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07 · Modernist

Soviet Modernism

c. 1955–1991

Large concrete public buildings with sculptural volumes such as inverted pyramids and trapezoids, often with mosaics or relief panels.

Look for

Exposed concrete Cantilever Monumental stairway
Palace "Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine: an example of Soviet Modernism architecture
Palace "Ukraine", Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo: Константинъ Буркут, CC BY-SA 4.0
Bank of Georgia headquarters, Tbilisi, Georgia
Bank of Georgia headquarters Tbilisi, Georgia · TheadoreTwombly, CC BY-SA 4.0
Slovak Radio Building, Bratislava, Slovakia
Slovak Radio Building Bratislava, Slovakia · Thomas Ledl, CC BY-SA 4.0
Karen Demirchyan Complex, Yerevan, Armenia
Karen Demirchyan Complex Yerevan, Armenia · Aleksey Chalabyan a.k.a Xelgen, CC BY-SA 4.0
Druzhba Sanatorium, Kurpaty, Crimea
Druzhba Sanatorium Kurpaty, Crimea · Natalie Vichy, CC BY-SA 4.0

what it is

Soviet Modernism is the architecture of the USSR and its Eastern Bloc allies from about 1955 to 1991, after the ornamented Stalinist style was dropped. Buildings are of reinforced concrete and steel, with no classical columns. Concert halls, sports arenas, hotels, wedding palaces and broadcasting centers take large sculptural shapes such as inverted pyramids and trapezoids, and mosaics and relief panels often cover the walls.

Examples include the Palace "Ukraine" in Kyiv (1965-1970), the Linnahall in Tallinn (1975-1980), the Slovak Radio Building in Bratislava, an 80-meter inverted pyramid (1967-1983), and the Karen Demirchyan Complex in Yerevan (1983), reached by 184 stairs up a hillside. Brutalism leaves raw concrete as its main surface, while Soviet Modernist buildings more often add mosaics and sculptural panels. Mass panel housing is a separate style.

how to spot one

Exposed concrete Concrete left uncovered as the finished surface, often marked by the wooden formwork (molds) it was poured into. It is the main material of Brutalist buildings of the 1950s to 1970s. Cantilever A beam, floor or part of a building that projects beyond its support and is anchored at only one end. It lets balconies, terraces and upper floors extend outward without columns below. Monumental stairway A wide outdoor staircase leading up to a building's main entrance, often spanning much of the front. It is common on classical temples, government buildings and museums.

Also look for

Flat roofRibbon windowMural paintingCurtain wall

history

Soviet architecture changed direction after Stalin's death in 1953. A decree of November 1955, "On liquidation of excesses," condemned architectural excess and ended the ornamented late Stalinist style in favor of standardized prefabrication. The last late Stalinist metro stations opened on 1 May 1958. Alongside mass housing, one-off public buildings in concrete and steel were built across the Union and its allies.

The Palace "Ukraine" in Kyiv opened on 17 April 1970. The Linnahall in Tallinn opened on 19 July 1980, and the Karen Demirchyan Complex in Yerevan on 31 October 1983; its architects received the USSR State Prize in 1987. The Slovak Radio Building in Bratislava was completed in 1983 and the Wedding Palace in Tbilisi in 1984. The style ended with the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Since then the Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports has been closed as unsafe (2004), Tbilisi's concrete parade grandstand on First Republic Square was demolished (2005), and the Linnahall has been closed (2010) and registered as a cultural monument.

where to find it

Capitals of the former USSR and Eastern Bloc: Kyiv's Palace "Ukraine", Tallinn's Linnahall, Yerevan's Karen Demirchyan Complex, and Bratislava's Slovak Radio Building.

easy to confuse with

Boston City Hall, an example of Brutalism Brutalism Monumental raw concrete: repeated modular units, deep-set windows, and fortress-like massing. Falowiec, an example of Socialist Panel Housing Socialist Panel Housing Long flat-roofed apartment blocks made of identical precast concrete panels and windows in a regular grid, with balconies. Narkomfin Building, an example of Constructivism Constructivism Soviet buildings of stacked cubes and cylinders, with glazed stair towers, corner windows, cantilevered blocks and no ornament. John Hancock Tower, an example of Late Modernism Late Modernism Sharp-angled towers in mirrored glass, sculpted concrete volumes, tall atriums, and smooth curtain walls with no ornament.