The Comunist-era Block of Flats
In continuing with the idea of sharing more about what it is like to actually live in Slovakia, I’m posting what I wrote about blocks of flats in The Foreigner’s Guide to Living in Slovakia:
You can’t escape them. They’re everywhere. From Bratislava to the small towns deep in the countryside, the unmistakably utilitarian, communist architecture sometimes stands out as a glaring eyesore. If you are traveling from Vienna to Bratislava you can’t miss the clustered blocks in the distance, looking quite formidable (they’re not that inspiring up close). The view from Bratislava castle looking over the Danube to the blocks in Petržalka, the most densely populated area of Bratislava, is quite amazing.
They were built beginning in the 1960s as the answer to a housing shortage. Slovakia, as many other communist countries, went through a period of rapid, and sometimes forceful, industrialization after World War II, especially in the 1960s and 1970s. Industrial areas were mostly concentrated in larger towns and cities, which meant that many people were moving from rural to urban areas for work. In predominantly agrarian societies such as Slovakia was before 1918, and to some extent even before World War II, this had a major impact on urban development and the housing market. The government needed to build urban housing for thousands of people, and they needed to build them fast. Blocks of flats were considered to be the most effective option, the aesthetics aside. They also strengthened the feeling of community among the “working class.”
While the 1970s saw the greatest numbers of blocks built, massive construction continued throughout Slovakia and many other satellite countries into the 1980s. A činžák, or panelák—as they are built of concrete “panels”—have little to distinguish themselves from one another and are often considered quite ugly. Don’t let that fool you into thinking that these structures reflect the same characteristics inside.
Families often take great care in the style, function, and individuality of their home. This is no different in a block apartment. In most friends’ flats that I have visited, I have been impressed with the atmosphere of comfort and cheerfulness, in stark contrast to the hallways, stairwells, and public areas of blocks that tend to be dark and depressing. Having lived in one of these flats myself, I can attest that the heating and insulation are more than acceptable and, in the smaller towns, they tend to be more conveniently located closer to the center of town.
In addition to their unsightliness and the fact that you can easily confuse your address for another, the greatest negative for me is that once a year, usually in the summer, the hot water is turned off for a period lasting from three days to a week. The reason why? Because the heating system assigned to various blocks of flats has to undergo general maintenance. The first time I was faced with this occurrence, I panicked as to how I would last the week with cold showers. But after I began boiling the first pot of water for a bath, I got over it.
