National Palace of Culture

The National Palace of Culture (Национален дворец на културата, Natsionalen dvorets na kulturata; abbreviated as НДК, NDK) is a multifunctional conference and cultural centre in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It was opened on 31 March 1981 in celebration of the 1300th anniversary of the Bulgarian state. The centre was initiated at the suggestion of Lyudmila Zhivkova, daughter of the communist leader of the former People's Republic of Bulgaria Todor Zhivkov. The project was designed by a team of Bulgarian and foreign architects led by Alexander Georgiev Barov (1931–1999), together with Ivan Kanazirev. The landscaping of Bulgaria Square in front of the National Palace of Culture was designed by a team led by Atanas Agura. Internally, the building exhibits a unified visual style, employing geometric motifs, dark colours, monumental murals, mosaics, sculptures, woodcarvings and metal works created by Bulgarian artists of the second half of the twentieth century. During the 1990s, after the political changes in Bulgaria, the NDK lost a significant portion of its property, including infrastructure, commercial areas and car parks. Since 2011, the NDK has been restructured as a commercial company, while remaining state property.