National originality of the architecture of Khreshchatyk as a unique ensemble of the period of totalitarianism

Abstract

Khreschatyk is a page apart in the history of world architecture. While it has a number of distinct characteristics of totalitarian architecture, Khreschatyk is the only architectural ensemble of the period to combine na-tional tradition with the exalted sentiment of Soviet architecture of the Stalin era. Also, it uniquely matched architecture and landscape. The façades has elements of Ukrainian baroque, which sets Khreschatyk apart from similar ensembles of the 1940s-1950s in other countries that mainly drew upon Ne-oclassicism or Modernism. While period architecture in other countries is typically marked by its grand scale and heavily accentuated civic spirit – complete with a denigration of the individual at the expense of the manifest greatness of Authority, Khreschatyk stand out for its pronounced harmony as an environment based on the careful preservation of old heritage, the skill-ful use of the landscape, and the introduction of traditional motifs, alongside an almost total lack of Soviet symbols. Unlike the grim grandness of totali-tarian architecture in other countries, the facades of the residential buildings that line Khreschatyk emanate joie de vivre and admiration for the fertility of Ukrainian soil.