{"id":7095,"date":"2026-06-23T07:33:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T14:33:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=7095"},"modified":"2026-06-23T07:33:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T14:33:07","slug":"construct-your-own-miniature-paper-brutalist-circuses-with-cirk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/?p=7095","title":{"rendered":"Construct Your Own Miniature Paper Brutalist Circuses with \u2018Cirk\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Construct<\/p>\n

When we think of traveling circuses, the \u201cbig top\u201d tent likely springs to mind with its acrobats, clowns, tightrope walkers, and other entertainers and pageantry. Sometimes the traditions are controversial, such as the use of elephants and lions for performances. But visions of bedazzled animals or the swinging trapeze are nevertheless etched in our collective memory.<\/p>\n

In the former U.S.S.R., the tradition took on a whole new meaning. Circuses had been nationalized<\/a> in 1919, a few years before the Soviet Union was formed. Along with theater, opera, and music, the genre was also co-opted by the socialist government as a propaganda machine, turning family-friendly entertainment into a channel for Communist Party ideological messages. And with its enormous popularity, venues were in demand.<\/p>\n

\"a
Great Moscow State Circus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Between the 1950s and 1980s, the U.S.S.R. commissioned dozens of arenas across the nation, conceived as year-round event venues. Their strikingly geometric, brutalist designs are eye-catching and modern, reflecting the government\u2019s fixation on expressing its power and technological progress. In the 1960s, the Space Race<\/a> exemplified the Soviet Union\u2019s critical role on the world stage. Arena architecture was yet another way to demonstrate the nation\u2019s might, even occasionally resembling flying saucers.<\/p>\n

Cirk<\/em>, a new book from David Navarro and Martyna Sobecka of Zupagrafika<\/a>, highlights the wide range of permanent circuses still standing around Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and further afield. \u201cThese arenas combined socialist modernism, experimental engineering, and choreographed spectacle,\u201d the publisher says, adding: \u201cTogether, they reveal a lesser-known chapter of postwar modernist architecture shaped by ideology and mass entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of Cirk<\/em>\u2018s more playful features is a series of pop-out paper models of actual buildings including state circus buildings in Bishkek, Chi\u0219in\u0103u, Dnipro, Moscow, and Tashkent. Find your copy on Zupagrafika\u2019s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"a
Kyrgyz State Circus, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"paper
Press-out models<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"a
Dnipro State Circus, Ukraine. Photo by Artem Baidala<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"two<\/figure>\n
\"the<\/figure>\n

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Construct Your Own Miniature Paper Brutalist Circuses with \u2018Cirk\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we think of traveling circuses, the \u201cbig top\u201d tent likely springs to mind with its acrobats, clowns, tightrope walkers, and other entertainers and pageantry. Sometimes the traditions are controversial,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7095\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/catbradley.io\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}