Totalitarian architecture is a term utilized to refer to the relationship between totalitarianism and architecture, often (though not always) in the context of alleged "approved styles" of architecture within totalitarian regimes. [1] Most commonly, the term is used to describe an observed fixation on Neo-Classicism and realism within specific regimes. [1] Such fixations on neo-Classicism are not unique to totalitarian regimes, however, and manifest in other political and social systems historically and globally. [2] [3] Beyond Neo-Classicism, descriptions of the architecture of totalitarian regimes sometimes focus on brutalist architecture, often in the context of Le Corbusier and his associations with Benito Mussolini. [4] In contrast to these views, several authors have upheld brutalism and socialist realism as modernist art forms which exist beyond simply being physical manifestations of totalitarian ideology. [5] [6]
Though many architects and architectural historians believe that similarities exist in the planning and construction of buildings within totalitarian regimes, the notion that there is a universal style of totalitarian architecture is generally not supported, with the term being applied to a variety of governments and time periods across the relevant literature. [7] [8]
The term "totalitarian architecture" was initially developed as a means of comparing the architecture of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy to that of the Soviet Union. [9] Much of the study on architecture under totalitarian regimes and the related terminology was developed after the Second World War as people began to reconcile with extant buildings that invoked totalitarian ideals long after the associated regimes had collapsed. [10] Redevelopment of cities involving large-scale demolition of previous buildings was often executed by totalitarian regimes as a way of physically reshaping society to the desires of the nascent totalitarian states and their leaders. [11]
Architect and architectural historian Dmitry Khmelnitsky wrote that the concept of totalitarian architecture is usually associated with Stalin's neoclassicism and that it "strives to symbolize an abstract idea by architectural means. Usually, this is the idea of the greatness of statehood and power." [12] Elizaveta Likhacheva , art historian and director of the Shchusev Museum of Architecture, noted that the concept of totalitarian architecture has become widespread in art criticism and journalism, but "not all serious researchers perceive it as a correct concept." [13] No true definition exists of a single unified style of "totalitarian architecture," and the term is generally considered as a descriptor of the trends within the architecture of totalitarian regimes in Europe rather than as a school of architecture in and of itself. [7] [8]
In contrast to its usage as an umbrella term for the architecture of different totalitarian governments, Tony Ward described totalitarian architecture as a manifestation of the architect's traditional role when corrupted in an inherently alienating society. In this context, totalitarian architecture is taken to refer to architectural applications intended to render human subjects to the most non-human role possible, often manifesting in the offices of government agencies or within American prisons. [14]
The imperial style of Japan is sometimes also grouped under the label of totalitarian architecture. [15] [16] However, art historian Yu Suzuki argued that the totalitarian style in Japan was not nearly as uniform as in Germany or Italy due to the lack of direct control over architects. [16]
As all architecture is inherently a product of the society in which it was constructed, the architecture of totalitarian regimes can be used to glean information on the ethos and desires of its creators, making it a popular subject for analysis by architectural historians. [17] The architecture of totalitarian regimes is often viewed in terms of how it manifests dominant state propaganda. [18] [19] [20] While the architecture of fascist Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Spain often invoked notions of racial supremacy, colonialism, and Christian supremacy, Stalinist architecture (such as the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy) frequently emphasized the cultural diversity of the Soviet Union, presenting an idealistic image of collectivization across ethnically diverse regions. [10]
The goals of totalitarian regimes in constructing memorials to their leaders and the aesthetic qualities of religious architecture are often compared, such as Lenin's Mausoleum invoking the shape of the Pyramid of Djoser. [21] Other tombs‘ architectural typologies, such as Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum, have also been described as examples of architecture promoting totalitarianism as a political religion. [21] [22] [23] [24]
The remnants of the architecture of European totalitarian regimes can be seen as a part of European cultural heritage. According to the Council of Europe, "studying the architecture of Europe's totalitarian regimes...is a way to enhance the European identity in its unity and diversity. The idea of Europe originated from the wounds of World War II and the fall of Fascism and Nazism. It entered a new phase after the downfall of Communism, opening the way to a broader and more comprehensive idea of a Europe based on fundamental values such as political liberty, freedom of expression and assembly, democracy and the rule of law." [25] The European cultural organization ATRIUM collects photographs of abandoned buildings which have outlived the regimes that constructed them and "that still stand as monuments to another time." [26]
A number of buildings and memorials created by totalitarian regimes have been demolished, especially in Poland and Ukraine, based on legislation such as The Law on the Prohibition of Propagation of Communism or Any Other Totalitarian System Through The Names of All Public Buildings, Structures and Facilities. [27] [28] A demolition of the Palace of Culture and Science in Poland was debated. [29]
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regulation over public and private life. It is regarded as the most extreme and complete form of authoritarianism. In totalitarian states, political power is often held by autocrats, such as dictators, who employ all-encompassing campaigns in which propaganda is broadcast by state-controlled mass media in order to control the citizenry.
Neoclassicism was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was born in Rome largely thanks to the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, at the time of the rediscovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum, but its popularity spread across Europe as a generation of European art students finished their Grand Tour and returned from Italy to their home countries with newly rediscovered Greco-Roman ideals. The main Neoclassical movement coincided with the 18th-century Age of Enlightenment, and continued into the early 19th century, latterly competing with Romanticism. In architecture, the style continued throughout the 19th, 20th and up to the 21st century.
The Origins of Totalitarianism, published in 1951, was Hannah Arendt's first major work, wherein she describes and analyzes Nazism and Stalinism as the major totalitarian political movements of the first half of the 20th century.
The Palace of the Soviets was a project to construct a political convention center in Moscow on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The main function of the palace was to house sessions of the Supreme Soviet in its 130-metre (430 ft) wide and 100-metre (330 ft) tall grand hall seating over 20,000 people. If built, the 416-metre (1,365 ft) tall palace would have become the world's tallest structure, with an internal volume surpassing the combined volumes of the six tallest American skyscrapers. This was especially important to the Soviet state for propaganda purposes.
Stéphane Courtois is a French historian and university professor, a director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), professor at the Catholic Institute of Higher Studies (ICES) in La Roche-sur-Yon, and director of a collection specialized in the history of communist movements and communist states.
Stalinist architecture, mostly known in the former Eastern Bloc as Stalinist style or Socialist Classicism, is the architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 and 1955. Stalinist architecture is associated with the Socialist realism school of art and architecture.
Alexey Victorovich Shchusev was a Russian and Soviet architect who was successful during three consecutive epochs of Russian architecture – Art Nouveau, Constructivism, and Stalinist architecture, being one of the few Russian architects to be celebrated under both the Romanovs and the communists, becoming the most decorated architect in terms of Stalin prizes awarded.
Fascist architecture encompasses various stylistic trends in architecture developed by architects of fascist states, primarily in the early 20th century. Fascist architectural styles gained popularity in the late 1920s with the rise of modernism along with the ultranationalism associated with fascist governments in western Europe. Fascist styles often resemble that of ancient Rome, but can extend to modern aesthetics as well. Fascist-era buildings are frequently constructed with particular concern given to symmetry and simplicity.
Ivan Vladislavovich Zholtovsky was a Soviet and Russian architect and educator. He worked primarily in Moscow from 1898 until his death. An accomplished master of Renaissance Revival architecture before the Russian Revolution, he later became a key figure of Stalinist architecture.
Ivan Aleksandrovich Fomin was a Russian architect and educator. He began his career in 1899 in Moscow, working in the Art Nouveau style. After relocating to Saint Petersburg in 1905, he became an established master of the Neoclassical Revival movement. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917 Fomin developed a Soviet adaptation of Neoclassicism and became one of the key contributors to an early phase of Stalinist architecture known as postconstructivism.
Postconstructivism was a transitional architectural style that existed in the Soviet Union in the 1930s, typical of early Stalinist architecture before World War II. The term postconstructivism was coined by Selim Khan-Magomedov, a historian of architecture, to describe the product of avant-garde artists' migration to Stalinist neoclassicism. Khan-Magomedov identified postconstructivism with 1932–1936, but the long construction time and vast size of the country extended the period to 1941.
In architecture, Rationalism is an architectural current which mostly developed from Italy in the 1920s and 1930s. Vitruvius had claimed in his work De architectura that architecture is a science that can be comprehended rationally. The formulation was taken up and further developed in the architectural treatises of the Renaissance. Eighteenth-century progressive art theory opposed the Baroque use of illusionism with the classic beauty of truth and reason.
Sheila Mary Fitzpatrick is an Australian historian, whose main subjects are history of the Soviet Union and history of modern Russia, especially the Stalin era and the Great Purges, of which she proposes a "history from below", and is part of the "revisionist school" of Communist historiography. She has also critically reviewed the concept of totalitarianism and highlighted the differences between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in debates about comparison of Nazism and Stalinism.
The Black Ribbon Day, officially known in the European Union as the European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism and also referred to as the Europe-wide Day of Remembrance for the victims of all totalitarian and authoritarian regimes, is an international day of remembrance for victims of totalitarianism regimes, specifically Stalinist, communist, Nazi and fascist regimes. Formally recognised by the European Union, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and some other countries, it is observed on 23 August. It symbolises the rejection of "extremism, intolerance and oppression" according to the European Union. The purpose of the Day of Remembrance is to preserve the memory of the victims of mass deportations and exterminations, while promoting democratic values to reinforce peace and stability in Europe. It is one of the two official remembrance days or observances of the European Union, alongside Europe Day. Under the name Black Ribbon Day it is an official remembrance day of Canada. The European Union has used both names alongside each other.
The Prague Declaration on European Conscience and Communism was a declaration which was initiated by the Czech government and signed on 3 June 2008 by prominent European politicians, former political prisoners and historians, among them former Czech President Václav Havel and future German President Joachim Gauck, calling for "Europe-wide condemnation of, and education about, the crimes of communism." Much of the content of the declaration reproduced demands formulated by the European People's Party in 2004, and draws heavily on the theory or conception of totalitarianism.
Anatoli Nenartovich was a Soviet Russian painter, who lived and worked in Leningrad and known as representative of the Leningrad school of painting, most famous for his cityscapes with a road building works scenes.
Some historians and other authors have carried out comparisons of Nazism and Stalinism. They have considered the similarities and differences between the two ideologies and political systems, the relationship between the two regimes, and why both came to prominence simultaneously. During the 20th century, the comparison of Nazism and Stalinism was made on totalitarianism, ideology, and personality cult. Both regimes were seen in contrast to the liberal democratic Western world, emphasising the similarities between the two.
Stripped Classicism is primarily a 20th-century classicist architectural style stripped of most or all ornamentation, frequently employed by governments while designing official buildings. It was adopted by both totalitarian and democratic regimes. The style embraces a "simplified but recognizable" classicism in its overall massing and scale while eliminating traditional decorative detailing. The orders of architecture are only hinted at or are indirectly implicated in the form and structure.
Nazi architecture is the architecture promoted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime from 1933 until its fall in 1945, connected with urban planning in Nazi Germany. It is characterized by three forms: a stripped neoclassicism, typified by the designs of Albert Speer; a vernacular style that drew inspiration from traditional rural architecture, especially alpine; and a utilitarian style followed for major infrastructure projects and industrial or military complexes. Nazi ideology took a pluralist attitude to architecture; however, Hitler himself believed that form follows function and wrote against "stupid imitations of the past".
Architectural complex “Socgorod Trubny” is a complex of residential buildings in Kamensk-Uralsky, Sverdlovsk oblast.
Totalitarian architecture. Generally it might be defined as architecture created in frames of totalitarian State activity & under its strict control, due to its thorough character of the policy in order to strengthen & spread its ideology.
Totalitarian architecture, for instance, utilised specific propagandistic and symbolically loaded icons for its purposes"
Totalitarian architecture was supposed to achieve political benefits thanks to some perceptional codes, consciously hidden in it.