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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.

Icon of Socialist Modernism in Kiev, the Salute hotel was designed by Ukrainian architect Abraham Miletsky (also known for his dramatic, odd Crematorium in the Park of Memory) and built on the right bank of the Dnepr river between 1982 and 1984.

Named after – and looking alike – a series of Soviet space stations, the building should have been several floors higher (hence the massive base) but bureaucratic issues led to a shortening.
A spiral ramp runs all along inside the cylindrical reinforced concrete shape, connecting the 89 rooms.

Zapadna Kapija Beograda, the Western City Gate of Novi Beograd, was designed by renowned Serbian architect Mihajlo Mitrović in Brutalist style.

The béton brut building was erected in 1980 in Bloc 33 of the new planned municipality as a modern gate to the city for people arriving from Belgrade airport.

The two towers of the raw concrete skyscraper are connected on the highest floors by a two storey-corridor leading to a revolving restaurant on the top – which has never been rotating and is not in use anymore.

The higher side is a 30 floors-residential building; the lower used to host the headquarters of Genex (hence the nickname), a state-owned enterprise dealing with trades between Yugoslavia and the USSR.
While the first one is still in use, the latter stays empty and abandoned.