Figure. 8 House of Stoyanov, Boris Rusev, Sofia, 1931 (front elevation)
This phenomenon emerged not as a fleeting fashion but rather as a product of the architects’ social commitment and personal beliefs. In the architecture of the individual residential buildings commissioned to them, the young Bulgarian architects were given the freedom to follow most closely the artistic credo of the epoch. Henceforth, Western influences were becoming obvious, and cultural borders insignificant for a style both so vital and democratic. The houses built in the beginning of the 1930’s came as evidence that creative concepts in Bulgaria were striving to be in line with the spirit of the time. However, the more modernism was beginning to assert itself deeper into the architectural scene, the more dramatic the split between the historic-romantic and the modernist artistic circles became. The historic-romantic group of the pre-war generation of architects aimed at creating an identifiable national culture and a relevant national style by interpreting the classical vernacular and national revival styles of the 19th century18; whereas the universal or rather modern new generation of architects, which had already tasted the culture of the European industrial society, particularly the rationalism and constructivism of the Bauhaus, were anticipating that time had passed into a new era, and it was time to fully embrace the new values of culture and architecture of the twentieth century.
18
14
Stoilova, Modern Movement in Bulgaria through the Residential Buildings, p. 8.
