2. MONUMENTS AND BELIEF
A plurality of monuments is presenting us to the Murmansk region. They are of many
purposes; to honor the leader, in memory of submarine accident victims, in memory of car
accidents along the road, cities being rewarded for good effort in battles. I argue that the
monuments inhabit a symbolic value emphasize the collective memory among the citizens
and gather a common understanding of their culture. For the 100 anniversary of Mur-
mansk 2016 the Planning department posted reconstruction of housing and construction
of new monuments equally to the agenda of their celebration. One could ask for the neces-
sity of these monuments and ineffective use of funds, as a tail of the Sovjet regime. Still, I
think the monuments are not to be degraded as empty objects, but rather a reflection of the
construction of the present society that one should not miss out on. For this new generation
these the Sovjet and post - Sovjet circumstances have become the framing of their lives. Fu-
turist Antonio Sant’ Elia claimed that objects will have a shorter life span than us, and each
generation must construct their own city/existence. In this respect I find it, as one example,
implausible to deny the block housing of Russia as a part of the Russian culture today.
In order to find a new identity of Russia after the Sovjet regime breakdown various try -
outs take part in this quest. Among these, religon occupies a sigificant role. People tended
to return to their churches.
In general, the conduct of the monument shows, in my opinion, the need of stating, honor-
ing, making visible more than the importance of what they show.
3. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SYSTEM - MAKING
Travelling from the dominance of Husbanken - dwellings in Finnmark, the block housing
appeared as another housing strategy in the mission of solving a social demand. During a
pit - stop in Nickel I clearly got the feeling of a city designed from a bird perspective. Wide
streets, axis plan, symmetry, equality, compressed living; a structure radiating transparency,
control, neatness, clear sightlines, mass production.
A quiet athmosphere pervaded the city life despite the Saturday sun enchantment. The whiff
of coal witnessed the purpose of this community’s existence. Put up against this backdrop,
the humans are likely to disappear. The inhumanity of the generality in a state’s conclusions
seems to dominate the people and eradict some kind of personality, put behind a system as
an objective way of treating the subject. Could be this is what provokes the emptiness of the
streets.
The Soviet regime organized its vast land and big population through a system planning
consisting of numbermakings and objectivity. On the way to Murmansk this was exempli-
fied through straightforward namings; the city of ‘Nikkel’ burst out from where extraction
of nickel was located, a street sign informing that ‘19 km’ is a place, the main road of Mur-
mansk is called nothing but Leninski, as another huge quantity of main roads in Russia.
I wonder, as a citizens, how do they locate their home in this? The lack of characteristics
would lead me to think - Where do I belong? (In this perspective identifying with the cri-
tique of modernism, and the significance of a place - discussion). Hypotetically, without a
present connection within their environment it could possibly affect, if not release, how they
are involved in or take care about their lives. In this respect, is arcitecture in a micro scale
able to reorient/change an individual’s attitude towards own existens?
To me this observation reflects the generic way of thinking space, where each component
is placed in a system. When the Soviet Union was left behind the society gradually trans-
formed from communist to capitalist thinking. The built environment, however, could not,
in a turn - over, be replaced. I noticed a mentality of organizing which manifests itself in
different scales; from the retails in the grocery stores, tools, garages, appartments. On line,
put on display, order; this proving how deeply the ‘need for systems - mentality’ is sticking,
which in the end applies as a cultural determinator for the citizens. In this case, maybe this
system planning is not only detected through the housing facades, but is also implemented
in the way of organizing their lives.
To complement these structures the need of an extention which is other than to be put any-
where could be of interest to investigate. Then in a manner of making the citizens and the
built environment recognizable, thus without blocking out the past.
Silent walk of Nikkel.
