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Second-largest bust in the world after the gigantic Lenin in Ulan-Ude, the Karl-Marx Monument is the most famous landmark of Chemnitz, a large city in former GDR.

Nicknamed “Nischel” (Upper Saxon German for head), the monument was commissioned to Soviet sculptor Lev Kerbel to honour the 1953 renaming of the city to Karl-Marx-Stadt.
The giant bronze head, 7,1 meters tall and around 40 tonnes heavy, was inaugurated on 9 October 1971.

After German reunification (and the subsequent return to the city’s previous name) demolition and sale were proposed but the monument in the end remained in its place.

Built in 1981 in Chișinău, capital of Moldavian SSR, the Circul de Stat was one of the most significant and renowned circuses in the USSR.

Architects Semyon Mikhailovich Shoikhet and Ala Kirilenko designed a natural stone round building with an elegant semicircular foyer, panoramic summer terraces and a detachable dome.
The 13 metres-wide main arena could host up to 1900 people.

Losing its importance after the fall of the Soviet Union and permanently abandoned in 2004, the Soviet circus lays now in semi-decay.
The smaller arena was modernised in 2014, while the rest of the building is left to rot waiting for a possible redevelopment and a relaunch in the future.

Born in Sanahin, among the majestic mountains of Armenia, the Mikoyan brothers became both prominent personalities of USSR.
Anastas, the older, as head of state until the Sixties; Artem as creator – together with designer Mikhail Gurevich – of the most famous Soviet fighter aircraft, the MiG.

After their death, the two had a small memorabilia museum established in their honour in Alaverdi.
In the yard, a huge memorial was built in 1982 – an impressive, king-size concrete cantilevered canopy hanging over a MiG-21.

The impressive Hotel Thermal in Karlovy Vary – the historic spa town in western Bohemia renowned for its mineral springs – was built between 1967 and 1976.

The 19-storey reinforced concrete complex was designed by Czechoslovakian architects Věra und Vladimír Machonin in Functionalist style influenced by Brutalism.

Since its opening in 1977, the Thermal Hotel has hosted the prestigious Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

The whole building is currently undergoing debated renovation works.

Since the Eighties the Hotel Ezüstpart, “Silver Beach”, has been one of the most popular holiday spots on the shores of lake Balaton – both for local and foreign tourists.

The hotel was built between 1978 and 1983 by Pécs-born architect Ernő Tillai, a prize-winning designer who had a pioneering role in Hungarian urban planning after World War II.

The huge building, also dubbed Cheese House, features a distinctive shell-like façade. The exposed concrete balconies shape an aesthetically sophisticated wavy grid.

Socialist Modernism time capsule until the end of 2017, the Ezüstpart has recently undergone a major modernization and refurbishment process, losing a large part of its retro charm.