Pragmatism, not ideology: Bulgarian architectural exports to the ‘Third World’

Abstract

This essay is the first endeavour to sum up certain features of the Bulgarian export of architecture during the Cold War. Starting with construction firms acting in the ‘Third World’, this export was conveyed mainly by Technoexportstroy, a specialised enterprise established in 1964 by the Bulgarian Ministry of Construction, and later by the planning office Bulgarproject created in 1973. The geopolitical situation between the 1960s and 1980s was beneficial for the entrance of Bulgarian architects to post-colonial markets. They had to hold their own in competition with international architects and this paper argues that the export of architecture was based on the principles of the market economy and not on ideological influences. The number of Bulgarian architects involved can be estimated at 300-400. Alongside financial benefits, export projects gave these architects an understanding of architecture involving the work of several participants, even having to respect in some cases unpredictable interests: a situation which contrasted with socialist Bulgaria. From a range of projects, this paper discusses three examples, which together typified local economic circumstances and contributed to the welfare of the countries involved: the Olympic Sports Complex in Tunis, the bungalow projects in Sousse and the Nigerian National Theatre in Lagos.