>>511130601
>Before the advent of the era of capitalism, when they were new and when these buildings were constantly properly maintained, they looked pretty good.
I don't mean to shit on Russia (I mean I hate Russia, just not in this post), but here Poland commie blocks are still maintained (some were even modernized to pass newest EU norms on energy efficiency) and it with modern methods their date of expire got posponed indefinitely.

They still look like shit and they'll look like shit in decades to come, because:
>built as something ascetic, structurally simple for the construction process
You described architectural brutalism. Commies chose this particular form because it suited their inhumane, collectivist philosophy. They could make these building look less depressing with very minor difference in costs, but it wasn't about economy, but breaking people's spirit.

Yes, there was grass and playgrounds because just like nowadays, there had to, but buildings themselves were designed to make you feel miserable.