Save Socialist Modernist Heritage Sites
Save Socialist Modernist Heritage Sites
Save Socialist Modernist Heritage Sites
Save Socialist Modernist Heritage Sites
Save Socialist Modernist Heritage Sites
This campaign is closed
Save Socialist Modernist Heritage Sites
The objective of the project is to create an interactive map that would display the most valuable examples of Socialist Modernist architecture of the 1955-1991, such as buildings, neighborhoods, parks, recreation areas etc.
An example of how the map will look like you can already find on our site: http://socialistmodernism.com/
We want to turn this map into an interactive, community-driven tool to help us grow our database and increase the awareness needed to preserve these buildings.
The money we'll raise will go into creating a mobile app that would allow anyone to contribute to our map. You will be able to:
- locate sites on our map and find directions to them,
- add new sites discovered by you
- add new pictures and videos made on site by you
Furthermore, we will use the money to build a community driven section to better coordinate the efforts made at local level and help organize our members.
Anyone who is passionate about this historical period would be able to join our cause by supporting it on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Pinterest by posting with the hashtag #socialistmodernism.
All the important socialist modernist landmarks would be included in this platform, allowing them to be accessed by anyone interested in these vestiges. Your contribution would help us create the interactive map and an application that would be made available in app-stores to be downloaded to any mobile device. People getting involved in our cause will also be able to win prizes such as posters and guided tours in Eastern Europe.
The architecture of the Socialist period and more precisely the modernist tendencies of the period between 1955 and 1991, as a concept, is becoming more and more popular in specialists circles. In our case, “Socialist Modernism” is a research platform created by the B.A.C.U. team. It focuses on those modernist trends from Central and Eastern Europe which are insufficiently explored in the broader context of global architecture.
Modernism in architecture first arose in capitalist societies of Western Europe, following a series of essential principles such as "form follows function", the use of mass produced materials, the adoption of industrial aesthetics, simplicity and form clarity, the elimination of unnecessary details, etc. In socialist countries of Eastern Europe, on the other hand, modernist trends manifested themselves as a result of the influence over the professionals, an influence that was able to penetrate beyond the borders and the limits imposed by the Socialist ideology.
In Central and Eastern Europe there is a number of important architectural monuments that are representative of the post WWII identity of each county in which they are located, and express the aspirations of socialist era architects, most precisely from the 1955 and 1991. Examples include: "Romanita" Collective Housing Building- Chisinau, Buzludzha Memorial - Bulgaria, Public utilities building for telephone and postal services- Cluj-Napoca, Emilia Pavilion- Warsaw, Hotel Budapest- Budapest, Scheiben-Hochhäuser - Halle-Neustadt, House of Statistics - Berlin, etc.
Most of these buildings are found today in an advanced state of decay. Through this initiative we would like to encourage stylistic and architectural discipline and we invite the involvement of local authorities and the civil society, so that the architectural value of these buildings would be acknowledged and along with the still surviving social and cultural tissue, to be taken into account in the context of urban planning.
In the context of today's economic and political situation, there is a great risk that these buildings will disappear – some of them being already illegally demolished or renovated without taking into account the conservation of their architectural value.
Our objective is to revitalize elements of the urban fabric, so characteristic for the socialist period: boulevards, public buildings, living units, monuments, etc. not only from a symbolic perspective, but also in their social and cultural context.
Socialist Modernism – is an initiative developed by BACU - Birou pentru Artă şi Cercetare Urbană (Bureau for Art and Urban Research) Our approach follows the research and protection of Socialist Modernist heritage within the borders of the former Eastern bloc between 1955-1991. We are dealing with the protection, monitoring, research and preservation of the current state of the built heritage such as buildings, monuments, parks, squares, entire districts and green areas, etc. The first phase of our project will include the analysis, research and study of a series of buildings of the socialist heritage. The second phase of the project deals with the education of local authorities and inhabitants of the protected areas, through a legislative program concerning the architectural stylistics of socialist architecture.
(http://www.bacu.ro/colectiv/)
Bureau for Art and Urban Research (B.A.C.U.) is an organization that focuses on the conservation and rehabilitation of the urban and cultural landscape. We concentrate on the protection, rehabilitation, and conservation of the built heritage of the socialist period, by constantly monitoring the maintenance, protection and conservation of the architectural patrimony of Central Europe (Germany, Poland, Hungary, The Czech Republic, etc.) and Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, etc..). Besides these activities, B.A.C.U. would strive to include in its database also various other architectural complexes throughout the world, for their study, monitoring and protection.