B A C U

B.A.C.U ( Bureau for Art and Urban Research) - Birou pentru Artă şi Cercetare Urbană - is an organization that focuses on the conservation and rehabilitation of the urban and cultural landscape. We concentrate on  the  protection, rehabilitation, and conservation of the built heritage of the socialist period, ( and other 20th century architecture periods ) by constantly monitoring the maintenance, protection and conservation of the architectural patrimony of Central Europe (Germany, Poland, Hungary, The Czech Republic, etc.) Eastern Europe (Ukraine, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavin countries, etc..) Caucasus region ( Gerorgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, etc.) and Central Asia ( Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, etc.) and other regions. Besides these activities, B.A.C.U. would strive to include in its database also various other architectural complexes throughout the world, for their study, monitoring and protection. www.bacu.ro/

[socialistmodernism]

Predeal Railway Station, Predeal, Romania,

built in 1969,

arhitect: Ilie Radulescu, Irina Rosetti

engineer: Mircea Mihăilescu.

© BACU

[socialistmodernism]

Moldova, near Ungheni.

A Soviet spherical radome, 18m diameter, built in the early 1970s by the USSR PVO Air Defence Forces. Housed a PRV-13 Odd Pair height-finding radar, tracking aircraft up to 310 km range. Abandoned since 1991, now slowly collapsing.

(c) BACU 2026

Photo Dumitru RUSU

[socialistmodernism]

High-rise 2 & High-rise 3

Donja Kolonija, Kakanj, BiH, 1980s

(c) BACU 2025

Photo Dumitru RUSU

#Kakanj

#brutgroup

#SocialistModernism

#Bosnia

#bih

[b-a-c-u]

House of Culture of the Trade Unions,

Iași, Romania, built 1962.

Architect: Ilie Costinescu and Cristian Constantinescu.

Engineer: Anatolie Mihul

Facade bas-reliefs: Iftimie Bârleanu

(c) BACU

[socialistmodernism]

Park-Monument to the Soviet Army,(also known as the Park Monument of the Bulgarian-Soviet Friendship)

Varna, Bulgaria.

Built in 1975

architect Kamen Goranov

sculptors Alyosha Kafedzhiiski and Eugene Barumov

(c) BACU 2022

Photo Dumitru RUSU #SocialistModernism

[socmonumentalart]

The "Sunflower Tower," Rostock (1974-1979). A burst of color on an 11-story concrete canvas. Architect: Erich Kaufmann | Artist: Reinhard Dietrich. 📸: Dumitru Rusu / © BACU

[socialistmosaics]

Mosaic detail on the facade of the Institute for Nuclear Research, The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Kyiv, Ukraine. (1974) Artists H. Zubchenko with Grigory Prishedko © BACU https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqi3y5JMyry/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[socialistmosaics]

Block of flats in Kulob, Tajikistan, built in 1984, Panel by S. Sharipov, L. Gadjiev (1985) © BACU #_BA_CU . . Add new sites: http://socheritage.com/add-locations-visitors/ . . Map location: http://socheritage.com/ . . Use the #SocialistModernism #SocialistRealism #SocMonumentalArt #SocialistMosaics tags for the possibility to have your #SocHeritage shots featured. All information thus collected will be published on our website and included in an interactive map&data base under the name of the contributor. https://www.instagram.com/p/CAYy5KBJsyq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[socialistmosaics]

Large murals on the facades of the Micro district Vostok buildings, Minsk, Belarus, Built in the 1970s Architect: Viktor Anikin, P. Volchok, Lyudmila Gafo et al. Mosaic panels by artist Alexander Kishchenko. © B.A.C.U. @_BA_CU #_BA_CU . . Add new sites: http://socialistmodernism.com/add-locations-visitors/ . . Map location: http://socialistmodernism.com/ . . Use the #SocialistModernism #socmod tag and your #SocHeritage shots will enter our selection and possibly be featured in our materials. Information collected from the public will be published on our website and included in an interactive map&data base under the name of the contributor. You can access the SocialistModernism.Com interactive map both online and on your smartphone by using the Socialist Modernism Application available on AppStore or Google Play. With the application, you can identify your favorite site or participate by adding new entries to the map. Collaborative profile tags: #BRUTgroup #SocArchitecture #SocModernism https://www.instagram.com/p/B_2cVyMpWus/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[socialistmosaics]

Layers of history. J. Renau's monumental mural (1972) watches over a building that once housed students, and now shelters those seeking asylum. Halle-Neustadt.

Photo: Dumitru RUSU / BACU 2015 for #socmonumentalart

[socialistmodernism]

Monument to the Revolution “Mrakovica”

Standing tall at one of the highest peaks of Kozara mountain, this stunning 33-meter monument is a powerful tribute to the Partisan fighters and civilians who lost their lives during the WWII Kozara Offensive in 1942.

Designed by Dušan Džamonja and opened in 1972, the sculpture’s concrete fins and steel plates create a profound “game of light and darkness,” symbolizing the struggle between life and death

. The surrounding memorial complex includes a museum and a wall bearing the names of thousands of fallen soldiers.

Photo: Dumitru RUSU / BACU 2025 for #brutgroup

[socialistmodernism]

UFO sculpture in the park of the Medzi jarkami housing estate

The 1970s. Podunajské Biskupice district, Bratislava, Slovakia

Sculptor Juraj Hovorka.

(c) BACU 2024 #socmonumentalart #socialistmodernism

Photo Dumitru RUSU

[socialistmodernism]

The Vukovar Water Tower

Vukovar, Croatia

was built from 1963 to 1968

Architects Aleksandar Rose, Petar Kušan

Engineers Sergej Kolobov, Petar Kušan

(c) BACU 2025

Photo Dumitru RUSU

[socialistmodernism]

Block 61-62.

(aka Officer blocks or Panonian Sailboats),

Belgrade, Serbia,

built in the 1970s,

Urban design by Josip Svoboda. Blocks 61 - 64 (north) & block 63 (part) and blok 64 (south) built between 1974-80 - Built in sistem RAD-BALENCY - Architect Milan Miodragovic

Photograph by Dumitru Rusu | Documentation: © BACU Association / 2025

[socialistmodernism]

Time-warp to 1972 with this Soviet-era masterpiece! The Yu. A. Gagarin Youth Center in Chisinau—a crumbling giant with a wild past. Once buzzing with discos, a 800-seat hall, and even a foreigners-only hotel, now stands as a haunting relic of Moldova’s Soviet days. Don’t miss Aurel David’s epic “Ploughman of the Universe” mosaic—where cosmic ambition meets concrete Demolition looms… would you explore before it’s gone?

Music: 28 days later A little bit slowed by Dethron & rufflws 📸©️ BACU 2024

[socialistmodernism]

SOCIALIST MODERNISM MAP

The “Socialist Modernism” interactive map and smartphone application reveals the most valuable examples of modernist architecture created in the socialist  period, from buildings to neighborhoods, parks, recreation areas etc. Version 4 is available on our website:  http://socialistmodernism.com/

[socialistmodernism]

Press Cafe / Haus des Berliner Verlags,

Berlin-Mitte, Germany,

built between 1970–1973

architect: Karl-Ernst Swora, Rainer Hanslik, Günter Derdau with Waldemar Seifert, Gerhard Voss.

Mural by Willi Neubert displaying the Marxist view of the press

(c) BACU 2023

Photo Dumitru RUSU