Soviet architectural modernism

Soviet modern architecture – one of the three original Soviet architectural styles. Brought by critics in a separate direction recently, so in comparison with constructivism and Stalinist classicism little has been studied. It covers the period from 1955 to 1991.

General characteristic

Origins
Architectural modernism came to the USSR from the West and was transformed into the Soviet one. During the so-called Khrushchev thaw in the USSR, specialized professional journals began to appear in the public domain for architects, and experience was exchanged with architects from Poland, Cuba and Hungary. The internationality of modernism, in fact, is one of its main distinctive features. If we concretize, the origins of Soviet modernism lie directly in the works of Le Corbusier, who by the fifties of the twentieth century reworked the foundations of Soviet constructivism in a new, own architectural style.

History of the term
The term “Soviet architectural modernism” was introduced in the early 2010s, until this point it actually did not exist. It is important that the exact criteria of Soviet architectural modernism have not yet been determined, except for a relatively clearly defined period. A major role in the identification of this style was played by the French photographer Frederic Shubin, who at the beginning of the 2000s toured the territory of the former Soviet Union and captured a number of buildings, at that time referred exclusively to brutalism.

Similarity with brutalism
According to most researchers, Brutalism has become the basis of Soviet modernism, hence – it has the appropriate features, namely: the functionality of massive forms and structures; urban appearance of buildings. Bold and intricate composite solutions reflect, according to the creators, the complexity of Soviet life. Just as in brutalism, the main building material used is reinforced concrete, and the architectural design approach is complex.

Features of the style
However, it would be wrong to completely and completely identify this architectural style with brutalism, since there are some differences. So, a feature of Soviet modernism is, for example, the use of facing materials ( marble, sandstone, shell rock or cheaper analogues). It is also characteristic for this architectural style (mostly at the development stage) decorativeness – for example, the presence of mosaic panels and other modernist decoration elements, and in addition – massive glazing of the surfaces of buildings, in part reminiscent of constructivism.

Studies
An important role in determining the style was played by the study (more accurately – the album) of the French photographer Frederic Shubin, as well as a series of photographs of “Spomeniki” by the Dutch photographer Jan Kempenaers. In the same context, a study by the Moscow publishing house Tatlin entitled “Soviet Modernism: 1955-1985” and his work on the work of Armenian architects “The Architecture of Soviet Modernism” deserve attention.

Basic examples of style
The main constructions of Soviet modernism are the following buildings: the Kremlin Palace of Congresses, the Victory Park ensemble on the Poklonnaya Hill, the Television Tower in Ostankino, etc.

Criticism of style
The main criticism of this architectural style is that after Stalin’s “decorativeness” the purely functional asceticism of modernism (since Khrushchev’s times) deprived the architects of space for creativity. As for the views of the townsfolk, and not the artists of this type of art, many ordinary citizens of the USSR did not like the so-called “house-boxes”, they considered them devoid of cultural and artistic value. In addition, the art of this period in general and architecture – in particular, distinguished the formal approach and following ideological guidelines.

Thus, in an open letter to Mikhail Suslov, a group of artists named E. M. Belyutin criticized the formal approach to art and the practice of creating works of art within the framework of a state order.

Source from Wikipedia