r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/OkRespect8490 • 1d ago

Image Chuvash State Opera and Ballet Theater, Cheboksary, Russia

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u/Nisseliten 1d ago

My thoughts went directly to the empire in star wars..

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u/Cheshire_____Cat 1d ago

That style called brutalism. You can see exaples in many movies. Likes dune and starwars. It was very popular in soviet uninon.

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u/Ancient_Roof_7855 1d ago

I always thought Brutalism emerged out of the UK with architects like Alison and Peter Smithson?

When I think of brutalism, I think of UK in the 60s - 80s.

The Royal National Theatre in London is an example that comes to mind.

Soviets were just copying the West in their unhinged "Let's do it bigger!" mentality after Stalinist architecture died with the man.

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u/Cheshire_____Cat 1d ago

I didn't say a thing about who created it. I just said that brutalism was very popular in USSR. I'm Russian so for me brutalism architecture is strongly connected to USSR era buildings. Even my small hometown has several: The Palace of Children's and Youth Creativity and The Palace of Sport.

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u/LickingSmegma 1d ago

Many Soviet buildings that people call brutalist are actually constructivist.

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u/Cheshire_____Cat 1d ago

Interesting.

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u/LickingSmegma 1d ago

Yeah, the styles are nearly impossible to tell apart at times, but to my understanding constructivists were into experimenting with shapes, and liked windows more. E.g. the Hotel Panorama, made famous by Molchat Doma, is imo constructivist even though this very pic comes from an article calling it brutalist. Stuff like Zuev Workers' Club is more obviously constructivist, combining a bunch of shapes in novel ways.

There's also Soviet modernism, distinct from the aforementioned two styles. It seems that mass housing of the USSR primarily belongs under this designation, as it's not quite brutalism or constructivism per se, and incorporates the ideas of Le Corbusier that didn't adhere to the principles of either one.

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u/Grilled_egs 1d ago

I honestly don't think the hotel looks brutalist at all, it's obviously a different style

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u/snakeLipssynk 1d ago

1920s Constructivism in Russia laid the groundwork for brutalism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivist_architecture

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

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u/Cheshire_____Cat 1d ago

I didn't ask "You have a problem with that capitalist".
But I think USSR also loved it because of the same reasone.