Under the Scope of the Communistic Building Block

Abstract

Communism was a big part of the Bulgarian history that started after World War 2 and lasted until the last decade of the previous century. This period greatly influenced the current architecture, and mindset and ideas of the people. It is famously known for regarding every individual as equal, which resulted in every person having the same opportunities and resources in their lives. Hence, big building blocks were built to provide housing for the people. These high-density flats were known for their cheap and easy to build construction, later resulting in gray and repetitive building blocks, which in Bulgarian are known as “Panelki”. During that period these building blocks provided all the necessary things that their inhabitants needed, such as courtyard open spaces, which were positioned between two or three building blocks, where the children could play freely, while their parents watch over them from their own apartment. It also provided people with a sense of community, as all necessities, such as shops for food or clothes, were positioned “around every corner”. Hence, the small neighborhoods were self-sufficient in a way, which led to the people living in them becoming familiar with each other. Therefore, in this essay the concept of sharing and equality would be investigated as a predominant theme in people’s lives and the architecture that surrounded them, portrayed through the public and private spaces of the typical residential flats “Panelki”. The research would include methodological research methods, such as interviews, mental maps, and collection of primary gathered data, in order to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the proposed topic.