Soviet architecture can be split into two categories. In constructivist architecture, prominent in the 1920s and early 1930s, buildings were abstract and reflected a modern industrial society. Stalinist architecture, prominent from the 1930s to the 1950s, condemned excesses and is anchored in the social realism school of architecture. Despite common conceptions of the entire architectural movement being wholly associated with brutalism, some of the buildings, structures, and monuments are stunningly beautiful. They have stood the test of time in the context of modern cities throughout Russia and former Eastern Bloc countries.
Click through this gallery to be taken through some of the most notable trials and triumphs of Soviet architecture.