These vintage Eastern Bloc postcards are an architecture lover’s dream
Broken Ring Monument, 1966. Lake Ladoga, Karelian ASSR
Institute for Scientific, Technical and Economic Information, 1971 Kiev, Ukrainian SSR
Children’s art class, 198. Novopolotsk, Byelorussian SSR
Defenders of Odessa Memorial, 1980s. Odessa, Ukrainian SSR
Recreation home of the Ministry of the Interior, 1970s. Budapest, Hungarian PR
Hotel Forum, 1975. Warsaw, Polish PR
Polytechnical Institute, 1972. Irkutsk, USSR
Residential housing, late 1970s. Chișinău, Moldavian SSR
Eastern Gate of Belgrade or Rudo Buildings, late 1970s. Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Memorial to the Marines, 1978. Zhdanov, Ukrainian SSR
Ostankino Tower, 1967. Moscow, USSR
‘Proletarian’ Cement Works, 1968. Novorossiysk, USSR
Buzludzha Monument, 1974. Central Balkan Mountains, PR Bulgaria
18 September 2018
Text
Katie Marie Davies
With flawless blue skies and the latest landmarks of cutting edge design, postcards from across the Soviet Union were miniature propaganda posters for the success of the communist system.
Showcasing brutalist hotels, futurist TV towers, and bold concrete tower blocks, each image is a snapshot of the transformative decades between 1960 and 1990: from the endless optimism of Khrushchev’s Thaw, to the closing years of the Cold War.
Collected as part of a new book, Brutal Bloc Postcards, and interspersed with quotes from the era’s leading political figures, the pictures offer a nostalgic insight into another time. Perhaps most importantly, it lets readers glimpse some of the former Eastern Bloc’s iconic landmarks at a time when they were prized and cherished — even as they now sit derelict, abandoned, or have since disappeared for good.
Brutal Bloc Postcards is published by FUEL.