Freedom Square (Maidan Svobody in Ukrainian) is the heart of Kharkiv and one of the most architecturally striking public spaces in eastern Europe. The square is enormous — nearly 12 hectares — and ringed by a remarkable ensemble of Constructivist and Stalinist buildings that trace the trajectory of Soviet ambition through the 1920s and 1950s.
The dominant building is the Derzhprom (House of State Industry), a brutally impressive Constructivist complex completed in 1928 when Kharkiv was still the Soviet Ukrainian capital. Three towers are linked by elevated walkways, creating a kind of horizontal skyscraper. On the opposite side of the square stands the Kharkiv National University of Radio Electronics and the mirror-glass Kharkiv Regional Administration building. In the centre, a Lenin statue once stood; it was toppled during the Euromaidan protests in 2014, leaving a distinctive void that the square has not yet filled. The Mirror Stream fountain at the square's edge is a popular summer gathering point.