Beauty Lies in the Eye of the Beholder

As a foreigner travelling through former Soviet countries in general – but strolling around in Bishkek in specific – you find yourself facing astonishing cruelties and mistakes of architecture quite often. Many of the buildings seem to have neither function nor form, so that the principle of “Form follows Function” (Louis Sullivan, Chicago School, 1896) seems to have lost any impact on architecture (I will keep myself right now from any remarks about design and art…). And we can not blame these architectural nightmares solely on Soviet heritage, since new houses and office bocks that are being constructed now cling on to this esthetical nonsense.

However, this week in Bishkek I discovered a building that adds a new dimension to the architectural – well, let’s call it odyssey. What is in these buildings that remind me of bunkers? Are they of any use? And if there are any office facilities in there, how do people put up their shelves against the curved walls? Anyhow, I also like the little “cozy-looking” entrance inbetween these atrocities of concrete.