New Decade, 1960s Architecture - Cities: Skylines - Altengrad 62

Advancing into 1960s. Introducing new vehicles and renovating or rebuilding parts of the city with modern buildings. Briefly introducing architecture of the 1960s.
You can directly support the channel by becoming a channel member here:
/ @akruas
Twitter - / akruasstream
Twitch - / akruas
Mod collections: steamcommunity...
Altengrad is a time-progression Cities: Skylines series where I build a Central European city, located until 1989 in the Eastern Bloc, taking inspiration from Germany, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia and Hungary. The series starts around the year 1920 and slowly advances forward in time, which means the city will naturally evolve all the way to modern times. The city is not a recreation of any one real-life city or country, but it takes inspiration from them.
PC specs are in the channel's About page. No, the game doesn't run like this in real time. Cinematics are recorded slow and made faster in editing.
/ akruas
Music: www.bensound.c...
Pictures used:
(1) Own work
(2) Public domain
(3) San Diego photo by Sergei Gussev / Flickr / CC-BY-2.0, no changes made creativecommon...
(4) Salzburger Gasse 2 - Regensburg photo by High Contrast / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-3.0-DE, no changes made creativecommon...
(5) Etoiles d'Ivry @ Brutalist housing project @ Jean Renaudie @ Place Voltaire @ Ivry-sur-Seine by Guilhem Vellut / Flickr / CC-BY-2.0, no changes made creativecommon...
(6) Budapest - Marriott Hotel photo by Fred Romero / Flickr / CC-BY-2.0, no changes made creativecommon...
(7) Letecký pohled na Ještěd by melechovsky / Panoramio / CC-BY-3.0, no changes made creativecommon...
(8) Biprostal by Milosz B. / Panoramio / CC-BY-3.0, no changes made creativecommon...
Information about sources:
My primary sources are in Czech and Slovak, because I understand it and I can easily borrow books, search theses, articles or old TV programmes. This gives me information about Czechoslovakia. After learning or confirming something, I search whether or not it's applicable to also East Germany, Poland and Hungary. First usually through Wikipedia, to at least gather some basic info and learn important keywords to search further. This usually leads to online articles or videos, but also sometimes to English books that I can see through library access. Although some sources pop up from those other countries first. I don't research the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries, since that is not where the series is from. I also don't focus on political theory but rather the reality.
Major sources:
Books:
(I) "Architektura 60. a 70. let 20. století v České republice" (Architecture of 60s and 70s of the 20th century in the Czech Republic)
(II) "Šedesátá léta v architektuře očima pamětníků" (Sixties in Architecture through the eyes of witnesses)
(III) "Paneláci 1,2" (Prefabs, parts 1 and 2)
(IV) "Massive, Expressive, Sculptural: Brutalism Now and Then"
(V) "Brutalism: Post-war British Architecture"
Journals:
(VI) "The New Brutalism" by Reyner Banham www.architectu...
(VII) "Brutalism in Poland on the Example of the Architecture of Krakow" by Wojciech Niebrzydowski
TV and video:
(VIII) Archive of the Czech/Czechoslovak TV and cinema news (various programmes, news clips or shows from relevant periods)
(IX) Recent Czech TV programmes like historie.cs and others
Other:
(X) Talks with family members, coworkers and friends who worked or studied before 1989
(XI) Museum visits, historical exhibitions or lectures
(XII) Own experience in material and civil engineering
(XIII) Looking at various historical photos, for example from pastvu.com
(XIV) Various online articles about architects and buildings such as the Zieleniak, Haus des Lehres, CDT, Hotel Thermal, Kulturpalast Dresden and many others
(XV) List of "socialist modernist" buildings on socialistmodernism.com
#citiesskylines #altengrad

[@mimikal7548]

My grandad worked in the Zieleniak building, as a ship designer. What a surprise to see it in Altengrad! I look forward to the inevitable prefab housing projects.

[@h3r3t1c3]

This series is singlehandedly responsible for getting me interested into architecture!

[@AdamFaruqi]

For those who don't know, the source of the word Brutalism comes more from the French term "béton brut" which means raw concrete, rather than the word "brutal". Great video, can't wait to see what other changes are in store for the '60s!

[@notead]

That's just one other theory. What Akruas said is the more mainstream idea: that it was used negatively to describe one architect's work in the UK, and then popularized by a Swedish architect ~100 years later

[@bartoszbanasik2252]

First building is a Smyk - retail house with a characteristic arrow neon. It's from Warsaw, Poland. Few years ago it was renovated and get second life with new shops inside. So two great buildings from Poland in this episode. Great!

[@danonck]

If I'm not mistaken the asset used is Smyk/CDT building after its recent renovation. But I cannot remember how it looked before anymore, my memory doesn't reach as far as pre-covid, lol.

[@yakudami]

Watching this series I completely forgot that there would eventually come timeline that may include my workshop asset :P Anyways I love your videos both historic and futuristic :)

[@gijskramer1702]

I love how educational this series has become over the past years. I have been watching since episode 1. Still hooked

[@milton1969able]

8.30 on a sunday morning, haveing a brew and watching some Cities SKylines before I go to the laundrette and I end up with a lesson on Brutalism. Fantastic.

[@justist3803]

I just love to see altengrad progressing. I remember watching other cities youtubers timelapses and thinking "thats not how a city looks like" or at least not the ones I am used to see. Strange how even if Altengrad is not a real place, it looks oddly familiar, like I have walked its streets. I am from Budapest by the way.

[@VictorECaplon]

I must congratulate you. You really capture the level of damage done to the esthetic of the city during that period. Such a good series.

[@circleinforthecube5170]

it wasnt damaged, thats a personal opinion, it doesent matter how much you dont like modern architecture, its still an opinion

[@ai97Nord]

Good episode, 24:31 ngl It looks so Beautiful and it can be use as the Postcard.

[@chwilhogyn]

I stayed at both the Hotel Interconttinental and Marriot when I was 16 on a school trip visiting Praha and Budapest in 1996!!!

[@yewbacca]

it really is astonishing how much effort you put into these video. Of course i'm watching because i'm a fan of CS, but i've come to love even more all the background info you provide in these videos. Thanks for that!

[@incent.]

My greatgranfather actually laid electrionic cables in the Zieleniak building it's a great feeling to see it becoming semi-famous

[@TheGrejp]

Thank you for explaining the different architectural styles, I think that's quite important to know. What most people call brutalism are actually just some types of modernism/international style, and that's a bit irritating. It both paints regular modernist buildings in a bad light (because of the unfortunate connotations of the mame) and waters down the expressiveness and meaning of the actual brutalist style.

[@cameron224_]

I just love your channel Akruas. I find every episode you do interesting, relaxing, and satisfying to watch. I'm sure other subscribers would agree that despite being a hidden gem channel, every upload is loved and enjoyed. Keep up the fantastic work and I'll continue to look forward to the next episodes so long as you continue to make them.

[@flameoguy]

There's something tragic about buildings being demolished just for an empty lot or concrete plaza in their place. Very common for architects to destroy urban fabric simply to make a city seem more 'open'.

[@romanrat5613]

Slums: cleared Slum dwellers: relocated Atmosphere: opened Outdated trolley lines: ripped up Abundant parking: secured Smooth traffic flow from outer ring suburbs to the central city: facilitated

[@circleinforthecube5170]

@@romanrat5613 trolley lines are a lot less outdated then total car dependence

[@FunkyPidzyn]

I must say, i love this episode. ❤ You have to say something about mosaics in modernist atichtecture, this Biprostal’s facade was to be destroy during modernisation that took place around 2012, but was preserved as a monument and local dominance. And it is not the only one. Sadly, the most beautiful Cracovian mosaics, integrated into city court building, also from 1960’s, were hiden behind insultation, - pity - that totally fuck up its architecture.

[@dominikostraszewski7652]

Look at on the steam: Manhattan Wrocław - Sedesowiec. This bulding is the perfect fit to soviet architecure...

[@nedvb6676]

absolutely love this series, the amount of research you put into an episode is amazing! can't wait to see more

[@alexturner8479]

I've recently returned from a weekend trip to Bratislava and I saw some very interesting 60s architecture like the UFO bridge

[@bentilbury2002]

Your channel is always an education. Never thought I'd be looking forward to a video about concrete!

[@feridaliyev1992]

I really like the synthesis of old and new architecture. Please add more tall buildings 🌹

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

Patience; You know there will be more.

[@eran0004]

It’s great to see one of my assets (the smaller office tower with the clock) in my favourite Cities Skyline series 🤩 Looking forward to the next episode!

[@heresj5105]

The city looks awesome 🔥 so much is changing, we need a tour to see all that !

[@szymonknapinski7092]

I am very grateful that there is some polish architecture representation in Altengrad, great series, I love it!

[@dzieciakziomkakuzynacyborg]

i was waiting for 1960s

[@Yaratoma]

Always interesting and the sight line across the bridge was a nice touch.

[@beni_benyei]

man, you're not only a great builder but also story teller. stay at it!

[@friddevonfrankenstein]

The name Brutalism also does not derive from the word brutal but rather the french béton brut which can be translated into raw/naked concrete. Even though I have to agree that some of those buildings do look kinda brutal :D

[@dubacek_sk]

I can see, Altengrad bought T3 trams from Czechoslovakia. 👍

[@skagenrora1236]

When you build the housing projects it would be cool to see some of it being built in multiple parts around the city. Atleast like 2 or 3 completely separate areas.

[@robal8912]

Great to see my Zieleniak and CEDET assets!

[@LucasFernandez-fk8se]

Is altengrad gonna get a highway? I feel like that would be very interesting to see if the roads get widened and if any highways get put in now that it’s the 60s

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

It sort of depends on what he thinks fits best for the city, though there will probably be some form of highway network on the map eventually.

[@romanrat5613]

I like that we can see hints of what might become the new highways, such as the 4 lane road next to the domino building

[@Flying_Skier]

Kate Wagner also did a series on Brutalism a while ago. It's on Mcmansion Hell

[@kaiserteddie9564]

awesome video like always btw some people have noticed the lack of trolley buses, something that was apparently very common in the eastern block. i know the reason for it is because you dont want to buy the DLC but maybe a lore reason could be because the country alterngrad is set in is very oil rich to demonstrate tht, maybe you could biuld an oil reffinery soehwere

[@mimikal7548]

Trolley buses are electric buses powered by overhead wires, i.e. trams without tracks. I don't think there is a trolley bus DLC, are you sure you don't just mean trams? If so, Altengrad already has plenty of trams.

[@kaiserteddie9564]

@@mimikal7548 nope, the sunset harbor dlc, if i am not mistaken, adds trolley buses. and no i am not, trams and trolley buses are diffrente, since trams needs rails n all

[@romanrat5613]

@@kaiserteddie9564 trolleybusses are in base game

[@kaiserteddie9564]

@@romanrat5613 i am sure they came in the sunset valley dlc

[@romanrat5613]

@@kaiserteddie9564 No

[@Charles_Anthony]

2:10 Hungarian Revolution is what it's commonly referred to in the west, but I must admit that Uprising doesn't sound bad either.

[@maxmacyszyn1165]

the building from warsaw still stands, mostly unchanged :)) it has a newer building adjacent to its back side

[@dadude405]

This looks so f*cking good This series needs more clicks

[@trOlloloL48]

Great video, as always. I would consider adding some big hospital complex in future episodes.

[@phenethylamine91]

Zieleniak can also mean produce store, but that also tends to be rather green ^^ I'm not from Gdańsk though so take it as it is

[@CallMeThyme]

I love this series so much! Its really underated alltho great!

[@Rene23]

since I'm living in Czechia, which this series is heavily inspired by, this video was very interesting

[@stayhungrystayfoolish2881]

You are on a scientific kevel. Thank you for these videos.

[@cristianorescu7401]

i would recommend making a Transport museum, where u showcase different vehicles that have been in altengrad. have like a small reception building with a big garden having different cars, buses, trucks, carriages, heck even trains.

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

I'm betting on some form of railroad museum or maybe a retooled version of the region's history by the new regime to make the younger population more sympathetic to the Eastern Bloc's cause/more willing to let the new regime exercise more control; It's a very common tactic in not just politics, but also economics.

[@markusz4447]

Amazing as always!

[@happy_frog]

Finally Altengrad, thank you ^^ I love your videos

[@TheMomcilo]

The first building you intend to place it is much better than then that department store.

[@doublea06]

An new series, again, wait a go!

[@czoklet]

keep up the amazing work :) funny to see so many buildings i recognize lol

[@weinhel2996]

0:43 looks like Koblenz in Germany with the two bridges :)

[@jaspertjong6500]

Amazing as always :D

[@jzeltman]

Great work as always

[@si-we1cp]

Great Video as always I would love you to take inspiration from the Wintergartenhochhaus in Leipzig it is an outstanding and for that time the highest apartment tower in the grr build in 1970 until 72.

[@venomlesscz9525]

I love this series, even more so than asturis, since im also from czech republic and love seeing the the history of architecture. One thing tho - weren't parking spaces, even small ones built as part of larger workplaces/offices? I would assume that the zieleniak office would have trouble with car parking

[@extramlok]

Skvělá práce, ostatně jako vždy 👍👍👍

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

0:38. You gonna replace that bridge at any point? I know it already replaced a broken stone bridge destroyed during World War II, but bridges built in the 1930's-1950's usually had a big problem dealing with the increasing weight and speed of cars as the years went on as well as the decay of the materials used in the bridge's construction over time. The Silver Bridge is a perfect example of the problem I just talked about alongside the original Sunshine Skyway in Florida, and various other examples that I'm probably forgetting. You don't necessarily need to replace the bridge right now, and you technically don't EVER need to replace it, but it would eventually bottleneck traffic in the city if not just collapse by the 1970's unless you do something to either renovate it or outright replace it.

[@Akruas]

The bridge was inspired by the Śląsko-Dąbrowski bridge in Warsaw, which was just renovated in the 90s and it looks the same today.

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@@Akruas. Ah, that explains things; Still think the roads are a bit too small considering, you know, later cars as the decades went on, but okay. Can't wait for future projects; Maybe some updates to the rail network or a small camp for Red Army soldiers who are staying near the city for extra force to counter...."unruly" citizens? I don't know; Just kind of spitting ideas out. Actually, I've got a pretty good idea: Maybe you could go back to the racetrack from the 1930's era, and completely rebuild it into a proper racetrack with proper race cars and everything? By the 50's alone, racing was already becoming quite the popular sport in various places around the world, so maybe Altengrad could get it's first proper racing stadium and then it's own local racing competitions in preparation for the increasing popularity of racing competitions that would only get more and more popular as the years go on. You could then apply this same principle to other parts of the city that you have left untouched for literal years to further redevelop the city in this new decade of the 1960's. All up to you as to what to do next, and I'll still watch this series regardless.

[@LeatherThomiPL]

CDT was rebuild after some fire and was recently refurbished to look more like original project

[@Dejroslaw2448]

Zarąbista robota

[@theorixlux]

Great! Would adding some social spawn points on the quais help make them look more lively? They look kind of dead for what is essential one of the best amenities of the city.

[@martinsykora3043]

The buildigs and props you use in Altengrad look interesting wold be ever a modlist of those? btw the city looks incredible

[@CityScapesYT]

Great episode, thank you! What office building is this: 2:37

[@CityScapesYT]

Found it :)😊

[@gijskramer1702]

I wonder how you will implement the huge increase in car traffic that is to come to this city. Maybe a ringroad/beltway. Or just straight through like the a12 in the hague

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

I suspect there to be a few highways running through the city later on; Maybe starting around the late 60's-early 70's? All depends on what Akruas believes is best for the project.

[@alec3107]

I used to live in some of these buildings in Germany. I think the main issue wasn't the architecture but the building quality. My building for example was horrible in terms of plumbing and electrical wiring. I think that's why alot of them are getting torn down

[@stupidvoiceofreason]

Monke see: Tatra T3 🚃 Neurons: here we go bois

[@rekr6381]

Loved the bit on brutalism

[@mikillweka]

I really love your videos🤯❤

[@somevincentsauce]

Man, Akruas I literally binged this whole series in about a month, and I just have about catched up. Say, I have just seen the mod collection, and I was wondering if you could release an asset collection for this? Maybe when the series is over (Well that'll be a while) Or maybe just listing the names of a few creators' assets you might've/are using. Yee

[@daltonbedore8396]

love a good history lesson with my cities skylines🥰

[@dummyxl]

👍👍👍👍👍 so cool concept to do and watch

[@Tebus1215]

Super video i město :) Bylo by možné zveřejnit seznam použitých assetů? Zajímaly by mě hlavně cesty a silnice.

[@punizika]

Best series in CS

[@harrydean5089]

Is there rain in the background of your audio?? barely noticeable but once I heard it can't unhear it

[@DjapeKostic]

You should check out brutalist buildings from former Yugoslavia

[@ceccascorp8149]

Gorgeous.

[@klszwarc]

Hahaha Zieleniak, nice.

[@ananas3081]

Hello Excellent episode! I dont know if you are interested but I have 2 ideas for 90s which is fall of Eastern Block 1 Wild capitalist billboards and posters with flashy colors in almost every city corner 2 Decommunization which means removing prosoviet sculptures and statues These ideas were inspired by postsoviet Poland Hope you appreciate them

[@TrainsReloaded]

Same with former East-Berlin

[@davidstevensherrerachavez7692]

Amazing!

[@slavvy.mp4884]

This is no longer a cities skylines series. This is a full-on history lesson on architecture and I am all for it

[@TheDutchMitchell]

We've come to the point where the amazing old-world architecture gets replaced by the horrible modernism and especially brutalism. I really enjoy seeing how you do this and still make it look good in CS. Well done. I do wonder if, way further in time, there will be reconstruction projects of popular buildings that were demolished.

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

You're probably not gonna get any historical recreation projects until around the late 90's or beginning of the 21st century.

[@circleinforthecube5170]

the hate for brutalism will probably start dissapearing when most of the people who remember its introduction and growth age out, every argument against modernism is always based on personal opinion or untested eye tracking software from a limited pool of testers

[@alexdosovos445]

great video, are you going to build any airport in the 70' or 80' ?

[@Akruas]

No airport.

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@@Akruas. A little odd imo, though maybe that's ignorant of me. You definitely need to rebuild the railroad terminus, though; That building is getting WAY too small for the railroad traffic it's getting as well as it's attendance. Might also have to do something about that bridge near the old town that's literally been unchanged in design and capacity for literal decades at this point; Surprised it hasn't been axed yet considering, if we're being just a touch realistic here, it 100% would have collapsed by the 1950's alone due to the sheer weight of the cars crossing it over 10+ years.

[@Akruas]

@@dragonbornexpress5650 Agree with the station expansion. A touch realistic compared to what? USA? There are bridges from 1900s to 1950s in many Central European cities that remain the same today, same lanes, same structure, with occasional repairs. Not everything was changed to 10 lane highways for daily 100k+ cars over here. And it's not like new bridges were not built elsewhere.

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

@@Akruas. I'm not asking for 10 lane highways; I actually looked at parts of Czechia a couple of days ago, and even some bits of Croatia about a month back. Even with concrete highways, some parts were still fairly compact with two lanes on both sides, and some even ran right through residential areas even today. As for the "touch realistic" bit, I mean in the context of the materials used in the structure; The steel would have definitely corroded in some places from exposure to the elements for so long, and the stone arches would be cracking by the 1950's alone due to water expansion, though even some stuff built in the 1950's tended to have problems later on depending on location. Regardless, I 100% see how ignorant I sound, so I'll take the L on that front: I fucked up, and that is all on me. Love this series. Surprised the city doesn't even have it's own radio station yet or even a TV station; Radio stations were very well established at this point across most of the world, and TV stations were starting to increase in popularity both as political/economic tools or just as basic news delivery methods. Actually, come to think of it, wouldn't Altengrad have it's own news agency by this time? Or various other things like a Department of Transport type government branch? This is turning into a bit of a rabbit hole, so I'll stop here.

[@pawelr]

Yee! Kto tu z Polski? :)

[@m13ar.]

Fantastic!

[@erikrizell9116]

Which era are you going to add motorways, is it going to be like Autobahn or something else?

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

No clue; Maybe starting around the early 70's? All depends on what he thinks would fit.

[@vigoedwinpandika1545]

Brutalism is popular back in soviet union era during cold war most of soviet cities uses this type of method in all of russian influenced, the moment when this word was came on the terms of international idea so the western and the eastern has some of the Architecture appeared because they build it but some debate came on the room in the hall of 2 individuals for thise whu agrees? Or Not? Because the modern society what we appereantly or literraly see nowadays are much more getting us into the downfall serious face and thats even make us more depression more and more but architecture back then since The Begining of the Ancient Civilizations The Design was good and i recognize the truth or we had learn about why the civilization called tartaria from thousands of years ago was really mindblowinf comparing our tech what we have today,but we can still build it then 😊

[@przemu6844]

1970s are coming closer in communist block was industrial upgrade every thing that was built , is big ,for example ironwork called HUTA Katowice industrial milestone from which for example rails were exported around the world . Huta Katowice was also some kind of upgrade for sourounding city Dąbrowa Górnicza bigger buildings were built tram tracks and so called workers hotel for workers of iron work. ( if my grammar is bad im so sorry ) { Greetings from Poland }

[@fabian7977]

Are you going to introduce trolleybuses? I am asking you because the trolleybuses are very popular in Eastern European block especially in Soviet union and Czech Republic

[@dadude405]

10:28 yo my grandma lives there

[@lunardoeseverything5393]

I was wondering when you’re gonna change the texture for concrete/pavement? If you don’t you could make a story like perhaps the government enforces the use of cobblestone because it’s tradition/historical etc.

[@Akruas]

I talked about that in #61

[@ahaco8734]

Zieleniak 😍

[@Cane306]

The only thing I hate about this series is the time between two episodes. :)

[@likematters5568]

YESS

[@landys2690]

The city looks like Prague

[@jacobosc5849]

Dynamo Altengrad stadium please

[@leaverpool8059]

Do you plan to build a dedicated "communist" icon building like the buzhulda tower (Bulgaria), or the tower you showed as a reference pic?

[@Akruas]

I'll build the Haus des Lehrers somewhere, if that's the tower you mean.

[@sor3697]

you do know asphalt existed in the 60

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

And? There are still plenty of cities even to this day that still have cobblestone roads.

[@ulrichkristensen4087]

Brutalist architecture is fascinating, some are quite beautiful others a real ugly experience,

[@Chrischi4598]

It kinda bugs me so much that there are some west German trains… 😅

[@tsimushibitameliars]

Just Lissy?

[@martinsykora3043]

Are you from Slovakia, Czechia or Poland? (you sound like one of three)

[@bahnspotterEU]

He's Czech.