Buzludzha纪念碑保护项目丨保加利亚

’I knew I had to do something’: A Bulgarian architect on preserving a monument to her country’s ugly past

The defaced Buzludzha monument as it appeared in 2019. Photo: Rob Schofield/What do you do with a building that was built to glorify an oppressive Communist system but, ravaged by rain and snow and stripped bare by thieves, is now a wreck? Should it be torn down in the spirit of reckoning with history — just as the statues of Confederate generals have been toppled in the United States and monuments to Soviet hegemony have been demolished across Ukraine, particularly since Russia invaded in February?

After receiving two rounds of funding totaling $245,000 from the

The Nonument Group: digitally preserving architectural treasures before they’re lost

Bulgarian Architect Dora Ivanova, who is leading a new, says she “does not want to glorify the past” but rather intends to use its grimy edifice as an educational tool that fills a void in her native country’s national conversation about its less-than-sterling communist history.

“We don’t want a museum freezing everything as it was,” she told the

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3 Comments

Gary Garvin History

I’d rather see this preserved as much as possible as it is now. It would make a much stronger statement. May 26, 22 5:57 pm ·

theodora History

This monument holds memories of a terrible, not so distant past. It’s a symbol of many lives lost to the atrocities of communism. Many others - ruined as they didn’t fit within the regime. As many Nazi symbols were destroyed after the Second World War, Bulgarians should not revive historical symbolisms supporting a defunct Communist party. Learn from history! The excuse we often hear: "I didn’t live during this time, but it’s important to save good architecture", simply doesn’t cut it. It speaks of a society without morals, dignity, and compassion, and without a future. May 29, 22 10:21 am ·

Gary Garvin History ·

The Monument to the Soviet Army in Sofia, Bulgaria, has gone through several revisions over the years. This one was made in 2014, in honor of the Ukrainian revolution. Something similar exists today.

May 29, 22 6:23 pm ·

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