Thread:Vorknkx/@comment-3547390-20150204202730/@comment-1496755-20150316124907

This mindset is not surprising - one of the main principles of the communist era was that the individual is insignificant, just a nameless cog in the state's machine. And the buildings reflected this, to a great extent.

I've heard one of the older architectural styles being referred to as "cultist" because it was popular during the cult of personality period (Stalin had it, so our party leaders decided they needed one as well because they imitated everything Stalin did, whether good or evil). This style is distinguished by very thick walls and small windows. Again, it bears a resemblance to a fortress.

The worst thing is probably the so-called "panel blocks" (a typical example). Imagine a building made of prefabricated concrete boxes stacked upon each other. Also imagine that these boxes have a lifespan of about 50 years, after which their walls start to become detached and fall off (like this). There have been very few such cases so far, but sooner or later these things will start falling apart en masse... ouch. A very large number of people live inside these man-made hives. I pity them.