Soviet architecture

Soviet architecture covers the period 1917-1991. During this time, it reflected a number of world architectural styles – constructivism, rationalism, art deco, a mixture of art deco, Empire and eclecticism, Stalinist architecture and brutalism.

Periodization

Architecture of the period of the Revolution and the Civil War
During the war period, most of the architects were left without work and were engaged in ” paper architecture “. Some collaborated with sculptors, creating monuments (LV Rudnev, a monument to the “Victims of Repression” on the Champ de Mars, 1917-1919).

Vladimir Tatlin created his 1920 famous tower, which became a symbol of a new direction in art, an expression of courage and determination quest.

Architecture of 1921-ser. 1930s
During this period, compared to the previous decade, stability arose, the economic situation was strengthened, and the architecture opened wide opportunities. Large-scale construction began – residential houses, factories, factories, power stations, new cities and towns were planned.

The style of Soviet architecture was developed and disseminated. It was fueled by different traditions – a number of masters kept the old traditions, others engaged in innovation. Members of both these groups could adhere to two main trends – rationalism and constructivism.

The head of the rationalists was Nikolai Ladovsky. This direction of architecture focused on the problem of the artistic image. The searches were based on the extensive use of the latest building materials and structures. The architects of this direction attached great importance to the consideration of objective laws of the composite construction of the architectural form. They believed that one should not forget about the objective laws of form formation, as well as about the psycho-physiological features of human perception.

The school of constructivism was formed a little later. Constructivist architects emphasized the importance of taking into account the functionally constructive foundation of the construction, in addition, they fought against the “restorative” tendencies with respect to the old architectural traditions, as well as against the “left formalism”, as the searches of some contemporaries were often called. Constructivism as an independent phenomenon first manifested itself in the beginning of 1923, when the Vesnin brothers started the project of the Palace of Labor in Moscow.

As a result of the common aspirations of rationalists and constructivists, a new direction of Soviet architecture as a whole was born and further developed. The works of this direction are competitive works for the projects of the building of the Moscow branch of Leningradskaya Pravda, the joint-stock company Arcos (architect Ivan Fomin), the Soviet pavilion at the World Exhibition in Paris (architect Konstantin Melnikov), the Moscow telegraph (architect Ivan Rerberg) and so on

In subsequent years, creative searches in Soviet architecture were determined by “overcoming the polemic straightforwardness of the theoretical positions and practice of constructivists and rationalists”. There was a synthesis of both directions. With its use, residential complexes were built, which in the second half of the twenties were actively developed. The massive construction of workers’ dwellings (3-5 storey sectional houses), as well as the standard design of the dwellings of “working people in a socialist society”, caused various theoretical disputes. An individual house with an entrance hall and a Russian stove was considered adequate to the tasks of building society, on the other hand, huge communal houses. A lot of workers’ and village clubs are being built, izb-chitalen, people’s houses. Gradually there is a new type of public building. In this sense, Konstantin Melnikov was an important master. According to his project, five clubs were built in Moscow: Rusakov ‘s name, Gorky ‘s name, Frunze’s name, “Kauchuk” and “Burevestnik”. He considered working clubs as a type of building, which, with his appearance, should reflect new forms of life and work, that is, functional and spatial problems must merge into it.

Innovative tendencies in the architecture of the 1920s were so strong that they influenced the masters who used to be guided by old traditions. Such, for example, is Lenin’s Mausoleum of Shchusev’s work, although Zholtovsky remains persistent in his classic searches and search for a new language.

The competition for the construction of the Palace of Soviets was an important moment in the development of creative searches. A somewhat modernized idea of a traditional monument triumphed – in the version of Iofan with a multitude of columns and a giant statue.

Architecture of the 1930s
In the 1930s, active construction of towns and villages continued, it was required to reconstruct many old cities. New tasks of the time – the construction for an agricultural exhibition in Moscow with pavilions for each union republic, the channel to them. Moscow, the Moscow Metropolitan. The tasks of conventional housing construction were combined with the need to build large architectural complexes of exhibition character or transport facilities designed for huge passenger traffic.

Style trends were located between the two extreme points – constructivism and traditionalism. The influence of constructivism was still felt strongly, in addition, the construction of buildings started in this style in the 1920s was completed: the USSR State Library of the USSR. VI Lenin (1928-40, architects – Vladimir Shchuko, Vladimir Gelfreich), the theater in Rostov-on-Don (1930-35, the same, blown up by the Nazis, later rebuilt), the building of the combine newspaper Pravda (1931- 1935, Panteleimon Golosov), the ensemble of Dzerzhinsky Square in Kharkov with the building of the State Industry (Sergey Serafimov and Samuel Kravets). These searches were continued by some architects of the 1930s: Arkady Langman built the House of SRT (1933-36, the modern building of the State Duma in Okhotny Ryad). Lev Rudnev and Vladimir Munts erected the building of the Academy. Frunze – strict in form, dismembered and majestic. Very successful created in 1936-38 years. group of architects Crimean bridge.

Zholtovsky at the same time heads the traditionalist trend, relying on his pre-revolutionary experience of a neoclassical architect. In 1934, he builds an apartment house on Mokhovaya Street, applying to the modern building and structure a large warrant, which has no constructive meaning. In general, in the 1930s the colonnade became a favorite decorative device, sometimes at the expense of internal construction and amenities.

There is a feeling for the revival of old style features. This is noticeable in national schools, in particular – it manifested itself in the construction of pavilions of the future VDNH. Architects try to combine the old and the new. Such is, for example, the building of the government building of the Georgian SSR in Tbilisi (1933-38), the architects Ilya Lezhava and Viktor Kokorin: here the arcade of the lower floor, referring to the architecture of the old Tiflis, is connected with the simple composition of the building. Alexander Tamanyan created an ensemble of the center of Yerevan, adding to the traditional features elements of the classicism style. Thanks to the use of pink tuff, the buildings fit organically into the surrounding landscape.

The Moscow subway was also created by masters who were influenced by these two different trends. Ivan Fomin designs the Red Gate (1935) and Theatrical (1938, formerly Sverdlov Square), focusing on the classics, strict and clear. Alexei Dushkin creates Kropotkinskaya (1935, formerly the “Palace of Soviets”) and Mayakovsky (1938), striving to overcome the material, facilitate the construction, ease, rationality. He uses modern architectural style and new materials for this.

Soviet architecture has also experienced the influence of the main world style of those years – art deco.

The Kremlin petrol station on the Volkhonka (1930s) is the only realized element of the Palace of Soviets and one of the last surviving buildings of the Soviet art deco.
See also Egyptizing style # In the Soviet Union.
By the end of the decade, the classic tendencies are winning constructive. Architecture takes on a shade of grandeur. The epoch of Stalin’s Empire begins. The same tendencies were manifested in many ways in other forms of art, especially in applied and decorative art.

During the Great Patriotic War
During this period, of course, built, of course, little, but the projects in the field of housing and urban development continued to create. In 1943, to improve the quality of architecture and construction during the restoration of war-torn cities and settlements of the USSR, the Committee for Architecture Affairs was organized. Before him was the task of restoring 70 thousand settlements, from cities to villages, destroyed by the Germans. In 1943-44 years. work on restoration began. The main tasks were first Stalingrad, Voronezh, Novgorod, Kiev, Smolensk, Kalinin. The restoration of the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station began. General plans of cities and republics of the USSR were created.

There is a design and creation of monuments to heroes and victims of war. In the spring of 1942, one of the first competitions took place, then in 1943. In the State Tretyakov Gallery there is an exhibition of architectural works “The Heroic Front and Rear”.

Architecture of 1945-1960
In the first post-war period, the work of the architect is characterized by special intensity. They actively engaged in the restoration of destroyed buildings, creating new ones in parallel. Restoring the city, the architects tried to correct their old shortcomings. Thus was rebuilt Khreshchatyk – the central street of Kiev, completely destroyed during the war. Restoration of the Ukrainian capital involved not only local, but also Moscow and Leningrad architects. In 1949, a project was proposed for rebuilding the Khreshchatyk highway, which changed its layout, although it gave a “tribute to surface decorism” (Alexander Vlasov, Anatoly Dobrovolsky, Victor Elizarov, A. Zakharov, Alexander Malinovsky, Boris Priymak).

Great attention was paid to a new general plan for the worn out city of Stalingrad (Volgograd). A whole architectural and aesthetic idea was proposed by Soviet architects Alabyan and Simbirtsev. In the city’s plan was introduced a central ensemble – the area of the Fallen fighters, the Heroes alley, propylaea with a giant staircase to the Volga. In a certain system, industrial areas were united. “In the new features of the revived city-hero expressed the meaning of the people’s feat”.

The city of Minsk, which was destroyed almost completely, was also required to renovate the city center in the area of Lenin Square and Leninsky Prospekt (modern square and Independence Avenue). The main street was planned according to the principle of the avenue with equally high houses (architects Mikhail Parusnikov, Mikhail Barsch, Mikhail Osmolovsky, Vladimir Korol, Gennady Badanov). The old and new part of the city was united by a round square with an obelisk in memory of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Novgorod restored the team of architects under the direction of Shchusev. The main feature of the city restoration plan is the merging of the new building with Old Russian masterpieces.

As Soviet critics wrote 1970: “in the difficult process of developing architecture urban regeneration as a whole is certainly positive, brewing nevertheless a danger delusions of grandiosity,” take over “from megalomania features peculiar to a number of works of pre-war architecture. Has been developed and a tendency to excessive decorativism, qualified as a later embellishment “. These giants were the Moscow high-rise buildings, the most successful of which recognized the building of Moscow State University (1949 – 1953. Years, architects Boris lofan (shifted from the post of chief architect), Lev Rudnev, Sergey Chernyshev,Pavel Abrosimov, Alexander Khryakov, VN Nasonov. Sculptural design of the facades – the works of Mukhina’s workshop).

One of the main problems remained the problem of ordinary housing, aggravated by the destruction of the war. In these years, the deployment of mass housing construction begins. However, at first construction is developing as a low-rise – due to the lack of the necessary production and technical base. Start experimenting with quarterly buildings Moscow (area Sandy streets, architects Zinovy Rosenfeld, V. Sergeyev). Later this experience was used in other cities. Multi-storey construction began in Chelyabinsk, Perm, Kuibyshev. Quarters are starting to appear, built up by houses from large concrete blocks, industrial methods of construction are being introduced, which are cheaper. However, negative trends also intensified: among them is the decoration of the facade with incompleteness of courtyards and intraquarter spaces. The subsequent era actively condemned the “front” principle of style – the abundant use of colonnades, stucco molding, decoration. The end of this luxurious style was put by the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR ” On the elimination of excesses in design and construction ” (November 4, 1955). To replace the Stalinist empire after the death of the leader came functional typical Soviet architecture, which with some changes existed until the end of the Soviet state.

Architecture of the 1960s and 1980s
In 1955, the resolution ” On the elimination of excesses in design and construction ” was adopted, putting an end to the Stalinist empire.

Industrialization primarily touched on housing construction: it was necessary to decide the type of mass apartment and apartment building. The construction of areas with large tracts began.

According to this new principle, Khimki – Khovrino (architect Karo Alabyan) and the quarters of the south-west of Moscow (architect Yakov Belopolsky, Evgeny Stamo, etc.), the district “Dachnoe” of Leningrad (architect Valentin Kamensky, Alexander Zhuk, Alexander Macherit, GN Nikolaev), microdistricts and quarters in Minsk, Kiev, Vilnius, Vladivostok, Ashgabat and others.

With the typical industrial development, the role of large public facilities with an individual face increases, which give the regions an identity. The competitions for a new project of the Palace of Soviets (1958 and 1959) helped to reveal and form the principles of Soviet architecture. Although the projects were not implemented, leading architects took part in the competition.

Then the hotel ” Yunost ” was built (Moscow, 1961, architect Yuri Arndt, TF Bausheva, VK Burovin, TV Vladimirova, engineers Nina Dykhovichnaya, BM Zarkhi, I. Yu. Mishchenko). It is made using large panels, the same ones used in housing construction. The shape of the building is simple, the shapes are geometrically distinct. By the same year, the cinema ” Russia ” (Pushkin), with its protruding visor, belongs. The State Kremlin Palace (1959-1961) is an example of the best public buildings of this time (architect Mikhail Posokhin). It solved the problem of combining a modern structure with historical architectural ensembles.The Palace of Pioneers in Moscow (1959-1963) is a complex of several buildings of different heights, united by a spatial composition. Elements are located freely, with a variety of forms of decorative ornaments.

In the 1960-1970’s. a new style of architecture developed – simple, economical, based on a new industry and expressing the possibilities of modern technology. Important objects of this period are Kalinin Avenue (1964-9, architect M. V. Posokhin). He also with AA Mndoyants, VA Svirsky and engineers VI Kuzmin, Yu. Ratskevich, S. Shkolnikov and others. built the three-pointed building of the CMEA (1963-1970), which was considered “one of the most expressive in terms of architecture of the constructions of the last time”. Ostankino TV Tower (1967) proves the growth of technical capabilities in this era. Under typical projects metro stations have started to be built, which are differentiated due to various finishing materials.

For the Olympics-80 in Moscow, a large number of minimalist buildings were built, see the Olympic structures of Moscow.

The national architecture of the Union republics develops according to the same principles, but accentuates the originality, thanks to the interpretation of individual architectural details, the decorative properties of the material, and so on. The Palace of Arts in Tashkent (1965, architect Yu. Khaldeev, V. Berezin, S. Sutyagin, D. Shuvaev) combines simple architectural forms and colorful fresco painting. The shape of the building is original – it resembles a horizontal cannulated column. In the facade of the Karakumstroi Administration in Ashkhabad (1967), architect. A. Ahmedov, F. Aliyev, sculptors V. Lemport, N. Silis) is woven with national ornament and conventional sculptural images. This synthesis includes architecture and national traditions.

The style of Soviet architecture of this time is evolving. He departs from rationalism, overcomes the dryness inherent in the early stage, and then raises a new problem – the correspondence to organic forms. An example of solving these issues is the Palace of Art Exhibitions in Vilnius (1967, architect V. Chekaneuskas), the USSR Pavilion at the International Exhibition in Osaka (1967-68, architect M. V. Posokhin, V. A. Svirsky). There is a tendency to curved lines, the flow of forms, while maintaining the previously achieved rigor and feasibility of architectural structures.

Source from Wikipedia