Cold War architecture wasn't just grey

Are the legacy of socialist architecture just grey prefabs? Certainly not! They also include space saucers, rocket-like towers, UFO-bridges, hotel-pyramids, skyscrapers-stars, sun-gates, sculpture-buildings, church-tents or mosque-lunettes. Not boring and monotonous construction, but exceptional and unusual projects in Central Europe from the Cold War period are the subject of a new exhibition at the International Cultural Centre in Krakow.

Visitors will see almost 400 objects from Estonia to Macedonia, from Tallinn to Skopje, but also via Berlin, Prague, Bratislava, Vilnius, Kiev, Budapest, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Sarajevo, Belgrade and Bucharest. And also from Olomouc.

Socialist modernity is today undergoing a thorough rethinking. The sudden end of communism meant that its architectural achievements suddenly became a problematic legacy. After three decades, when the ideology has become stale, it is possible to try to make a different diagnosis – a new one, or at least one without negative emotions. Looking through the prism of the most significant works and creators shows the diversity of forms and allows an understanding of the context. Architecture is not a political copy, which is why socialist modernism requires a re-reading. Without superstition and without prejudice. “Socialist Modernism looked just like the one on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Whether we like it or not, former socialist countries are part of the global experience of modernity. Contrary to popular belief, knowledge, culture and ideas permeated in many directions inside and outside the blocs, making the picture of social modernism more complex and less obvious than the stereotype of a bipolar world. That is why it is so fascinating,” emphasises Łukasz Galusek, co-author of the exhibition.

Even under adverse conditions, some socialist artists managed to retain their originality and artistic autonomy. Many have maintained a certain continuity, loyalty to the ethos of their profession and respect for the achievements of their predecessors. With this background, they developed an individual style and many of their works gained iconic status. “Socialist modernism grew up at a time when people wanted to forget the horrors of war and looked hopefully to the future. Inspired by the first space flights, fluid shapes of concrete buildings resembling saucers or rockets invaded cities on both sides of the Iron Curtain in the late 1950s and redefined the cultural landscape of Europe. The Cold War meant that for a long time we suppressed from our consciousness and from our surroundings numerous – often the best – projects and artworks of that time,” explains Michał Wiśniewski, co-curator of the exhibition.

The designs, models and artworks come from the collections, among other sources: Centre for Architecture in Vienna, Croatian Museum of Architecture and Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb, National Gallery in Prague, Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana, Museum of Architecture in Wroclaw, Museum of Estonian Architecture and KUMU Art Museum in Tallinn, The Museum of Art in Olomouc, the Slovak National Gallery in Bratislava, the City Museum in Tychy, the Institute of Architecture Documentation of the Silesian Library, the Historical Museum of Katowice, the University of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Skopje and many private collections.

The exhibition “Socmodernism. Architecture in Central Europe during the Cold War” will be held at the International Cultural Centre in Krakow until 19 January 2025.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)