Soviet Architecture of the 1930-1950s

Abstract

The article is devoted to the Stalinist Empire style, a unique phenomenon in the architecture of the Soviet period. The author defines its place among such architectural styles and movements as Art Nouveau, Rationalism and Constructivism, as well as among foreign architectural movements of the middle of the 20th century. In aesthetic essence, the Stalinist Empire style was closely associated with Imperial Classicism. It was called upon to perform the functions of glorifying the power of the new young state. Stylistically, it inherited the Baroque, Napoleonic Empire style, late Classicism, Art Deco and Neo-Gothic; the details of these styles contributed to achieving a sense of luxury, pomposity and grandeur. The inner meaning of the new architectural theory and socialist realism, in general, was the comprehensibility of architecture to the masses: completeness, orderliness, monumentality. The architecture of the Stalinist Empire style, which to a certain extent contradicted the rather difficult situation of the country both in the pre-war and post-war periods, was called upon to convey the idea of ​​striving for a bright future, embodied the architectural future that awaited people of the Soviet country.