Berlin Week 5: Purpose of Communist Architecture

If this program has taught us anything about architecture, it is the fact that the design of a building has the power to evoke emotions or even actions in the people around it. For centuries, architects have taken advantage of this power, and used it as a driving force behind their designs. Some, like Schinkel working for the Prussian state, hoped to create national pride and productive behavior. In designing the Bauhaus school in Dessau, Walter Gropius made entire walls of glass in order to have the building itself embody transparency (seen in the first image).

It is easy to recognize an architectural style and link it to a certain type of community, such as the granite rectilinear fascist/Nazi architecture. Explaining the ideals or purpose behind a given style, though, is much more difficult. Living in a city partially ruled by a communist government for roughly four decades, we are surrounded by examples of communist architecture, another easily distinguishable style. It In studying the Soviet occupation of Germany and the culture and built environment that developed under the GDR government, it is clear, and commonly agreed upon, that these buildings were designed with the intention of influencing people's thoughts and actions.

While showing Ashley around Berlin's sights on her visit, she asked me about the purpose of the TV Tower (shown in the second image). Was all that really necessary for transmitting television and radio signals? Or was it built to be an icon, much like our Space Needle, or Paris's Eiffel Tower? It was an intriguing question because, based on the context under which it was built, it is hardly equivalent to Paris and Seattle's buildings, both products of World's Fairs. At the same time, though, its aesthetic purpose to "wow" those who saw it and show off the power and advancement of the city and government is very similar to the others.

The builders under the GDR took such projects to a whole other level, though. In Berlin, the TV Tower is visible from almost every part of the city that has any sort of sight-line at all. It serves as a constant reminder of the power of the government and the insignificance of the individual in comparison. At Buchenwald, mass graves were memorialized by a monument built by the GDR (shown in third image). The memorial itself is so massive and overbearing that it seems to use the hallowed ground and the tragedies took place there as an excuse to flaunt the dominance and power of new government, that of the liberators. While this particular sight seemed disrespectful to nature and the very thing it was memorializing, I find the "goal" behind communist architecture fascinating, particularly how it ranges is made up primarily of polar opposite bare-bones buildings and overly extravagant ones, yet all are recognizable as being part of the overall style.