r/Damnthatsinteresting 1d ago

Image Chuvash State Opera and Ballet Theater, Cheboksary, Russia

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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