Politika architektūroje. Reiškinio prielaidos sovietmečio Lietuvoje
Politics, architecture and the premises behind their linking in soviet Lithuania

Summary/Abstract: This article concentrates on issues of political ideology in Soviet era Lithuanian architecture. It suggests that from the architectural perspective soviet ideology can be discussed in two of its major forms of manifestation. The most obvious expression of political ideology can be found in the illustrative and textual treatment of space, starting with places that had a memorial function and ending with monumental urban developments of the socialist realist type. In one case political power speaks through literal, direct, openly coded symbols of propaganda. On the other hand, architecture was regarded as part of the Utopian socialist city. Thus the idea of social welfare, rooted in the prewar Modern Movement, found expression in rather sophisticated examples of architectural ideology. However, this phenomenon was related more to propaganda than to real achievements. Alongside with symbolism and propaganda, this paper touches upon other, less directly related aspects of architectural ideology, such as public ownership of land and architectural bureaucracy. If public ownership of land gave the soviet architect a degree of freedom that the pioneers of the Modern Movement only dreamed about, bureaucracy and limited material and construction capabilities constituted forms of constraint that hindered the architects creativity.

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