Brutal Bloc Postcards, FUEL

Buzludzha Monument, 1974
Central Balkan Mountains, PR Bulgaria

Stuff CrushPublications

Brutal Bloc Postcards, FUEL

Real life in an unreal time, Brutal Bloc Postcards compiles poignant and surreal postcards that documented life behind the Iron Curtain...

Dating from the 1960s to the 1980s, this is a collection of Soviet-era postcards showcasing brutalist concrete hotels, statues, monuments, and striking tower blocks—each giving viewers a peek into the former Eastern Bloc at a time when its architecture was deemed the bright future of communism.

Brutal Bloc Postcards, FUEL: Soviet-era Postcards of Architecture, Monuments, and Living in Communism

Compiled in a 192-page hardback published by FUEL, Brutal Bloc Postcards takes the reader on a nostalgic journey, the iconic postcard—once a staple of any holiday, all but replaced by modern day technology—serving as a reminder of places visited the world over; in this case, records of living within the Eastern Bloc; a stark contrast to the abandoned Soviet shells we’ve grown accustomed to.

“This collection is rather the obverse of architectural photography,” writes respected author, architecture critic, and television presenter, Jonathan Meades, in his brilliant foreword. “It is artless and unwittingly truthful despite the chromatic delinquency of film stocks such as Svema Isopanchrom which was polarising: brilliantly hued ‘props’ (cars, buses, clothes, flowerbeds) would bleed while neutral colours were etiolated, so diminishing the composition’s prime subject in a hazy occlusion and absence of (figurative) focus.” What we’re presented with is an unparalleled insight into life behind the Iron Curtain, a document of living alongside these uncomfortable architectural gems.

Brutal Bloc Postcards, FUEL: Soviet-era Postcards of Architecture, Monuments, and Living in Communism

The circular Abraham Miletsky-built Salut Hotel in Kiev; Lake Ladoga’s Broken Ring Monument; the 18-storey Ministry of Highway Construction in Tbilisi; the positively alien Buzludzha Monument in the Central Balkan Mountains; and the imposing Monument to V. I. Lenin, a statue by Sergey Merkurov dedicated to the founder of the Soviet Union, toppled from its pedestal and crushed by a disgruntled mob in 2013. Each saturated image acts as a window through which we can examine these famous monuments as they existed during communism; a revealing insight into Soviet society in a time when the West knew little.

Sanctioned by the authorities with intent to show the world what living in the Soviet Union was really like, Brutal Bloc Postcards—interspersed with quotes from prominent figures of the time—collates these poignant and surreal archives of a forgotten time. A vital compilation of perverse nostalgia.

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Salut Hotel, 1985, Kiev, Ukrainian SSR

Salut Hotel, 1985,
Kiev, Ukrainian SSR

Ministry of Highway Construction, 1975 Tbilisi, Georgian SSR

Ministry of Highway Construction, 1975
Tbilisi, Georgian SSR

Residential housing, late 1970s Chișinău, Moldavian SSR

Residential housing, late 1970s
Chișinău, Moldavian SSR

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Monument to V. I. Lenin, 1978 Jūrmala, Latvian ssr

Monument to V. I. Lenin, 1978
Jūrmala, Latvian ssr

Flower of Life Memorial, 1968 Vsevolozhsky District, USSR

Flower of Life Memorial, 1968
Vsevolozhsky District, USSR

Memorial to the Marines, 1978 Zhdanov, Ukrainian SSR

Memorial to the Marines, 1978
Zhdanov, Ukrainian SSR

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Broken Ring Monument, 1966 Lake Ladoga, Karelian ASSR

Broken Ring Monument, 1966
Lake Ladoga, Karelian ASSR

Polytechnical Institute, 1972 Irkutsk, USSR

Polytechnical Institute, 1972
Irkutsk, USSR

Eastern Gate of Belgrade or Rudo Buildings, late 1970s Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia

Eastern Gate of Belgrade or Rudo Buildings, late 1970s
Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia

Children’s art class, 1985 Novopolotsk, Byelorussian SSR

Children’s art class, 1985
Novopolotsk, Byelorussian SSR

Defenders of Odessa Memorial, 1980s Odessa, Ukrainian SSR

Defenders of Odessa Memorial, 1980s
Odessa, Ukrainian SSR

Obelisk of Glory, 1972 Chițcani, Moldavian SSR

Obelisk of Glory, 1972
Chițcani, Moldavian SSR
BRUTAL BLOC POSTCARDS
Foreword by Jonathan Meades
Hardback, 160 x 200 mm, 192 pages
£22.50 / $32.50
ISBN: 978-0-9957455-2-0
Published by FUEL, September 2018

‘Proletarian’ Cement Works, 1968 Novorossiysk, USSR

‘Proletarian’ Cement Works, 1968
Novorossiysk, USSR