Archinect - News

Despite stigma and war, preservationists are fighting to keep Ukraine's Soviet-era architecture intact

2022-05-10T12:45:00-04:00

Attitudes towards Soviet-era architectural heritage are divided in Ukraine. Some value the country’s modernist, post-modernist and brutalist buildings for their sharpness and conciseness of form, for their functionality and concrete simplicity. But for others they stand as an unwanted reminder of Ukraine’s Soviet past, and much of this built heritage has come under threat in recent years.

Ukraine’s pre-WWII cultural infrastructure has been a focus of the press and comprises the vast majority of listed buildings in Ukraine’s state database. Examples of Soviet-era architecture are, however, systemically less protected. Their plight is being well-documented by social media activists like ukrainemodernism and has reignited a debate amongst preservationists inside Ukraine as to their rightful place in a country some feel is under threat of losing its national identity.

“Any way you put it, it’s our heritage,” photographer Dmytro Soloviov told Al Jazeera of his personal philosophy. “Regardless of your political affiliation, these are buildings and art objects that were created by Ukrainians.”

The preservationist cause is also being folded into the country’s plans to rebuild following the cessation of hostilities. Some hope they will include the Stalinist and Soviet-era s...

Ukrainian cultural workers are rushing to protect their country’s heritage from Russian military onslaught

2022-03-14T17:45:00-04:00

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine presses on into its fourth week, volunteers and cultural workers, a number of whom are also at arms, are rushing to erect makeshift barriers and other forms of protection against what could be a demoralizing strike against heritage sites across the embattled republic.

Brave residents in places like Odesa and other metropolitan areas have been attempting in earnest to shield several important pieces of cultural infrastructure such as the port city’s monument to Duc de Richelieu and the historically significant St. George's Cathedral in Lviv. Meanwhile, a parallel effort is also underway to secure the country’s fine arts holdings, which are also afforded special protection status under international law.

Location of museum heavily damaged by strikes in Okhtyrka, Ukraine: 50.3046154, 34.8928959

The images below were taken about 12 years apart (March 2010 and March 2022). pic.twitter.com/qqyBHcW9Sb
— Brady Africk (@bradyafr) March 12, 2022

Already there...

Inside Manuel Herz's remarkable Synagogue at Babyn Yar memorial site in Kyiv, Ukraine

2022-03-09T12:12:00-05:00

Last week's bombing of the Babyn Yar memorial site in Kyiv left five dead and drew the ire of the international Jewish community, who joined the official cultural body of the United Nations in condemning what under several legal bodies constitutes a war crime.

The memorial sits atop the approximate location where, in September of 1941, approximately 34,000 Jews were executed in a two-day rampage that in considered one of the most significant events in the Holocaust.

At the center of the memorial is a synagogue designed by architect Manuel Herz which stands as a mechanically-opened "cabinet of wonders" meant to resemble the opening of a children's pop-up book of traditional religious text.

Per the architect: "I wanted to create a project that has a transformative dimension and establishes a new ritual on the site. I strongly believe that a monumental, static approach would be wrong. I n view of the site that is literally and metaphorically drenched with blood, we cannot respond to...

'Barbarism': Russia appears to have targeted Kyiv’s Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial in a potential war crime

2022-03-02T12:43:00-05:00

Russian forces have bombed Babyn Yar, a ravine in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv where thousands of Jews were executed by Nazis during the Second World War. At least five people were killed and another five were injured in the incident. Located at the site is an artist-conceived memorial to the Holocaust massacre currently under construction. The status of the memorial is currently unclear.

The attack was part of the Russian military’s attempt to disable a nearby central TV tower, killing five in the process. Jewish groups across the world decried the act, stating that it was “an attack on Jews around the world” and citing that such targeting of cultural property is illegal under Article 38 of the Geneva Convention. The Ukraine Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the attack an act of “barbarism.”

Ukraine’s Jewish population is technically among the largest in the world and, in the past, has been used as proxies in the Kremlin’s “Fake News”-fueled disinformation campaign to delegitimize the government by associating it with certain factions that prefer a kind of hard-right ultranationalism.

The monument commemorates a two-day massacre that occurred on the site in September 1941 in which at least 33,700 Jews were murdered by SS men in a gulch north of the city’s center. It already contains a wonderful small synagogue from the Switzerland-based German architect Manuel Her...

This beautiful short film celebrates Ukraine’s Soviet-era Brutalist heritage

2018-07-18T17:27:00-04:00

Kiev is a city of eclectic beauty, with modernist landmarks that dot the skyline. But as the capital grows and evolves, many of these Soviet-era gems are falling out of favour and into disrepair, with many already cleared away to make room for newer projects.

The short Soviet Modernism, Brutalism, Post-Modernism: Buildings and Projects in Ukraine from 1960 – 1990 was recently released in support of the upcoming book of the same title, examining some of Kiev's remarkable concrete architecture heritage.

Still from Soviet Modernism, Brutalism, Post-Modernism.

While focusing on Ukraine, director Roman Blazhan reflects on the universal conflict of each generation's ever changing appreciation and rejection of the previous generation's understanding of architecture.

Still from Soviet Modernism, Brutalism, Post-Modernism.

"Director of Photography Mikhail Volkov used a vintage lens (made in beginning of the 70s in the Soviet Union) in combination with a Japanese vintage anamorphic lense," reads the film description. "This setup made the picture not very sharp, very light, with warm anamorphic flares. And the fixed focal length of 75 mm enc...

Owen Hatherley on Kiev's struggle with its Soviet architectural heritage

2015-11-06T17:07:00-05:00

It’s a reminder that decommunisation is a project which might actually be physically impossible to execute in full, which hopefully begs the question — if Soviet Ukraine can't be wished away, what should be conserved, and what should be rejected? [...] The nationalist purging of any traces of socialism from the landscape is a fool’s errand at best, gross historical revisionism at worst.

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A look at the results of the CANactions 2014 “User-generated Kyiv” competition

2014-07-10T14:27:00-04:00

Ukraine's largest architectural event CANactions held its 2014 ideas competition, whose theme was "User-generated Kyiv". Based on reinforcing the valuable idea that a city is shaped by its citizens, the competition sought architectural ideas to help Kiev further develop towards the ideals of creativity, peace, justice, and of course, happiness.

Here's a look at the three top-prize winning entries:

Pictured above: 1st prize: connecTABLE by Anna Dobrova, Dima Isaiev, Dasha Zaichenko,Daryna Bagachuk, Anna Kamushan (Vienna, Austria).

2nd prize: POP-UP KIEV by Polina Timofeeva, Galyna Tolkachova, Pavel Bartov (Perm, Russia).

3rd prize: Reload the symbols by Kateryna Bokatova and Frederic Vincent (Bordeaux, France).

Head over to Bustler for more details.

A Peek Inside Yanukovych's Luxury Villa

2014-03-17T15:56:00-04:00

After Viktor Yanukovych fled, many Ukrainians were astounded by their former leader's opulent residence. So far images have only been shown of a few rooms. A SPIEGEL ONLINE special with 360-degree panorama photos now offers a walkthrough of the spectacular villa.

THE BLUE LINE - Winner of Kiev Islands Master Plan Competition

2012-02-21T14:16:00-05:00

A few days ago, we published BudCud's finalist entry to the Kiev Islands Master Plan Competition. Here is now also the winner of the First Prize, the concept THE BLUE LINE by Romanian team Wolf House Productions and Gabriel Pascariu.

Kiev Islands Master Plan by BudCud

2012-02-17T15:11:00-05:00

Krakow-based architects BudCud have shared with us their finalist entry for the international Kiev Islands Master Plan Competition. The proposal suggests the development of a network of existing islands and artificial mirco islands along the Dnieper river, right outside of Kiev, Ukraine, for recreation and nature exploration.