Soviet Architecture In Dushanbe

The Soviets were running Tajikistan for about 70 years, from around the time of the Russian revolution until independence in the early 1990s. From baroque to brutalist designs, the Soviets built all sorts of things in Dushanbe and some of the old USSR style is still holding on.

The coolest Soviet building in Dushanbe, the round Borbad Hall. Great avocado and yellow concrete sculpture out front.

Put the great ones on a wall. At the writer's union, a spacial space is reserved for sculptures of some of the best Tajik writers. A park cable car station, as brutalist as it gets. Striking. Alas, closed.

Older buildings in Dushanbe have more of a baroque, rococo, maybe moderne style. The Tajik Institute of Art and Design. Nice clock tower.

Movie time, the Batah theater. A staircase at the old Soviet department store. Love the blingy balusters. A little touch of luxury when buying your rubber underpants.

Ahh, progress. The death march of American fast food, butting up against the grand National Academy of Sciences building. The Colonel beats the Tsar.