#socialist modernism

[dankomaksimovic]

ph. Danko Maksimovic - Belgrade, Serbia (2024)

Film: Kodak Gold 200

[socarchlithuania]

Alksniupiai. 2023

[kleinefreiheiten]

12.2015 Magdeburg

[svoje]

Belgrade, digital, 2021.

[sheltiechicago]

The Aul Residential Complex, Tole Bi 286/1, Almaty, Kazakhstan Built In Stages Between 1986-2002 Architects: B. Voronin, L. Andreyeva, Yu. Ratushnyi, V. Lepeshov, V. Ve, M.rakhimbayev

Revitalizing The Heritage Of Socialist Modernism: BACU’s Online Initiative To Protect Central And Eastern European Architecture

Preserving the monumental yet decaying structures of central and eastern Europe erected between 1955-91 is the mission of the online initiative, Socialist Modernism, created by the Bureau for Art and Urban Research (BACU). With an aim to revitalize this heritage, BACU believes in the significance of these elements which managed to defy some of the ideological requirements of their time, giving the urban space a distinct flavor characteristic of the socialist period.

Bas Relief Sculptural Frieze On The Facade Of The Institute Of Communications. Yerevan, Armenia. (70s)

Military Medical Academy Complex, Banjica, Belgrade, Serbia, Designed In 1973, Built In 1981

House Of Fashion, Belarus, Minsk, Built In 60’s-70’s

[benkaden]

Ansichtskarte

Dresden Prager Straße Brunnen vor dem Interhotel "Bastei"

Reichenbach (Vogtl): VEB BILD UND HEIMAT Reichenbach i.V. (V 11 50 A 1/B 555/72 01 12 31 230).

Foto: Huste, Dresden

1972

[damnesdelamer]

There’s a post going around about how colour has gradually drained from our daily lives. Many have pointed out that this is a symptom of capitalism, and the need for products to be saleable to the broadest spectrum (pardon the pun) of consumers, thereby removing any aesthetic idiosyncrasies like ‘not being grey or beige’. I wanted to point out something further though.

Greyness has always been used as a threat by anti-communist propaganda. A report from the BBC recalls that the Eastern Bloc was ‘grey, regimented and plagued by shortages’; Polish defector to *checks notes* California, Czesław Miłosz, wrote in his 1953 anti-communist study that ‘The chronic lack of consumer goods renders the crowds uniformly gray and uniformly indigent.’ And yes, this is all very connected to consumer goods. Imagine, if indeed you can, the same shitty, overpriced cafe on every street corner, no matter the city, always the same, always bland, always brutally exploitative to workers. The nightmare of collectivisation! But those were different times. Thankfully we in the noble West can today enjoy ice cream from Walls, Miko, Ola, Algida, Streets, and even Good Humor!

But back then, bootlickers advocates of capitalism cried out, if we sacrifice our right to brutally exploit disenfranchised classes rugged individualism for the sake of collective prosperity, then we’ll lose our very individuality, and become mere drones serving the totalitarian state! Red scare iconography used to feature lots of grey Nehru jackets and imposing brutalist architecture (both of which are fucking rad honestly so I don’t know how that was meant to scare us anyway) to represent mindless conformity and submission to absolute communist power. Yet now we somehow see graphs like this:

So what gives? I’m reminded of a tweet from a short, half-Irish and half Jewish (but secular), dark-haired light-eyed former child star...

Meanwhile in real, existing socialist countries we see vistas like these:

And let’s not forget the hayday of signature artistic styles of the Eastern Bloc, socialist realism and socialist modernism:

Imagine living in a world so drained of colour and culture! Who could survive such a cold, monotone existence but the, err, Reds. Think of these dystopian images next time you enjoy your Starbucks™ coffee on one of your plentiful breaks from work at the luxurious capitalism retailer, and rejoice at the freedom of choice our glorious leaders have handed down to us in their world-beating beneficence.

[renest]

Der Brunnen. / 29.07.2023

[dieletztepanzerhexe]

monument of gratitude to the Red Army by Xawery Dunikowski, in Olsztyn

[budapast]

shots from nowhere #13

[dziubomir]

Poznań, Okrąglak

[dankomaksimovic]

ph. Danko Maksimovic - Belgrade, Serbia (2021)

Film: Fuji C200

[socarchlithuania]

Vilnius. 2023

[kleinefreiheiten]

12.2015 Magdeburg

[svoje]

Belgrade, digital, 2021.

[sheltiechicago]

The National “Khabar” Television Studios And Administrative Offices. Almaty, Kazakhstan, Built In 1983

Revitalizing The Heritage Of Socialist Modernism: BACU’s Online Initiative To Protect Central And Eastern European Architecture

Preserving the monumental yet decaying structures of central and eastern Europe erected between 1955-91 is the mission of the online initiative, Socialist Modernism, created by the Bureau for Art and Urban Research (BACU). With an aim to revitalize this heritage, BACU believes in the significance of these elements which managed to defy some of the ideological requirements of their time, giving the urban space a distinct flavor characteristic of the socialist period.

The Monument To 1300 Years Of Bulgaria

Housing Building On Bobur Street. Tashkent, Uzbekistan Built In 1974

Former Ministry Of Transportation, (Now: Bank Of Georgia) Tbilisi, Georgia, Built In 1974