Chisinau today the capital and largest city of the Republic of Moldova has undergone
tumultuous changes under the successive political regimes that marked the twentieth century.
Once part of the territory seized by the Russian Empire it was integrated into the Romanian
Kingdom during the interwar period before being annexed by the USSR like all of Bessarabia
and radically transformed into a socialist city. This guide focuses on the latter period. The
distinct urbanistic and architectural tendencies after the Second World War are reflected in
the five segments of the book: the Stalinist Empire Soviet Modernism Postmodernism Soviet
Brutalism and the Industrial City. Each reflects the essential Soviet mandate to build not
only a new city but also a new society. In addition to photographic documentation and critical
analysis of socialist architecture the guide also includes essays on Chisinau's development
between 1945 and 1989 devoted among other things to the city's cinemas and life in
'microraions'.
