Soviet architecture: description, history and interesting facts

The construction of a new society could not but affect the culture of the country in general and architecture in particular. Soviet architecture has gone through several stages of development, it knew the ups and downs, but in any case it was a definite event in the world architecture. In the USSR there were several architects of the highest level and today on the expanses of the post-Soviet space one can see several masterpieces of the world scale. Let's talk about how the styles of Soviet architecture evolved, and how it developed.

Features and tasks of Soviet architecture

After the October Revolution of 1917, the new government of the country took an active part in changing all spheres of life. For some time everyone was not up to the architecture, but very soon it became clear that she, too, should fulfill the ideological function, like all the rest of the art. In the 1920s, the architects did not directly challenge the formation of a new space, but the creators themselves acutely felt that the time had come for new forms and began to search for the expression of the ideas of change. But later Soviet architecture was called upon to serve the ideas of socialism. All art in the USSR had to prove the only correct way of development - socialist. This determined the main features of Soviet architecture, which should always have been primarily ideological, and the last - beautiful. If at first the creators still managed to combine the benefits, the idea and beauty, then gradually the aesthetics gave way to utilitarianism, and this led to a decline in the potential of great architecture.

Historical essay

The development of Soviet architecture has gone through several stages. The origin of this phenomenon is associated with the period of 20 - the beginning of the 30-ies, when there are active searches for new forms, classical methods of architecture are rethought. At this time, there are two main avant-garde trends of Soviet architecture: constructivism and rationalism. In the late 30's it became clear that the avant-garde was not on the path with ideological Soviet culture. A new architecture is beginning to be formed, the purpose of which is to glorify the greatness and achievements of the socialist idea. Realization of the ideas of this period prevented the Second World War, after which a new period in architecture begins. It is connected not only with the restoration of destroyed cities, but also with the creation of a new space that would support a person in the country feeling proud of their country. It is on this ideological basis that the Stalin Empire is formed , with its desire for scale. The beginning of the 60s aggravated the problem of residential architecture. People lived in inhuman conditions, and this could no longer be attributed to post-war reconstruction. It is necessary to solve the problem of building mass housing. This task was solved at the expense of maximum cheaper projects. This turned out to be a tragedy for Soviet architecture. Which chose not the best way of development and followed the French in their functional model building.

All the creative efforts of architects were considered redundant and harmful. What made the creators engage in "paper architecture", ie, create projects without the hope of incarnation. In the 80s, Soviet architects are keenly aware of the impending crisis. At this time, a typical, faceless project dominates. Architecture is transformed from art into simple drawing skills. From this crisis, it began to come out very slowly only towards the end of the 1990s, but this is already a post-Soviet period.

Soviet avant-garde

At the end of the Civil War, the question arose of restoring Moscow. By this time in the architecture of the country there were two new directions: constructivism and rationalism. They were created by outstanding architects who formed within the framework of the Russian and European traditions, but saw the need to create a new architecture that would meet the new realities. At that time, the creators were fascinated by the idea of creating a new society and forming a new, harmonious person.

Constructivists, led by the brothers Vesnin, Konstantin Melnikov, Moses Ginzburg believed that the composition of the building should meet the function. They refused historical continuity, the main role was given to simple designs with a minimum of decor. Thanks to them, the architecture of the Soviet avant-garde was enriched by such facilities as the K. Melnikov's round house in Moscow, the Izvestia newspaper building, ZIL's Palace of Culture and many others. The direction was very favorably received by the architects and its branches appeared in Leningrad, Kharkov, Gorky, Sverdlovsk. In many cities of the former USSR and today you can admire the constructivist buildings.

The second avant-garde trend, rationalism headed by N. Ladovsky and V. Krinsky, received less realization than constructivism. They mainly saw in their work the accounting of the psychology of the perception of the building by a person. In the early 30s, the avant-garde was recognized as ideologically alien to Soviet art and quickly ceased to exist. Later, rationalism was "rehabilitated" and its ideas were actively used in architecture in the 60s.

Architecture of the 30-40-ies

In the mid-1930s, Soviet architecture entered a new period. The new authorities are brewing the need for mass reconstruction of residential and public buildings, construction of new types of structures, for example, a site for an agricultural exhibition. Traditional methods and methods come to the forefront. At the head of the traditionalists stands the beautiful architect of the old school, neoclassicist I. Zholtovsky. Retrospectivist in his views, he returns to the domestic practice of love for the columns, pilasters, arches, etc. During this period, the influence of constructivism is still strong, but the bias towards the classics becomes more and more evident. Before the Second World War in the country, especially in Moscow, there was a construction boom. Appear complex VDNH, the State Library. Lenin, several stations of the Moscow subway are being built. In Kharkov, the ensemble of Dzerzhinsky Square is being built. The House of Government appears in Yerevan. On the map of the USSR, new cities appear, whose plans embody the ideas of the new architecture. These are Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Magnitogorsk, Khabarovsk. Before the war in the country was built about 170 million square meters. M of housing. Gradually a new, imperial style of the USSR is being formed.

The Stalin Empire

After the Second World War, the history of Soviet architecture is entering a new stage. It took a lot of resources to restore the destroyed settlements. In the mid-1940s, the second after the constructivism of the "great style" in architecture, the Stalin Empire. He combined several directions: classicism, baroque, art deco, empire. He was characterized by scope, pomposity, majesty. Buildings in this style were designed to demonstrate the victory and scope of Soviet achievements. The symbol of this style became famous Moscow "skyscrapers": the Moscow State University, the hotel "Ukraine", the Foreign Ministry and others. Stalin's Empire style became the dominant style for 150 years, it changed the face of the country. Stalin's architecture appeared in almost all cities of the country.

Massive residential architecture

In the postwar period, the problem of housing became acute. But in the 1950s it could not be resolved by the leadership, since it was necessary to restore the production infrastructure. But in the 60's to postpone the solution of this problem was already impossible. Just at that time the end of Stalin's epoch came to an end and N. Khrushchev called for the most cheaper housing construction. He also initiated the struggle against "artistic excesses", for the sample it was recommended to take the quarters of French functionalism. Thus appeared the famous Cheryomushki, as an example of a new living environment. In the quarter there should be all the objects of social infrastructure, and the buildings should provide a minimum area for each resident.

Architecture 60-80-ies

Since the late 60-ies begins a mass-flow construction of standard housing. In all cities and towns of the USSR there are houses of enlarged concrete parts. Construction is going fast, people are getting apartments. But to apply the word "architecture" to this building is difficult, because the buildings were absolutely faceless and identical. So the architecture of the Soviet region for a standard project in any city was like two drops of water similar to other localities. It was above this that the filmmaker E. Ryazanov laughed in the tape "The Irony of Fate". Mass construction and combating architectural excesses led to the fact that by the 1980s the phenomenon of Soviet architecture had turned into nothing. Certainly, there were individual creators and buildings worthy of attention, but in general architecture was in deep crisis. It is interesting that the living architectural creativity at that time moved from capitals to provinces and allied republics.

"Paper" architecture

In the 80s, when the official architecture of the Soviet period plunges into a crisis, this unusual phenomenon appears. Young architects at that time could not count not only on the realization of their ideas, but even on their recognition. Therefore, they created projects in paper, often sent them to various foreign competitions and won prizes. In this area there is a whole generation of good architects. The founders of the movement are A. Brodsky, I. Utkin, M. Belov, Yu Avvakumov, M. Kharitonov. Architects have developed their own style of submitting an idea. Since they were confident that the projects would not be implemented, they focused on visual presentation of the concept. Basically these architects were inspired by the ideas of antiquity, although they often created futuristic projects.

The best architects of the USSR

Soviet architecture in the first half of its history developed thanks to the creativity of architects who studied and formed in imperial times. After this generation is gone, there comes a short period of calm. But soon a new constellation of architects grows, bringing new ideas and new challenges. Among the best architects of the USSR, specialists include K. Melnikov, V. Tatlin, A. Shchusev. These constructivists form the real pride of our country in world architecture. Also among the best in the national architecture are N. Ladovsky, I. Rerberg, the brothers Vesnina, A. Krasovsky. A great contribution to the formation of the image of many Soviet cities was made by I.V. Zholtovsky, V.N. Semenov, N. Dokuchaev, B. Iofan, V. Krinsky. During the Soviet era , architects were formed, who were able to transform the post-Soviet space after perestroika. Among them is worth mentioning I. Utkin, A. Brodsky, Y. Grigoryan.

Interesting Facts

The architecture of the Soviet era is full of interesting objects and facts. Thus, the round house of K. Melnikov is one of the best monuments of constructivism in the world. Outstanding world architect Le Corbusier visited Moscow three times to be inspired by new ideas. In the 1930s, the largest project of Soviet architecture was created - the Palace of Soviets, whose height was to be about 400 m, 100 floors. For its implementation, the Christ the Savior Cathedral was blown up, but the plan was not realized.