An Introduction to Soviet Architecture & Its Symbolic Power

Moscow White House (1964-1981)

Prior to the Soviet Union, Russian architecture was charectorized by its unique colors, structural forms, and overall eccentricity. Stereotypes of Soviet era buildings imagine the structures to be quite the opposite, defined by the era's focus on efficieny and unity, but Soviet architecture remained a creative exploration and visual representation of Russia's fast-changing personality (1). The architecture evolved with the culture of the nation and the great demand for infrastructure allowed soviet architecture to aesthetically capture the nation's personality at a given time. In this way, a tour of Soviet architecture can act as a physical timeline with which one can explore the social, political, and artistic changes throughout the era.

"Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness." - Frank Gehry

Collection of Soviet Architecture Plans from Throughout the USSR

There are five main eras of the Soviet Union (Pre-war, post-war, thaw, stagnation, and the end) and each one is alligned with certain architectural trends. This tour will be a visual analysis of specific landmarks in Moscow that represent the greater architectural trends and, more so, the socio-pilitical trends of the time. With each landmark, one gains a deeper understanding of Soviet ideology, as well as, the changing schools of visual thought during the time. Certain buildings will be marred by the nation's economic disparity but others will act as reminders of the cultural peeks of the era. In the end, one cannot truely understand a political regime solely from the buildings that came out of the time period but, if one delves into the excercise, it is possible to gain an understanding that can only come from the study of the visual landscape. 

“The fact is that the buildings here (in the USSR) were not made to speak to the world as we know it, but to the citizens of the USSR. Visible from afar and unfailingly spectacular, they are effectively monuments, ideological markers endowed with an almost mystical aura by their positioning in space and expressive power." - Frédéric Chaubin