Want to see weird Soviet buildings?

[greg_atlanta]

You can get a quick taste of it in East Berlin from Alexanderplatz headed East.

 

[yerfdog]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

There's not a great deal of literature on this style--in fact, I've only found two books and both by the same author.

Yes, I remember writing my senior undergrad thesis I wanted to do it on Soviet architecture, but was unable to find enough literature in English to really narrow my topic down.

 

[pinchi22]

Originally Posted by greg_atlanta

You can get a quick taste of it in East Berlin from Alexanderplatz headed East.

I think residential housing is much less impressive. Most apartment buildings in East Berlin did not even have elevators. I recently saw a 6-floor building near Alexanderplatz with staircase only.

 

[Fuuma]

There's an excelent photo exhibit ongoing at MoMA on 20s soviet modernist architecture, mixing archival pictures of the buildings and recent photos showing their current state.

 

[dkzzzz]

Not to be missed:

http://mignews.com/photo.php?num=11&...7_115116_11350

Note the plaque that clarifies the particular structure is one of the offices of the Russian state department of construction

 

[ceaton]

Originally Posted by tiecollector

Something really intrigues me about the Slavs. So gaudy, so communist but so cool.

Jenga?

 

[MrG]

I thought I was the only one who found Soviet architecture interesting. I took a course on Russia during my undergraduate studies, and the professor showed us a bunch of pictures of old Soviet buildings. I remember thinking they all looked really cool, but no one else seemed impressed.

 

[JetBlast]

This is fantastic.

On the other end of the cool spectrum I also enjoy:

 

[sushi7474]

Not a fan of these monstrosities. Definitely not built with the citizen (user) in mind...

 

[LabelKing]

If I had the money, I'd buy a swath of real estate in downtown Manhattan, demolish whatever is there and build a townhouse in an avant-garde Soviet-inspired style.

 

[tiecollector]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

If I had the money, I'd buy a swath of McMansions, demolish whatever is there and build a townhouse in an avant-garde Soviet-inspired style.

FTFY

 

[dusty]

Man the USSR sucked. I suppose the buildings are at least effective as symbols in that they are so evocative of the oppressive conditions under which they were built.

 

[donCarlos]

Try this complex in Kharkov: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gosprom Unbelievably scary

 

[Kappelan]

Stalinist buildings in Moscow.

Part of this architecture you can see also in Kiev, Riga, Kharkov, Minsk

Ex KGB building in Moscow

Photos from my archive )

 

[ahe]

All those look absolutely dreary