The perception of socialist realism in architecture: from triumph to fall, from stylistic variation to protected identity

The article is dedicated to the perception of socialist realism in the architecture of the period 1932-1955. It defines the essence of the meanings established in the concept of socialist-realist architecture based on the world cultural heritage of classicism, the perfect packaging for the representation of the greatness of Soviet state achievements. The approaches of the representatives of the architectural avant-garde and architectural theorists of the Soviet period regarding totalitarian architecture with variations from „neo-academic stylisation” to the Stalinist „Empire” are being presented. Attention is paid to the spread of this model of architecture, which gained momentum after the Second World War. As a result, socialist realism also finds its development in the architecture of the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic. The trends of the new stylistic orientation that influenced the architecture of the buildings built during the period in question are evident. These include well-known buildings such as: the Ministry of Food Industry, the Railway Station, the main block of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, the Republican Library „Nadezhda Krupskaia”, the Republican Stadium and many other buildings – all a clear reflection of an „inconvinient” but valuable historical phase in the history of architecture. The current changed view of Soviet-era architectural landmarks demands that they be rationally filtered and catalogued in order to protect them accordingly.