My very best wishes (talk | contribs) Tag: Reverted |
revert good faith - see talk page. While the second AFD closed as keep, there was significant support for a TNT-style reconstruction of the page. The old version is problematic. Not saying PD's version is perfect either, but it's closer. Tag: Manual revert |
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{{short description|Relationship between architecture and totalitarian states}} |
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[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1988-092-32, Berlin, Neue Reichskanzlei.jpg|thumb|Historical photograph of the [[Reich Chancellery|New Reich Chancellery]] in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]].]] |
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1988-092-32, Berlin, Neue Reichskanzlei.jpg|thumb|Historical photograph of the [[Reich Chancellery|New Reich Chancellery]] in [[Berlin]], [[Germany]].]] |
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'''Totalitarian architecture''' is a term utilized to refer to broad trends between [[totalitarianism]] and architecture, often (though not always) in the context of alleged "approved styles" of architecture within totalitarian regimes.<ref name=":3"/> Most commonly, the term is used to describe an observed fixation on [[Neo-Classicism]] and [[Realism (arts)|realism]] within specific regimes.<ref name=":3">[https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803105035790 Totalitarian architecture] by ''A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'', James Stevens Curl, [[Oxford Reference]]</ref> Such fixations on neo-Classicism are not unique to totalitarian regimes, however, and manifest in other political and social systems historically and globally.<ref>{{cite book|last=Doordan|first=Dennis P.|title=Twentieth-century architecture|publisher=[[H.N. Abrams]]|year=2002|isbn=0810906058|location=New York|pages=106}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Adam|first=Peter|title=Art of the Third Reich|publisher=[[H.N. Abrams]]|year=1992|isbn=0810919125|location=New York|pages=223}} Adam states: "Neoclassicism [...] was by no means exclusive to Germany or to totalitarian systems"</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Dalrymple|first=Theodore|author-link=Theodore Dalrymple|date=Autumn 2009|url=http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_4_otbie-le-corbusier.html|title=The Architect as Totalitarian.Le Corbusier's baleful influence|magazine=City Journal|access-date=7 August 2020|archive-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306231319/http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_4_otbie-le-corbusier.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|author=International Council on Monuments and Sites|title=Socialist Realism and Socialist Modernism: World Heritage Proposals from Central and Eastern Europe|publisher=Bässler|location=Berlin|year=2013|isbn=978-3-930-38890-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Highmore|first=Ben|year=2017|title=The Art of Brutalism: Rescuing Hope from Catastrophe in 1950s Britain|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-22274-6}}</ref> |
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[[File:Red Army Theatre in Moscow.jpg|thumb|Historical photograph of [[Red Army Theatre]] in [[Moscow]], [[Russia]]. It is designed in the shape of the communist star.]] |
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'''Totalitarian architecture''' is a type of [[architecture]] or an [[architectural style]] approved by and often preferred by dictatorships and governments of [[totalitarian]] regimes,<ref name=":3"/> intended to strengthen and spread their [[ideology]].<ref name=":2" /> The style of totalitarian architecture shows a preference for "classical [[Symbolism (arts)|symbolism]] and [[Monumentalism|monumentality]]",<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Ward|first=Tony|date=1970-09-01|title=Totalitarianism, Architecture and Conscience|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10464883.1970.11102464|journal=Journal of Architectural Education|volume=24|issue=4|pages=35–49|doi=10.1080/10464883.1970.11102464|issn=1046-4883}}</ref> drawing on simplified [[neo-Classicism]] and [[Realism (arts)|realism]].<ref name=":3">[https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803105035790 Totalitarian architecture] by ''A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture'', James Stevens Curl, [[Oxford Reference]]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Doordan|first=Dennis P.|title=Twentieth-century architecture|publisher=[[H.N. Abrams]]|year=2002|isbn=0810906058|location=New York|pages=106}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Adam|first=Peter|title=Art of the Third Reich|publisher=[[H.N. Abrams]]|year=1992|isbn=0810919125|location=New York|pages=223}} Adam states: "Neoclassicism [...] was by no means exclusive to Germany or to totalitarian systems"</ref> |
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Though many [[Architect|architects]] and [[Architectural historian|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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hökerberg |first=Håkan |title=Architecture As Propaganda in Twentieth-Century Totalitarian regimes |publisher=Edizioni Polistampa |year=2018 |isbn=8859618355}}</ref> <ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Mijolla-Mellor |first=Sophie |last2=Tuncel |first2=Gökçe |date=2019 |title=Existe-t-il une architecture totalitaire ? |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-topique-2019-2-page-7.htm |journal=Topique |volume=146}}</ref> |
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Many aspects of the culture in totalitarian countries have been described as supporting the leaders and the ideology of the regime. In 2009, [[Theodore Dalrymple]] criticized [[Le Corbusier]] as one of creators of totalitarian architecture. He described [[Brutalist architecture|brutalist]] structures as an expression of totalitarianism given that their grand, concrete-based design involves destroying gentler, more-human places such as [[gardens]].<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Dalrymple|first=Theodore|author-link=Theodore Dalrymple|date=Autumn 2009|url=http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_4_otbie-le-corbusier.html|title=The Architect as Totalitarian.Le Corbusier's baleful influence|magazine=City Journal|access-date=7 August 2020|archive-date=6 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306231319/http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_4_otbie-le-corbusier.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1949, [[George Orwell]] described the [[Ministry of Truth]] in ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'' as an "enormous, pyramidal structure of white concrete, soaring up terrace after terrace, three hundred metres into the air." ''[[The Times]]'' columnist [[Ben Macintyre]] wrote that it was "a prescient description of the sort of totalitarian architecture that would soon dominate the [[Communist bloc]]."<ref name="Macintyre 2007">{{cite news|last=Macintyre|first=Ben|author-link=Ben Macintyre|date=30 March 2007|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article1588757.ece|title=Look on those monuments to megalomania, and despair|newspaper=The Times|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080829160102/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/ben_macintyre/article1588757.ece|archive-date=29 August 2008|access-date=7 August 2020}}</ref> Other authors have seen brutalism and [[socialist realism]] as [[modernist]] art forms which brought an ethos and sensibility in art.<ref>{{cite book|author=International Council on Monuments and Sites|title=Socialist Realism and Socialist Modernism: World Heritage Proposals from Central and Eastern Europe|publisher=Bässler|location=Berlin|year=2013|isbn=978-3-930-38890-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Highmore|first=Ben|year=2017|title=The Art of Brutalism: Rescuing Hope from Catastrophe in 1950s Britain|location=New Haven|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-22274-6}}</ref> |
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== Overview == |
== Overview == |
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=== Terminology === |
=== Terminology and Application === |
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The term "totalitarian architecture" was initially developed as a means of comparing the architecture of [[Nazi Germany]] and [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]] to that of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mzhelsky|first=Viktor|date=2019-08-28|title=К Вопросу Об Изменениях В Стилистике Советской Архитектуры 1930-Х Годов|trans-title=Changes in Soviet Architectural Styles in the 1930s|url=https://vestnik.tsuab.ru/jour/article/view/632|journal=Vestnik Tomskogo Gosudarstvennogo Arkhitekturno-stroitel'nogo Universiteta. Journal of Construction and Architecture|language=ru|volume=21|issue=4|pages=125–137|doi=10.31675/1607-1859-2019-21-4-125-137|s2cid=203300570|issn=2310-0044|doi-access=free}}</ref> 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.<ref name="rout">[https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780429328435-3 Urbanism, architecture, and dictatorship. Memory in transition] by Harald Bodenschatz, ''The [[Routledge]] Companion to Italian Fascist Architecture''</ref> 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.<ref>Maria de Betania Cavalcanti [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43029085?refreqid=excelsior%3Ad747765716d60750a2f32c9252e780ff Totalitarian states and their influence on city-form - the case of Bucharest]. ''Journal of Architectural and Planning Research'' Vol. 9, No. 4, 1992</ref> |
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The term "totalitarian architecture" appeared in the scientific literature in connection with the comparison of German and Italian architecture with Soviet architecture.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mzhelsky|first=Viktor|date=2019-08-28|title=К Вопросу Об Изменениях В Стилистике Советской Архитектуры 1930-Х Годов|trans-title=Changes in Soviet Architectural Styles in the 1930s|url=https://vestnik.tsuab.ru/jour/article/view/632|journal=Vestnik Tomskogo Gosudarstvennogo Arkhitekturno-stroitel'nogo Universiteta. Journal of Construction and Architecture|language=ru|volume=21|issue=4|pages=125–137|doi=10.31675/1607-1859-2019-21-4-125-137|s2cid=203300570|issn=2310-0044|doi-access=free}}</ref> This type of architecture was described as "legacy of dictatorships",<ref>[https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780429328435-3 Urbanism, architecture, and dictatorship. Memory in transition] by Harald Bodenschatz, ''The [[Routledge]] Companion to Italian Fascist Architecture''</ref> and includes [[Stalinist architecture]], [[Fascist architecture]], and [[Nazi architecture]].<ref name=":2"/><ref>[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10464883.1970.11102464?journalCode=rjae20 Totalitarianism, Architecture and Conscience] by Tony Ward, ''Journal of Architectural Education''</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=XyHqAAAAMAAJ Totalitarian Art in the Soviet Union, the Third Reich, Fascist Italy and the People's Republic of China] by [[Igor Golomstock]]</ref><ref name=":6"/> Redevelopment of entire cities, such as [[Moscow]], [[Rome]], [[Berlin]], and [[Bucharest]], including the large-scale demolition of many individual historical buildings, was planned and accomplished to symbolize the glory and supremacy of totalitarian states and their leaders.<ref>Maria de Betania Cavalcanti [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43029085?refreqid=excelsior%3Ad747765716d60750a2f32c9252e780ff Totalitarian states and their influence on city-form - the case of Bucharest]. ''Journal of Architectural and Planning Research'' Vol. 9, No. 4, 1992</ref> Many new buildings were constructed, and among them the [[House of Soviets (Saint Petersburg)|House of Soviets]] in [[Saint Petersburg]] has been described as "the purest form of totalitarian monumentality."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sennott|first=Stephen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=opvy1zGI2EcC&q=Encyclopedia+of+20th+Century+Architecture|title=Encyclopedia of Twentieth Century Architecture|date=2004|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-57958-433-7|pages=557|language=en|chapter=ST. PETERSBURG (LENINGRAD), RUSSIA}}</ref> While many examples of totalitarian architecture are European, particularly from the eras of [[Soviet Union]] and [[Nazi Germany]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ракочий|first=Я. В.|date=2010|title=Передумови стилістики тоталітаризму в творах львівської архітектурної школи початку ХХ ст.|url=http://ena.lp.edu.ua:8080/handle/ntb/18560|journal=Bulletin of the National University 'Lviv Polytechnic'. Вісник Національного університету "Львівська політехніка"|language=uk|volume=674|pages=184–187|quote=Study and research of this topic is an important link in understanding of the evolution of totalitarian architecture as part of European cultural process, and its professional origin.}}</ref> it has also been discussed in the context of other parts of the worlds, such as [[architecture of North Korea]] or the architecture of Communist China.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Prokopljević|first=Jelena|date=2019-09-30|title=Hapkak and Curtain Wall: Imaginaries of Tradition and Technology in the Three Kims' North Korean Modern Architecture|url=https://doi.org/10.17783/IHU.2019.5.2.59|journal=S/N Korean Humanities|volume=5|issue=2|pages=59–86|doi=10.17783/ihu.2019.5.2.59|s2cid=204714544|issn=2384-0668|quote=The socialist architecture developed in North Korea has generally been explained through two discursive frameworks: that of totalitarian architecture and that of national formalism, outdated and out-scaled}}</ref><ref name=":3" /> In [[Imperial Japan]], totalitarian architecture was presented in the form of the [[Imperial Crown Style|imperial style]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Konovalova|first=Nina|date=2020|title=Японская Архитектура 1930-Х Годов: В Поисках Национальной Идентичности|trans-title=Japanese Architecture of the 1930s: Choosing National Identity|url=https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=44503085|journal=Questions of the History of World Architecture|language=ru|issue=1|pages=269|doi=10.25995/NIITIAG.2020.50.58.013|s2cid=245920517|issn=2500-0616|via=eLibrary.Ru}}</ref><ref name=":4" /> According to art historian Yu Suzuki the totalitarian style in Japan was not uniform like in Germany or Italy due to the lack of a close relationship between the government and architects.<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Suzuki|first=Yu|date=2014-02-28|title=Архитектура тоталитарной эпохи 1930-1940-х годов в Японии|trans-title=Architecture of Totalitarian Epoch in 1930s - 1940s in Japan|url=https://observatoria.rsl.ru/jour/article/view/12|access-date=2021-07-22|journal=Observatory of Culture|issue=1|pages=75–81|language=ru|doi=10.25281/2072-3156-2014-0-1-75-81|doi-access=free}}</ref> Architect Nina Konovalova replied that such a relationship was not necessary because of the characteristics of the culture of that time. The unified architectural development was "unambiguously" presented through a system of competitions and through government orders.<ref name=":5"/> |
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⚫ | 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."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khmelnitsky |first=Dmitry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VZ8VAQAAIAAJ |title=Архитектура Сталина. Психология и стиль |date=2007 |publisher=[[Progress Publishers]] |isbn=978-5-89826-271-6 |pages=362 |language=ru |trans-title=Stalin's architecture. Psychology and style}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Likhacheva |first=Elizaveta |date=2020-06-15 |title=Тоталитарная архитектура. Часть I |trans-title=Totalitarian architecture. Part I |url=https://www.culture.ru/live/broadcast/9765/totalitarnaya-arkhitektura-chast-i |access-date=2021-07-21 |website=culture.ru |language=ru}}</ref> No true definition exists of a single unified style of "totalitarian architecture," and the term is generally considered as a descriptor of the broad trends within the architecture of totalitarian regimes in Europe rather than as a school of architecture in and of itself.<ref name=":0" /> <ref name=":1" /> |
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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 [[Government agency|the offices of government agencies]] or within American [[Prison|prisons.]]<ref>[https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10464883.1970.11102464?journalCode=rjae20 Totalitarianism, Architecture and Conscience] by Tony Ward, ''Journal of Architectural Education''</ref> |
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The [[Imperial Crown Style|imperial style]] of Japan is sometimes also grouped under the label of totalitarian architecture.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Konovalova |first=Nina |date=2020 |title=Японская Архитектура 1930-Х Годов: В Поисках Национальной Идентичности |trans-title=Japanese Architecture of the 1930s: Choosing National Identity |url=https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=44503085 |journal=Questions of the History of World Architecture |language=ru |issue=1 |pages=269 |doi=10.25995/NIITIAG.2020.50.58.013 |issn=2500-0616 |s2cid=245920517 |via=eLibrary.Ru}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last=Suzuki |first=Yu |date=2014-02-28 |title=Архитектура тоталитарной эпохи 1930-1940-х годов в Японии |trans-title=Architecture of Totalitarian Epoch in 1930s - 1940s in Japan |url=https://observatoria.rsl.ru/jour/article/view/12 |journal=Observatory of Culture |language=ru |issue=1 |pages=75–81 |doi=10.25281/2072-3156-2014-0-1-75-81 |access-date=2021-07-22 |doi-access=free}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":4" /> |
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[[File:Котягин Дворец советов 1938.jpg|alt=Palace of the Soviets was an unrealized project of the Soviet Union. Most of the construction projects in totalitarian architecture are unfinished.|thumb|[[Palace of the Soviets]] was an unrealized project of the Soviet Union. Most of the construction projects in totalitarian architecture are unfinished.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dezhurko|first=Artem|title=Кто кого тоталитарнее|trans-title=Who is more totalitarian|url=https://arzamas.academy/materials/465|access-date=2021-07-22|website=[[Arzamas (website)|Arzamas]]|language=ru}}</ref>]] ''[[The Times]]'' columnist [[Ben Macintyre]] wrote that "Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Mussolini and Saddam all imagined vast cities constructed in their own honour. Stalin's [[Palace of the Soviets]] was to be higher than the [[Empire State Building]]. Hitler's [[Reich Chancellery]] was a deliberately theatrical statement, with towering brass doors 17ft high and the Führer's 4,000 sq ft 'study.' In ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]'', written in 1948, [[George Orwell]] left a prescient description of the sort of totalitarian architecture that would soon dominate the Communist bloc, imposing and hideous: the [[Ministry of Truth]], an "enormous, pyramidal structure of white concrete, soaring up terrace after terrace, three hundred metres into the air."<ref name="Macintyre 2007"/> |
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⚫ | 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.<ref>[https://www.netscientificjournals.com/smart-platform/?call_for_papers=totalitarian-architecture-and-urban-planning-history-and-legacy Totalitarian architecture and urban planning. History and legacy], an editorial by ''Esempi di Architettura'', ISSN (print): 2384-9576</ref> The architecture of totalitarian regimes is often viewed in terms of how it manifests dominant state [[propaganda]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Antoszczyszyn |first=Marek |date=2017 |title=Manipulations of Totalitarian Nazi Architecture |journal=IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering |volume=245 |issue=5 |pages=052062 |bibcode=2017MS&E..245e2062A |doi=10.1088/1757-899X/245/5/052062 |issn=1757-8981 |quote=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. |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Monteiro2017">{{cite book |author=Ua Caspary |title=The Screen Media Reader: Culture, Theory, Practice |date=12 January 2017 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-5013-1167-3 |editor=Stephen Monteiro |page=143 |chapter=Digital Media as Ornament in Contemporary Architectural Facades: Its Historical Dimension |quote=Totalitarian architecture, for instance, utilised specific propagandistic and symbolically loaded icons for its purposes" |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v5NsDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA143}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Antoszczyszyn |first=M. |date=2016 |title=Manipulations of architecture of power; German New Reichschancellery in Berlin 1938 - 1939 by Albert Speer |url=http://yadda.icm.edu.pl/baztech/element/bwmeta1.element.baztech-033583ae-eaf2-43f9-be8c-46ea5431c8ec |journal=Technical Issues |language=en |volume=nr 3 |issn=2392-3954 |quote=Totalitarian architecture was supposed to achieve political benefits thanks to some perceptional codes, consciously hidden in it.}}</ref> While the architecture of fascist Italy, Germany, [[Estado Novo (Portugal)|Portugal]], and [[Francoist Spain|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.<ref name="rout"/> |
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⚫ | 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]].<ref name="religion">''Tracing Religion and Cult in the Architecture of European Totalitarian Regimes of the XX Century'', by Sasha S. Lozanova and Stela B. Tasheva, ''Design. Art. Industry (DAI)''. Issue 5, [https://scholar.google.bg/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=QmqYdJ0AAAAJ&citation_for_view=QmqYdJ0AAAAJ:_kc_bZDykSQC link]</ref> 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]].<ref name="religion" /><ref>[https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/505801?mobileUi=0&journalCode=jmh The Mausoleum of Georgi Dimitrov as lieu de mémoire] by Maria Todorova, [[The Journal of Modern History]], Volume 78, Number 2</ref><ref>[https://www.csmonitor.com/1997/0404/040497.intl.intl.2.html In a Russia Torn by Past, Some Come to Praise Lenin, Some to Bury Him], by Peter Ford, [[The Christian Science Monitor]]</ref><ref>''Post-Communist Romania at Twenty-Five: Linking Past, Present and Future.'' Edited by Lavinia Stan and Diane Vancea. Lanham: [[Lexington Books]], 2015, page 48, [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/perspectives-on-politics/article/abs/postcommunist-romania-at-twentyfive-linking-past-present-and-future-edited-by-lavinia-stan-and-diane-vancea-lanham-lexington-books-2015-326p-10000/68E10A916C08AC92638D19E15E86E59F review]</ref> |
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⚫ | A number of buildings and memorials created by totalitarian regimes have been demolished, especially in Poland and [[Demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine|Ukraine]], based on |
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⚫ | 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."<ref name=":6">{{cite web |title=ATRIUM - Architecture of Totalitarian Regimes of the 20th Century In Europe's Urban Memory |url=https://www.coe.int/en/web/cultural-routes/atrium-architecture-of-totalitarian-regimes-of-the-20th-century |access-date=2021-07-22 |website=[[Cultural Route of the Council of Europe]]}}</ref> 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."<ref>{{cite web|last=Schwab|first=Katharine|date=2016-09-09|title=Hunting For The Architectural Relics Of Totalitarianism|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3063559/hunting-for-the-architectural-relics-of-totalitarianism|access-date=2021-07-22|website=[[Fast Company]]}}</ref> |
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⚫ | Architect and architectural historian |
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⚫ | A number of buildings and memorials created by totalitarian regimes have been demolished, especially in Poland and [[Demolition of monuments to Vladimir Lenin in Ukraine|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''.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Chapple|first=Amos|date=2020-10-23|title=Then And Now: Soviet Monuments Disappear Under Poland's 'Decommunization' Law|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/then-and-now-photos-show-soviet-monuments-disappearing-in-poland-after-decommunization-law/30905305.html|access-date=2021-07-22|website=[[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-11-12|title=From acceptance to negation: how Soviet war memorials are treated in Europe|url=https://realnoevremya.com/articles/3948-soviet-monuments-are-demolished-in-europe|access-date=2021-07-22|website=realnoevremya.com}}</ref> A demolition of the [[Palace of Culture and Science]] in Poland was debated.<ref>[https://nextcity.org/features/view/the-movement-to-destroy-warsaws-tallest-building The Movement to Destroy Warsaw’s Tallest Building]</ref> |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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* [[Architectural propaganda]] |
* [[Architectural propaganda]] |
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* [[Brutalist architecture]] |
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* [[Soviet urban planning ideologies of the 1920s]] |
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* [[Urban planning in communist countries]] |
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* [[Urban planning in Nazi Germany]] |
* [[Urban planning in Nazi Germany]] |
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* [[Utopian architecture]] |
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== References == |
== References == |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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== Further reading == |
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* ''Architecture As Propaganda in Twentieth-Century Totalitarian regimes'', by Håkan Hökerberg (editor), History and Heritage, Edizioni Polistampa (November 2, 2018), {{ISBN|8859618355}}. |
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== External links == |
== External links == |
Revision as of 04:28, 9 June 2023
Totalitarian architecture is a term utilized to refer to broad trends 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]
Overview
Terminology and Application
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 broad 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]
Analysis
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]
See also
References
- ^ a b Totalitarian architecture by A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, James Stevens Curl, Oxford Reference
- ^ Doordan, Dennis P. (2002). Twentieth-century architecture. New York: H.N. Abrams. p. 106. ISBN 0810906058.
- ^ Adam, Peter (1992). Art of the Third Reich. New York: H.N. Abrams. p. 223. ISBN 0810919125. Adam states: "Neoclassicism [...] was by no means exclusive to Germany or to totalitarian systems"
- ^ Dalrymple, Theodore (Autumn 2009). "The Architect as Totalitarian.Le Corbusier's baleful influence". City Journal. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ^ International Council on Monuments and Sites (2013). Socialist Realism and Socialist Modernism: World Heritage Proposals from Central and Eastern Europe. Berlin: Bässler. ISBN 978-3-930-38890-5.
- ^ Highmore, Ben (2017). The Art of Brutalism: Rescuing Hope from Catastrophe in 1950s Britain. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-22274-6.
- ^ a b Hökerberg, Håkan (2018). Architecture As Propaganda in Twentieth-Century Totalitarian regimes. Edizioni Polistampa. ISBN 8859618355.
- ^ a b Mijolla-Mellor, Sophie; Tuncel, Gökçe (2019). "Existe-t-il une architecture totalitaire ?". Topique. 146.
- ^ Mzhelsky, Viktor (2019-08-28). "К Вопросу Об Изменениях В Стилистике Советской Архитектуры 1930-Х Годов" [Changes in Soviet Architectural Styles in the 1930s]. Vestnik Tomskogo Gosudarstvennogo Arkhitekturno-stroitel'nogo Universiteta. Journal of Construction and Architecture (in Russian). 21 (4): 125–137. doi:10.31675/1607-1859-2019-21-4-125-137. ISSN 2310-0044. S2CID 203300570.
- ^ a b Urbanism, architecture, and dictatorship. Memory in transition by Harald Bodenschatz, The Routledge Companion to Italian Fascist Architecture
- ^ Maria de Betania Cavalcanti Totalitarian states and their influence on city-form - the case of Bucharest. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research Vol. 9, No. 4, 1992
- ^ Khmelnitsky, Dmitry (2007). Архитектура Сталина. Психология и стиль [Stalin's architecture. Psychology and style] (in Russian). Progress Publishers. p. 362. ISBN 978-5-89826-271-6.
- ^ Likhacheva, Elizaveta (2020-06-15). "Тоталитарная архитектура. Часть I" [Totalitarian architecture. Part I]. culture.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2021-07-21.
- ^ Totalitarianism, Architecture and Conscience by Tony Ward, Journal of Architectural Education
- ^ Konovalova, Nina (2020). "Японская Архитектура 1930-Х Годов: В Поисках Национальной Идентичности" [Japanese Architecture of the 1930s: Choosing National Identity]. Questions of the History of World Architecture (in Russian) (1): 269. doi:10.25995/NIITIAG.2020.50.58.013. ISSN 2500-0616. S2CID 245920517 – via eLibrary.Ru.
- ^ a b Suzuki, Yu (2014-02-28). "Архитектура тоталитарной эпохи 1930-1940-х годов в Японии" [Architecture of Totalitarian Epoch in 1930s - 1940s in Japan]. Observatory of Culture (in Russian) (1): 75–81. doi:10.25281/2072-3156-2014-0-1-75-81. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- ^ Totalitarian architecture and urban planning. History and legacy, an editorial by Esempi di Architettura, ISSN (print): 2384-9576
- ^ Antoszczyszyn, Marek (2017). "Manipulations of Totalitarian Nazi Architecture". IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering. 245 (5): 052062. Bibcode:2017MS&E..245e2062A. doi:10.1088/1757-899X/245/5/052062. ISSN 1757-8981.
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.
- ^ Ua Caspary (12 January 2017). "Digital Media as Ornament in Contemporary Architectural Facades: Its Historical Dimension". In Stephen Monteiro (ed.). The Screen Media Reader: Culture, Theory, Practice. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-5013-1167-3.
Totalitarian architecture, for instance, utilised specific propagandistic and symbolically loaded icons for its purposes"
- ^ Antoszczyszyn, M. (2016). "Manipulations of architecture of power; German New Reichschancellery in Berlin 1938 - 1939 by Albert Speer". Technical Issues. nr 3. ISSN 2392-3954.
Totalitarian architecture was supposed to achieve political benefits thanks to some perceptional codes, consciously hidden in it.
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has extra text (help) - ^ a b Tracing Religion and Cult in the Architecture of European Totalitarian Regimes of the XX Century, by Sasha S. Lozanova and Stela B. Tasheva, Design. Art. Industry (DAI). Issue 5, link
- ^ The Mausoleum of Georgi Dimitrov as lieu de mémoire by Maria Todorova, The Journal of Modern History, Volume 78, Number 2
- ^ In a Russia Torn by Past, Some Come to Praise Lenin, Some to Bury Him, by Peter Ford, The Christian Science Monitor
- ^ Post-Communist Romania at Twenty-Five: Linking Past, Present and Future. Edited by Lavinia Stan and Diane Vancea. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2015, page 48, review
- ^ "ATRIUM - Architecture of Totalitarian Regimes of the 20th Century In Europe's Urban Memory". Cultural Route of the Council of Europe. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- ^ Schwab, Katharine (2016-09-09). "Hunting For The Architectural Relics Of Totalitarianism". Fast Company. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- ^ Chapple, Amos (2020-10-23). "Then And Now: Soviet Monuments Disappear Under Poland's 'Decommunization' Law". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- ^ "From acceptance to negation: how Soviet war memorials are treated in Europe". realnoevremya.com. 2019-11-12. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
- ^ The Movement to Destroy Warsaw’s Tallest Building