Soviet Union buildings started looking like bland concrete on purpose when Khrushchev decided housing everyone was more important than Stalin's focus on appeara

Soviet Union buildings started looking like bland concrete on purpose when Khrushchev decided housing everyone was more important than Stalin's focus on appearances. The buildings of that era were meant to be temporary, and only remained because their economy failed. There were many awful things about Khrushchev, but at least the housing policy appears to have been a genuine attempt at improving things for ordinary people. Even though the housing was poor quality and ugly, it was a step up when they were introduced.