Skyscrapers in Totalitarian Country?

[anw_rev]

If there's a skyscraper craze in Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, Japanese Empire, the Soviet Union (preferably Stalin), apartheid South Africa, Francoist Spain, etc.
How would their architectural style be?
Would it be neo-Baroque, art deco, brutalist, or steel-and-glass? Or just make a new style?
And how tall their skyscrapers would be?
Let's say they all wanted to rival New York City.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Hrvatskiwi]

This may sound like a cop-out, but it depends on the country. In Mussolini's Fascist Italy, it would likely be neo-classicist. For Nazi Germany, you can see the "Germania" plans, but I imagine it would be semi-baroque. As for the Soviet Union, whilst they were largely big dark concrete buildings, I imagine their skyscrapers would be steel-and-glass, as Communism often portrayed itself as modern and dynamic (although I dont know if thats the best architectural style for the Russian climate). I imagine Japan's would be much like OTL China, but perhaps with some classical Japanese shinto-style influences (I imagine Shintoism would have a revival in a victorious Japan scenario anyway). As for how tall they'd be, I wouldn't imagine they'd be that tall, except in Japan. As these are expansionist regimes, if they were successful there wouldn't be the overcrowding that encourages skyscrapers. The Nazis in particular wouldn't need them, with all their Generalplan-Ost colonisation, but they would still probably have them for prestige.

 

[iori]

I would'nt consider the Soviet Union Totalitarian..anyways though, as to the question, like Hrvat said, it depends.

In Germany you'd probably see first ones based on the stone monstrosities Hitler planned, eventually replaced by a somewhat Art Deco style like in New York, but with a definative (and purposeful) German flavor.

In Japan they'd probably be like OTL Japan, though perhaps somewhat menacing looking for certain ones; I could see the Ministry of War having a large skyscraper that's designed to both represent it and be intimidating.

The Soviet Union would probably continue on with what the types of stuff it did IOTL, like brutalist concrete towers and things like the attatched image, but would likely eventually just adopt the global standard, as it would'nt matter thatmuch to them.

In the case of Italy and Spain, well I just don't see them building Skyscrapers period, since they were more focused on traditon and more likely to just fund the building of new cities or expansion of new ones in trafitional neo-traditional styles.

Alot of places though would'nt really be that different than OTL for the simple fact that archatecture is really only something that's important to a few countries and most others are just fine with building new stuff or going along with the global trends.

 

[modelcitizen]

Some will be just plain strange and somewhat diabolical, not unlike North Korea's "Hotel of Doom."

 

[Simon]

I give you the Palace of the Soviets that was meant to go up in Moscow but the Germans got in the way. And yes, that is a fuck off massive statue of Lenin on top of it.

 

[Mike Stearns]

Some will be just plain strange and somewhat diabolical, not unlike North Korea's "Hotel of Doom."

The Best Koreans will of course say that it was completed exactly on time.

 

[The Kiat]

Wouldn't high rises of Imperial Japan just look a lot like the ones in China?

 

[iori]

Wouldn't high rises of Imperial Japan just look a lot like the ones in China?

They'd most likely look like the ones that fill most of Japan as it is.

 

[The Kiat]

They'd most likely look like the ones that fill most of Japan as it is.

Modern Japan isn't what you'd call Totalitarian, that's why I suggested like China. Yeah, I know, they would still go for efficiency in either case, so a building is a building in either Imperial Japan or Imperial Japan (what? They still have an Emperor even if the elect their MPs).

I suppose some of the other examples given in the thread would actually be Authoritarian, since when Stalin was alive, he ran the show.

 

[Justin Pickard]

And then there's this.

 

[RandomChance]

The Seven Sisters in Moscow might be a good example. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Sisters_(Moscow)

 

[Nanwe]

Francoist Spain did build two skyscrpaers in the 1950-1960s in Spain, one which looks very Soviet, the Edificio España and one that looks more like an American skyscraper, the Torre Madrid.

-Torre de Madrid, left, Edificio España right.

 

[Michel Van]

Hitler wanted this to be build in Hamburg
with neon swastika on top of it and Hitler wanted it higher as Empire state building
but the Hamburg sandy soil could only take a Skyscraper with 250 meter high
much to Hitler discord.

 

[Arachnid]

Can I present Joburg.

 

[Wolfpaw]

Fascist Italy would probably be all about the brutalist, quasi-deco futurism.

And apparently Mussolini was planning this in 1925, which reminds me of a less wedding cake Stalinism.

 

[Deleted member 6086]

]

And apparently Mussolini was planning this in 1925, which reminds me of a less wedding cake Stalinism.

That's quite a bit phallic.

 

[Esopo]

F
And apparently Mussolini was planning this in 1925, which reminds me of a less wedding cake Stalinism.

Any info about this?

 

[Deleted member 40957]

Post-Stalin, you might get some more interesting or innovative designs in the USSR. Take a look at the Soviet Transport Ministry and tell me you wouldn't want to see a skyscraper like that:

 

[Garrison]

As far as the Soviets go there also the Tatlin's tower design:

Not strictly a skyscraper but shows they were into more than simple brutalist blocks.

 

[Armored Diplomacy]

Stalin tried it with Moscow's Seven Sisters. They were actually built to be beautiful, and look like tall palace towers rather than standard office buildings.