www.ssoar.info From polyglot playgrounds to tourist traps? Designing and redesigning the modern seaside resorts in Bulgaria Hagemann, Anke Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Hagemann, A. (2015). From polyglot playgrounds to tourist traps? Designing and redesigning the modern seaside resorts in Bulgaria. Europa Regional, 22.2014(1-2), 27-38. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-456885 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Deposit-Lizenz (Keine This document is made available under Deposit Licence (No Weiterverbreitung - keine Bearbeitung) zur Verfügung gestellt. Redistribution - no modifications). 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Sie dürfen dieses Dokument document in public, to perform, distribute or otherwise use the nicht in irgendeiner Weise abändern, noch dürfen Sie document in public. dieses Dokument für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke By using this particular document, you accept the above-stated vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, aufführen, vertreiben oder conditions of use. anderweitig nutzen. Mit der Verwendung dieses Dokuments erkennen Sie die Nutzungsbedingungen an. Anke Hagemann: From Polyglot Playgrounds to Tourist Traps? Designing and redesigning the modern seaside resorts in Bulgaria From Polyglot Playgrounds to Tourist Traps? Designing and redesigning the modern seaside resorts in Bulgaria ANKE HAGEMANN Abstract Zusammenfassung Between the mid 1950s and early 70s, the People’s Republic of Vom Polyglot Playground zur Touristenfalle? Bulgaria planned and built four large-scale holiday resorts on Bau und Transformation der modernen Küstenre- the Black Sea Coast – for domestic ‘social tourism’ as well as for sorts in Bulgarien international holidaymakers. According to fordist principles, sun, sand and sea were turned into an all-round ‘tourist Von Mitte der 1950er Jahre bis in die frühen 70er plante und product’, including architecture and urbanism as essential baute die Volksrepublik Bulgarien vier großmaßstäbliche components. The seaside resorts were testing grounds for an Ferienresorts an der Schwarzmeerküste – für den bulgarischen uncompromisingly modern architecture, urbanism and lifestyle ‘Sozialtourismus’ wie auch für internationale Urlaubsgäste. – with comfortable hotel complexes, restaurants and leisure Nach fordistischen Prinzipien wurden Sonne, Sand und Meer in facilities in a wide variety of architectural styles and design ein umfassendes ‘touristisches Produkt’ verwandelt, wobei themes. Modern spaces par excellence were created, interfaces Architektur und Städtebau eine besondere Rolle spielten: Die for professional exchange across the Iron Curtain and places of Küstenresorts waren Laboratorien einer kompromisslos encounter between tourists from East and West. Tourism modernen Architektur, Planung und Lebensweise – mit komfor- became an important sector for the Bulgarian economy under tablen Hotelkomplexen, Restaurants und Freizeiteinrichtungen state socialism and has remained so under present-day in vielfältigen Architekturstilen und Gestaltungsthemen. So ent- capitalism. However, the shifts in organizational structures and standen moderne Räume par excellence, Schnittstellen für den property relations since 1989 have profoundly changed the blockübergreifenden Planungsdiskurs und Begegnungsorte für resorts’ architectural appearance. Urlauberinnen aus Ost und West. Seitdem hat sich der Touris- This contribution discusses how planning practices and mus zu einem der wichtigsten Wirtschaftssektoren Bulgariens architectural images of modernism have shifted from era to entwickelt. Der Wandel der Wirtschafts- und Eigentumsstruk- era, starting with the resorts’ foundation in the 1950s and their turen nach 1989 führte allerdings auch zu einer tiefgreifenden development towards mass tourism in the 1960s. It then deals baulichen Transformation der Resorts. In diesem Beitrag wird with privatization and the construction boom on the Black Sea ausgeführt, wie sich die Planungspraktiken und Architektur- Coast in the post-socialist decades. Case studies of the Sunny sprachen über die Jahrzehnte veränderten, beginnend mit der Beach and Albena resorts demonstrate how differently tourism, Gründung der Resorts in den 1950er Jahren und der Ausprä- planning and real estate actors deal with the built heritage gung des Massentourismus während der 1960er Jahre. Dann and modernist ideas today: from radical neglect within an wird die Privatisierung und der Bauboom an der Schwarz- eclectic urban chaos to a more respectful, clear-sighted meerküste nach dem Systemwechsel in den Blick genommen. upgrading of the original modern architectures. Anhand der kontrastierenden Beispiele der Urlaubsresorts Sonnenstrand und Albena wird dargestellt, wie mit dem Bulgaria, Black Sea, tourism, resort, architecture, urbanism, planning, baulichen Erbe der Moderne in den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten modern/Modernism umgegangen wurde: radikale Missachtung des Bestehenden und planlose bauliche Verdichtung auf der einen und weitsich- tigere Aufwertungsstrategien innerhalb des modernen Be- stands auf der anderen Seite. Bulgarien, Schwarzes Meer, Tourismus, Resort, Architektur, Städtebau, Planung, Moderne 27 Europa Regional 22, 2014 (2015) 1-2 In the 1950s, the sandy beaches, warm tion after the fall of the Iron Curtain up to 2 Moreover, tourism on climate and green hills of the Bulgarian the present day.1 the Black Sea coast could bring in hard goods or benefits. Black Sea coast were discovered and de- currency from international holidaymak- veloped as a destination for large-scale The foundation and development ers ( 2005). Hotels in the upper tourism – offering recreation to domestic of the Bulgarian Black Sea resorts categories in particular were designed to Ghodsee guests as well as international holiday- from the 1950s to the 1970s appeal to an international clientele who makers. Over the next two decades, the Between the mid 1950s and early 70s, started to visit the country in the mid construction of entire new bathing re- the People’s Republic of Bulgaria planned 1950s.3 The centralized national tourist sorts provided architects and urban plan- and built four large holiday resorts on an agency ‘Balkantourist’, which was ners with unprecedented opportunities urban scale: Druzhba, Zlatni Pyasatsi launched in 1948, owned, managed and to experiment. The Black Sea coast beca- (Golden Sands), Slanchev Bryag (Sunny marketed all tourist accomodation and me a testing ground for the renewal of re- Beach), and Albena ( 1973). This en- facilities in the country. It also main- solutely modern design, and the resorts terprise was accompanied by the con- - Hess that sprang up there showcased the very struction of more hotels, holiday homes, ternational marketing campaigns. tained offices abroad, and invested in in latest in contemporary Bulgarian archi- youth camps and holiday villages in oth- Streams of foreign guests were thus tecture. Development of the coast to ac- er places along the coast – not to mention ‘steered into the country according to comodate millions of holidaymakers laid the mountain resorts in the interior, plan’ ( 1973). the foundations for an economic sector which were developed during the same Hess that was vital to Bulgaria under state so- period. Initially, the seaside resorts were Likewise, the resorts, hotels and holiday cialism, and has remained so under pre- dedicated to recreation for domestic facilities were centrally planned and de- sent-day capitalism. workers. As early as 1948, the socialist signed by one institution only: Glavpro- This article begins with a short over- People’s Republic of Bulgaria introduced ekt, the central state institute for archi- view of the development of the Bulgarian the universal right to an annual paid hol- tecture and urban planning. The respon- - iday and made ‘social tourism’ a perma- sibility for the design and structural ing on the modern and modernist con- nent feature of its social policy – follow- development of each new resort in its en- Black Sea resorts since the 1950s, reflect cepts within this ‘socialist’ architecture ing the model of the Soviet Union. Hence, tirety was assigned to a team of archi- and urbanism. Then, it focuses on the a large share of the tourism facilities was tects, planners and engineers under the physical and economic transformation of allocated by workplaces, mass organiza- direction of a chief architect at Glavpro- the seaside resorts since the 1990s by tions and state institutions in the name ekt. The centralized masterplanning of comparing two very different cases: Al- of state-subsidized ‘social tourism’ the Black Sea Coast allowed for the con- bena and Sunny Beach. It concludes by ( 2005; 2011).