The Western perception of the Soviet Union was one of austerity, straight-laced, buttoned-down and under tight control for any signs of unorthodoxy. While this may have been true politically, the same can’t be said for the architecture of the time, especially in the farther-flung reaches of the massive empire.
Treading similar ground to Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed, which we featured early last year, new exhibition Soviet Modernism 1955-1991 – Unknown Stories at Vienna’s Architekturzentrum Wien shines a fascinating light behind the Iron Curtain and brings into view some truly unique monuments to progressive design – ones which would not normally make it onto the tourist itinerary. Unless you take your holidays in the Baltics of course.
From the merely impressive song stage in Estonia to the wackiest block of flats around in Belarus, this collection – which also comprises a publication released by Park Books – reminds us that while dissent was repressed, the Soviet spirit for creativity found its outlets regardless.
On display until February 2013.
Holiday Home for Writers,
1965-69, Sevan Lake, Armenia
Copyright: Eduard Gabrielyan (CNA FPSR)
Bazar,
1983, Baku, Azerbaijan
Copyright: Simona Rota
Kalev Sports Hall,
1956-1962, Tallinn, Estonia
Copyright: Museum of Estonian Architecture
Central Aquatic Sports Center (now Laguna vere),
1978, Tbilisi, Georgia
Copyright: Simona Rota
Residential building on Minskaya Street,
1980s, Bobruisk, Belarus
Copyright: Belorussian State Archive of
Scientific-Technical Documentation
Hero Fortress Brest Memorial,
1971, Brest, Belarus
Copyright: Belorussian State Archive of
Scientific-Technical Documentation
Park of Memory (Crematorium),
1968-1980, Kiev, Ukraine
Copyright: Oleksiy Radynski
The 9th Fort Memorial and Museum,
1984, Kaunas, Lithuania
Copyright: Ekaterina Shapiro-Obermair
Song Festival Stage,
1957-1960, Tallinn, Estonia
Copyright: Markus Weisbeck
Lenin Museum (now Historical Museum),
1984, Bishkek, Kyrgystan
Copyright: Simona Rota
