesthetic of being brutal or harsh but rather from the French term meaning raw concrete just so we're all on the same page now to best understand the development of Soviet architecture during the Cold War we need to go back to the formation of the USSR on December 30th 1922 to look at the key beliefs underpinning the new country the Soviet state was at its core motivated by a belief that communism would bring modernity and progress to the lands of the former Russian Empire this is well illustrated by one of the Bolsheviks early decrees from December 1919 which strived for the elimination of illiteracy making literacy training mandatory for all citizens aged from 8 to 50 but the policy known by its abbreviation lithiaz was not merely an act of benevolence by the Bolshevik government it deliberately set in motion a chain of events that would have a lasting impact on Soviet culture keep in mind that the complex Marxist theories that underpinned Bolshevik thinking were alien to the mostly illiterate peoples of the newly formed USSR people that needed to be active political participants if the state was to survive the Soviet state therefore faced a dilemma how do we get our citizens to understand our thinking when most can't even read in order to bridge this gap between the Soviets complex ideological Viewpoint and its widespread adoption Soviet leaders including Vladimir Lenin increasingly turned to propagandized forms of entertainment to encourage the masses in their ideological fervor under Lenin's New Economic Policy for instance the consumption of high pre-revolutionary and Petty Bourgeois culture like the theater opera Cinema and even the circus was actively encouraged of course this modernizing project needed public spaces to facilitate it the immediate effect on architecture and the urban environment was remarkable palaces of culture were expanded into almost every village town and City acting as a kind of community center these palaces of culture hosted public events and were vital hubs for communities right up until the USSR collapsed in 1991. similarly Standalone Cinemas libraries and theaters were built across the Soviet Union the intention was to constantly broadcast moscow's ideology to communities in every corner of the USSR following Lenin's death in 1924 and the rise of Joseph Stalin the Soviet cultural sphere was dominated by the idea of culturnos translating roughly to culturedness for Stalin however culturedness meant Mass engagement with his own Cult of Personality first and Soviet ideologies second this placed a new emphasis on marches carnivals and celebrations Soviet urban planning therefore increasingly Incorporated Grand boulevards and avenues on which they could be held for anybody who has ever driven down kutuzovski Prospect with little to no traffic on it named Marvel at the size of the road in a country with relatively few cars in it but they had a clear didactic purpose now Beyond urban planning this period of stalinous Soviet architecture is best known for its neo-gothic style the so-called Seven Sisters which are scattered across Moscow arguably provide the best examples of this Moscow State University is probably the most famous of these but were Palace of culture and science on almost exact copy of the Seven Sisters architecture was also gifted by the Soviets to socialists Poland in 1955 as yet another Beacon of moscow's ideology the destruction wrought by the Great Patriotic War however was devastating for the Soviet Union and resulted in this Grand ideological construction project being brought to a halt but with the onset of the Cold War Soviet culture including architecture would change radically once again Stalin's death in 1953 and Nikita khrushchev's subsequent rise to power coincided with both an urgent need to build housing and the acceleration of the ussr's post-war economic recovery in the stalinist period Soviet housing was characterized by communal Apartments known as komunalca in Russian typically built in the same neon Gothic style mentioned earlier they were not particularly cheap or easy to construct they were also inadequate all facilities like the kitchen and bathrooms were shared by up to seven families and each family also had to share just one room regardless of their size but with many of the ussr's 200 million inhabitants still without a home as late as 1956 and a rapidly growing population these komunalka became even more unfit for the requirements of the time Gustav's solution was the humble five-story apartment blocks we now see all over the former Soviet Union though they were limited to five stories not for aesthetic reasons but over concerns about the safety of building elevators their construction was considered revolutionary in the Soviet Union for the period using prefabricated panels of concrete transported to the site entire apartment blocks complete with utilities like plumbing and heating were constructed in a matter of days for the first time almost every Soviet family could have their own home Soviet propaganda channels accordingly hailed this Triumph of Soviet engineering and the state's provision of housing for the masses above all though these buildings were both cheap and easy to construct ticking the necessary boxes cities like katarin bork and novosibirsk grew 10 times in size from 1917 to 1960 alone these apartment blocks now known as khrushchovka across the former Soviet Union were also built to be adaptable to the wide range of climates across the Soviet Union they can be found from mordmondsk in the Russian Arctic to tajikistan's Capital dushanbe and thus the Soviet stereotype about gray apartment blocks was born khrushchev's housing policy was undoubtedly a success and still informs how many people picture the urban environment in the former USSR today during the legend of era the khrushcheovka model would be expanded and more typically built forth anywhere from 9 to 16 stories interesting examples of this development include these so-called houses on chicken legs situated on St petersburg's vasilevsky Island and the round houses of Moscow which fused the practicality of housing with the more experimental architectural influences that arrived later so at this point you're probably thinking that I'm crazy and that all these apartment blocks are all the same and that they aren't interesting but this is only where the story of Soviet Cold War architecture really begins although Khrushchev is perhaps best remembered for his Brazen mannerisms and ultimate removal the cultural thought that his tenure set in motion actually led to the creation of some of the most bizarre and striking buildings ever constructed indeed khrushchev's secret speech in 1956 liberalized the Soviet cultural space and somewhat relaxed the relentlessness of the state's ideology Khrushchev also pursued a foreign policy based on internationalism and peaceful coexistence with the West which for the first time opened up the USSR to external influences while Stalin's mass culture was based on the Carnival and the parade Gustav's was instead marked by the international exhibition and the Trade Fair Soviet Architects would seize upon this cultural moment to push the boundaries of artistic expression as far as they could beginning with the effects of the thaw on architecture one of its key impacts was that it devolved significant autonomy to Soviet Architects themselves this autonomy did come with some limitations buildings still had to broadly represent their propagandizing principles of the state and be feasible to construct with the materials available in the USSR however though Architects may have received a directive from the center to design a palace of culture or a cinema in a town very few aesthetic instructions were given this Devolution also coincided with the liberalization of national expression the evolution therefore meant that the architectural matters of each Republic were by and large devolved to architects of that Republic's nationality who now had the freedom to reassert their cultural heritage in their work the architecture of public spaces in the Soviet Union thus quickly became dehomogenized and represented more directly the cultural heritage of each Republic and a blast attest regions like Central Asia quote became the true laboratory of local form materials and ornaments for example several soviet-era buildings reflect the Region's Islamic Heritage one example famously featured in Stefano Perego and Roberto Conte's photo book Soviet Asia is the State Museum of the history of Uzbekistan originally built in 1970 as the Lenin Museum its harsh concrete aesthetic both reflects stereotypes about the severity of Soviet architecture but also complicates it as its design is based on the traditional Uzbek panzara pattern similar patterns can be found in the mosques of Samarkand Bukhara and Kiva another example in Tashkent is the Palace of the Friendship of the peoples the architectural influences and the name itself reflect the post-war Resurgence of the USSR as a Brotherhood between nations even if there was a gap between rhetoric and reality in the meantime architectural developments were taking place in Estonia Latvia and Lithuania as there are two videos looking at how the Soviet Union annexed the baltics explored the destruction of individual National identities in the Baltic republics was not exactly welcomed with open arms but architects in these republics seized on the opportunity to reassert their cultural heritage notably constructions in Estonia like mariame and Lena Hall are mostly free from Soviet symbolism and actually appeal much more to modernism Above All Else research by train ohari of the Estonian Museum of architecture suggests that this is because architects who led projects in Estonia like Mark Port who is in charge of housing policy were entirely Estonia as such estonians finno-ukreic Heritage and its cultural Affinity with more minimalist Nordic design survived the period equally the 1980 Moscow Olympics sailing competitions were held in Talon which provided another opportunity for local Architects to jump on the Soviets modernizing bandwagon to bring their Visions to life the Olympic Hotel in estonia's capital is an example of one such construction and is still used as a hotel today now no video on Soviet architecture would be complete without mentioning Christopher herrig's marvelous book Soviet bus stops students of architecture at Soviet universities were frequently given the task of Designing the bus stops for their local communities like klustrovka they had to be feasible and cheap not exactly a surprise in the Soviet Union but there was basically no aesthetic limitations they did not even have to be functional in amkazia for example the famous Georgian artist zurab tarantelli who is still living working in Georgia today designed bus stops that did not even have roofs others were built to directly indicate what their purpose was like this light bulb shaped bus stop in Russia this bus stop is located outside a factory that produced you guessed it light bulbs these bus stops are not only fascinating and unique but show how even in an authoritarian State there were spaces for wide expression of creative freedom it's clear then that Soviet architecture in the Cold War was not all about heavy concrete and prefab apartment blocks and the fund doesn't stop there in the 1950s and 60s both modernism and the Space Race were in full swing politicians and artists alike imagined a perpetually peaceful future in which technological innovation and new ideas would Propel Humanity forward regardless of their ideological divisions architecture was certainly not immune to this trend During the interwar period Architects like Le corboisier in France and the Bauhaus movement in Weimar Germany had begun experimenting with the minimalist design principles that would Inspire Cold War era modernism it was ultimately khrushchev's internationalism that exposed Soviet Architects to these artistic trends for the first time buildings that looked like spaceships started popping up across the Soviet Union in subsequent decades as a result take the lounge building of the writers resort on Lake Sevan in Armenia for example the circuses of Bishkek and dushanbe are even more direct manifestations of the UFO Trend in Soviet architecture but they are also near perfect monuments to the optimistic and future looking Zeitgeist of the time elsewhere in the caucuses in Georgia the extent to which boundaries were being pushed reached an even more surprising level of incredulity the Bank of Georgia building in Tbilisi provides such a case designed by Georgian Architects George chakava and zurab jalaganya and finished in 1975 it's stacked rectangular structure is perhaps unlike any other building in the world like the bus stops here Aesthetics once again Trump practicalities and what about Soviet architecture outside the Soviet Union Gustav's internationalism also harbored an explosion in trade ties with the third world as the two ideological poles of the Cold War competed for influence in non-aligned States lukashtanic in his remarkable book architecture and Global socialism shows us how this played out on the ground in Ghana caught up in the d-colonial and modernist fervor of the time Ghana's first president Kwame and creme invited Architects from the Soviet Union alongside Britain to expand its capital Akra at the same time the Soviet Union was already exporting its architectural principles to its satellite States in Eastern Europe thus Architects from the Soviet Union the gdr Poland Hungary and other states were sent to work with local Ghanaian architects on the other hand this resulted in some remarkably Soviet modernist-looking public spaces and housing projects being built in Ghana Independence Square in Accra for example is clearly a rather distilled version of the grandiosity of the Soviet architectural modernizing project interestingly many of these buildings were gifted to Ghana although there were a few strings attached the majority were actually built in exchange for Soviet credits which ensured that future Canadian governments were obligated to buy Soviet exports of raw materials and whatnot at preferential prices on the other hand and maybe more interestingly architecture in countries like Ghana provided a crucial insight into how the ideological Battle of the Cold War played out on the ground Ghanaian Architects for example did not see themselves as a line to the Soviet project or the Western one either rather they quote perceive themselves as belonging to an international culture of modern architecture the parallels with the experience of the Soviet Republic's domestic adoption of architecture as a way to express their National cultures are evident moreover the Soviets used their vision of architecture to directly contest their communist vision of modernity with that of the West in the third world as stanik himself says the work of Eastern European architects in West Africa showed that the relevance of this region in Soviet policy stemmed from its role as a site where the applicability of the Socialist path of Social and economic development was tested as a global project all of this is to say then that the architecture of the Soviet Union provides a surprisingly useful lens through which to view not only how cold war ideas shape Soviet culture but how Soviet citizens themselves shaped Soviet culture honor still is the possibility that the most lasting legacies of khrushchev's thought and internationalism are to be found in architecture the design principles and his policies Unleashed indeed continued through Landon brezhnev's role beyond the end of the Soviet internationalism which ended with the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia these principles lasted in fact right up until the collapse of the USSR in 1991. though Soviet architecture certainly played into the Soviets cultural modernizing project that we mentioned at the beginning of the video the buildings are produced also represent much more beyond the Cold War we hope some viewers might even be surprised by the beauty and elegance of these buildings if nothing else they certainly complicate the idea that everything in the Soviet Union was uniform and helped to demonstrate that boundaries could be pushed and even broken within a monolithic State like the USSR we hope you've enjoyed this episode and to make sure you don't miss our future work please make sure you subscribe to our Channel and have pressed the Bell button just be sure not to confuse it with the giant concrete bell button that we have constructed to honor the struggle of bell bodies everywhere please consider supporting us on patreon at patreon.com the cold war or through YouTube membership we can be reached the email at thecoldworkchannel gmail.com this is the Cold War Channel and as we think about the Cold War please remember that history is Shades of Gray and rarely black and white
2023-05-12 11:16
