Soviet-Era Architecture in Ukraine

Undergraduate / Graduate

This course discusses architecture in Ukraine during the 20th century with a focus on Architecture of Ukraine in Soviet Era. The course explores various influences that shaped Soviet Ukrainian architecture. The course highlights foreign expertise and the flow of technologies from the US and Europe during early Soviet industrialization in eastern Ukraine. Soviet politics and economy shaped the conceptualization of planning, standardization, and the urban environment. The course will analyze the architecture of the 1930s in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, and Dnipro that marked the development of constructivism in the region. The course covers the architecture of eastern and western Ukraine from constructivism and Ukrainian modern to Stalinist architecture to post-modernism and post-Soviet architecture. We will emphasize the value of architectural monuments in Ukraine as UNESCO heritage sites. This study of architecture in Soviet Ukraine will convey an understanding of the current situation in architecture in this region. The course comprises the workshops History of Architecture Beyond the Classroom: Archival materials study; Special Collections materials study; Talks with invited speakers - mainly online with Ukrainian historians and architects.