Skyscrapers in Totalitarian Country?
- Thread starter anw_rev
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Oooh, also: stayed in the gently rotting, prostitute-riddled Hotel Ukraine (now the super-spiffy Radisson Royal) while travelling in Russia with college, back in 2004. The 'Seven Sisters', as they call them, are inhumanly vast.
*Sound of Siren in the background*
Communism Alert!
Communism Alert!
*Sound of Siren in the background*
*Sound of Siren in the background*
Communism Alert!
Communism Alert!
*Sound of Siren in the background*
haha, pretty much
would be
although this would be the view in summertime.
For the rest of year the people of Moscow would only see the foots of Lenin, the rest of stature is obscured by the clouds...
I visited Moscow a couple of years back and wandered around Moscow State University, which is one of the Seven Sisters. The building is gigantic and made or at least faced with brick.
A lot would also depend on viability and resources. Much of those proposals from Nazi Germany and that ghastly Palace of the Soviets just were not realistic proposals and too ambitious to ever see reality.
The Nazis also proposed a massive development called the Volkshalle, which, while not technically a skyscraper, was pretty damn huge dome.
The thing would have been 950 feet tall! So, it's well beyond the technical height of a skyscraper.
Of course, it was never built.
Neither was Deutsches Stadion, a proposed 400,000 seat stadium in Nuremberg.
But these were all impractical. They were so bold that, in reality, the development of such a project just wasn't realistic. So, I'd wager that completed skyscrapers in totalitarian nations would be similar to what you see in, say, Pyongyang - boxy, built from concrete and drab.
I think this because, in the end, it's all about efficiency. It's why, in the Soviet Union, you had housing that looked like this:
So, while you would certainly see more unique architecture here and there, I think on the whole, the style would be very similar to what you already see in totalitarian countries, especially those cut off from the entire world - namely, North Korea.
Bolder wasn't always better and the failed plans shown in this thread prove just that. In the end, I think many of these countries would embrace economy building over glamorous building.
The Nazis also proposed a massive development called the Volkshalle, which, while not technically a skyscraper, was pretty damn huge dome.
The thing would have been 950 feet tall! So, it's well beyond the technical height of a skyscraper.
Of course, it was never built.
Neither was Deutsches Stadion, a proposed 400,000 seat stadium in Nuremberg.
But these were all impractical. They were so bold that, in reality, the development of such a project just wasn't realistic. So, I'd wager that completed skyscrapers in totalitarian nations would be similar to what you see in, say, Pyongyang - boxy, built from concrete and drab.
I think this because, in the end, it's all about efficiency. It's why, in the Soviet Union, you had housing that looked like this:
So, while you would certainly see more unique architecture here and there, I think on the whole, the style would be very similar to what you already see in totalitarian countries, especially those cut off from the entire world - namely, North Korea.
Bolder wasn't always better and the failed plans shown in this thread prove just that. In the end, I think many of these countries would embrace economy building over glamorous building.
Nietzsche
Banned
...the fuck? That looks like it should be Cthulhu's grandest temple in fucking R'lyeh.
That concept art alone proves that Communism (and most other political ideologies of its ilk) are little different than state-run religious cults.
To the point of the thread :
Personally speaking, I think alternate Soviet skyscrapers wouldn't look too different from OTL ones. Even if the more traditionalist strands prevailed, it wouldn't be too different from OTL constructed 1930s-1950s Soviet grand architecture and high office blocks. An after-Stalin SU would have skyscrapers comparable to those of the western countries - but (depending on its economic situation) - would usualy be far fewer and often a lot shorter in overall height. But free-standing tower-like structures and radio masts would be equal to those in the West.
Some examples of East Block skyscrapers or high-rise buildings in SK :
My thoughts exactly. Though that last photo of yours doesn't show public buildings - those are "panelhouse" blocks of flats. But I understand you were using them as an example.
Generally speaking, I doubt any OTL (or ATL) totalitarian regime would constantly favour glamorous architecture over utilitarian/pragmatic one. Monuments to leaders or the government/ideology would be more glamorous (often built as a display of power, technological provess, etc.), but expect the common people to live and work in far less imaginative buildings. In essence, functionalist architecture of the interwar period, but on acid and even more boring in its shapes. That's the better outcome. The worse outcome is Lecorbusierian-style concrete human hive stuff. Or something of the brutalist school (monolithic, giant, slabby - or just built to appear that way, constructed from what are actually non-monolithic materials).
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Wolfpaw
Banned
Residential high-rises are mostly going to be ugly, brutalist and drab concrete or kleptocracy-quality pre-fab.
When it comes to the more monumental structures, yes they were ridiculous. That being said, "impossible" is not in the fascist vocabulary, and at the end of the day Communist regimes are far more practical than the theatrics-worshiping (and hyperphallophillic) fascists.
In short: the SS is going to be a lot more comfortable working infinity-plus slaves to death over the Volkshalle than the Soviets ever would be about something as unnecessary and ornamental as their Palace.
When it comes to the more monumental structures, yes they were ridiculous. That being said, "impossible" is not in the fascist vocabulary, and at the end of the day Communist regimes are far more practical than the theatrics-worshiping (and hyperphallophillic) fascists.
In short: the SS is going to be a lot more comfortable working infinity-plus slaves to death over the Volkshalle than the Soviets ever would be about something as unnecessary and ornamental as their Palace.
Esopo
Banned
I think this because, in the end, it's all about efficiency. It's why, in the Soviet Union, you had housing that looked like this:
housing in italy is exactly ike that too.