In the Soviet policy of rationalization of the country, all cities were built to a general development plan. Each was split into districts, with allotments drawn based on the city’s geography. Projects would be drawn up for whole districts, visibly transforming a city’s architectural image.

The interaction of the state with the architects would prove to be one of the focal points of this time. The same building could be declared a formalist blasphemy and then receive the highest praise the next year, Authentic styles like Zholtovsky’s Renaissance Revival, Ivan Fomin’s St. Petersburg Neoclassical Revival and Art Deco adaptation by Alexey Dushkin and Vladimir Shchuko coexisted with pale imitations and eclectics that became a symbol of that era.

Certain buildings of the Brezhnev era, notably the White House of Russia, can be traced to Stalin’s legacy, while the Neo-Stalinist regime in Romania produced a vast, late example of the style in its Palace of the Parliament, which was started in 1984. Deliberate recreations of his style have appeared in Moscow since 1996, either as infill into period neighborhoods, or as stand-alone developments.

Links

• Stalinist architecture – Wikipedia

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