During communism, buildings were considered equal. Also it’s furniture.
A typical recurring story amongst the old-timers here in Plovdiv is that when they see pictures from other cities or other former USSR countries... The depicted buildings and its furniture are often exactly the same as their own!
I’m surprised how the outside walls are laden with subtle ornament. If you take your time here in Bulgaria, you’ll appreciate the endless amounts of bas-reliefs, grid patterns and unique awnings.
Especially when you compare with the in-Belgium-famous example: the left bank of Antwerp. That is 60’s Le Corbusier-style suburban planning that is considered successful in the region. But it’s as spartan as you can get. It are just slates of walls with windows. Nothing more, nothing less.
Since the end of Communism in Bulgaria (30 years ago), everyone’s freestyling. The most visible testimony is the ubiquitous stucco-work. It’s is a thing here. The plasterwork and its function of outer isolation makes living in a flat during their strong winters a little less hard. It happens for example a building of 25 stories, is laden with differing plasterwork-approaches per unit. The colouring, texture and thickness depends on the owner’s taste. It’s a mish-mash of personal taste. Bulgarian stucco-workers are in Belgium considered some of the finest craftsmen.
At the end, those buildings still look (often) raw but the unique personal unit approaches makes them burst with personality. A lot of those have make-shift overpasses. I sometimes imagine a dystopian future.
Although the roots of Bulgarian and Flemish architecture differ, I can’t help but feel a strong kinship with our delicious Flemish city jungles.