Boyadzhuev Konstantin, Classic and Romantic in Contemporary Bulgarian Architecture

The period after the First World War was especially complicated for Bulgarian culture. In an effort to overcome a well-known national complex of cultural backwardness, the country’s “accelerated development”11 feverishly tried to catch up with models proposed by advanced countries. The urgent need to accumulate and absorb the achievements of a developed Europe was an inevitable historical reality after centuries of cultural isolation. An essential distinguishing feature was the coexistence of opposing artistic models which were deprived of the opportunity for a natural and full development, thus, failing to ever reach maturity and creative exhaustion.12 (fig. 4-5) It is in this respect that the period between the two world wars was among the most dynamic in the Bulgarian history. Although the twenties were a period of eclectic political and social dynamics, not just in Bulgaria but also in a pan-european, post-world war context, they were also a time of hectic artistic life, with a burst of exhibitions, competitions, professional associations and the creation of many publications.13

The twenties also marked the first time when modern ideas made their way into Bulgarian architecture via Bulgarians educated in Western Europe (there was no academic architectural school in the country until 1943). Nevertheless, they were immediately presented with an insufficiently developed and unstable economy, restless and changeable political life, and a rapidly emerging culture - forming a complex moment within the Bulgarian historical contingency.14 The acceptance of modernism did not have its own national basis of origin and development, thereby if we return to its three main facets - technical progress, artistic avant-garde and social reform ambitions - it is not difficult to establish their insufficient completeness in Bulgaria. (fig. 6-7)

11 Boyadzhuev Konstantin, Classic and Romantic in Contemporary Bulgarian Architecture, (Arhitektura, 2000) (In Bulgarian) p. 28 12 Ibid., p. 83. 13 Luben, Architecture in Bulgaria, p. 43. 14 Lyudmil Andreev, The Western functionalism and Its Influence on Bulgaria, (LIK, 1988) (In Bulgarian) p. 10.

Figure 6. Boris Boyadzhiev & Velyo Debelyanov, Cooperative apartment building, Sofia, 1925

Figure 7. Boris Boyadzhiev & Velyo Debelyanov, Cooperative apartment building, Sofia, 1925

Figure. 8 House of Stoyanov, Boris Rusev, Sofia, 1931 (left-ext. view, above - floorplans, )

The emergence of modernism in the country was almost entirely an integral part of the cultural system in which the reference to foreign influence was a crucial determinant, and not a complementary factor.15 Although the modernist innovations were radical enough to break the national tradition, the degree of socio-economic, political and cultural maturity was still weak for self-generation of avant-garde ideas, leading to the full assimilation of the borrowed artistic models. Detached from the national tradition, the Bulgarian culture could hardly reorganise itself in such a short time and avoid the chaos inherent in the European culture itself, leading to the slow and difficult transition to modernity.16 Fundamentally, external influences became the decisive component for the perception of modernism in Bulgarian architecture.

Universally, when a new style emerges, it is initially reflected through the individual house and Bulgaria was no exception. Therefore, when the modern movement finally gained momentum in Bulgaria during the 1930’s, it was most visible in the twostorey residences of the educated members of the middle class, for whom the modern form was a symbol of technological and cultural progress, a sign of integration with European civilisation and personal prosperity.17 (fig. 8-9)

15 Lyudmil. The Western functionalism and Its Influence on Bulgaria, p. 50. 16 Ibid., p. 56. 17 Stoilova Ljubinka, Modern Movement in Bulgaria through the Residential Buildings. (Arkhitektura. No.2, 1994) (In Bulgarian) p. 6.