This Countdown series was written and created with Instagram in mind. It has been republished here with little to no alteration.
Soviet architecture has spread a common aesthetic across highly diverse environments, being an integral part in promoting the totalitarian ideology that disregarded local cultures, envisioning a unified, homogenous society. The 20th-century buildings are impossible to bypass, as they constitute the major venues and establishments of Kyiv. In a country where creativity was censored and restricted, bold experimental structures appeared against the odds. Included in this list are two ‘Wedding Palaces’ (photo 4, Chernihiv & photo 6, Kyiv). Conceived as a non-denominational house of worship wholly owned and operated by the state, the wedding palace mimicked the architectural grandeur of cathedrals and other sacred sites, and aimed to evoke the same feelings of reverence and spirituality as those buildings, but it contained no religious iconography whatsoever.
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