The problem of colonialism of history, architecture or any other phenomena is currently the major topic of many studies and public debates. The Soviet studies also did not stand apart from it, and it was regarded particularly within the constructivism context. Why did Soviet architecture become a “new exotic” in the West and where is orientalism in all that? This issue will be discussed by the Ukrainian architect Ievgeniia Gubkina and the famous British writer and journalist Owen Hatherley.

Since the 1960s, modernism has been increasingly considered to be the cause of every imaginable trouble. Postmodern critics saw it as the cause of social, economic, and political problems. But was modernism the only culprit of poor living conditions, inequality and poverty of the second half of the 20th century? And what role did the iconic figure of Le Corbusier play in the history of architecture? And where can such a polarized interpretation of the modernist architects figures lead to? The Ukrainian architect and researcher Ievgeniia Gubkina and Maxime Forest, the lecturer at the “Sciences Po”, the Institute of Political Studies in Paris, will try to answer these questions.

Why was modernism replaced by other artistic and political trends almost all over the world in the interwar period? How did socialist realism stop the Soviet avant-garde “at full tilt”? Today, modernism is lingering on the sidelines of the public consciousness fighting to protect the historical and cultural heritage. However, can we eventually say that modernism is dead, despite the fact that it “outlived” many of its “slayers” as a matter of fact? Good bad modernism will be talked over by the Ukrainian architectural historian Ievgeniia Gubkina and the researcher of Soviet architecture, curator of the Armenian National Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale Ruben Arevshatyan.