Translated material
Soviet doesn't mean worse
Two new projects have joined in the preservation of architectural heritage
“Mosconstruct” and “Sovarch” are the nostalgic names of two projects launched this year and dedicated to Soviet architecture. These are, to use bureaucratic language, initiatives from below.The Sovarkh project was created by Moscow local historian Denis Romodin and St. Petersburg architect Alexander Strugach. They call their project “the first non-commercial electronic resource dedicated to the architecture of the USSR and the socialist architecture of other countries of the world.” "Sovarkh" is primarily an electronic catalog of buildings, as well as news, articles, information about architects and design organizations. The site grew out of a community of the same name on LiveJournal; its members (there are almost 1,000 of them) posted messages on a variety of topics, mostly information about objects, and not only well-known ones. The participants did not inform, but rather shared their knowledge, anxiety, and pain. The destroyed elegant restaurant "Olen" in the resort Zelenogorsk near St. Petersburg, the Festivalny concert hall on the Black Sea shore in Sochi (a decision was made to demolish it), customs on the Soviet-Finnish border - these are some of the forum topics.
It is significant that the attention of Sovarkh, or rather, its participants, is focused not only on the most popular periods of Soviet architecture - the Russian avant-garde and Stalinist neoclassicism, but also on the architecture of the late 50s-80s. This layer of our architecture is now declared unnecessary, the buildings are not protected, so even the iconic buildings of the era of thaw and stagnation are being systematically demolished. This is happening on the initiative of the authorities, with the full approval of the majority of the townspeople, because nostalgia for everything Soviet does not extend to “these dull boxes.”
True, what appears on the site of the demolition makes many reconsider their attitude towards Soviet buildings. The elegant glass of the Intourist Hotel, set back from the red line of Tverskaya, today no longer seems so terrible. In its place, a new building was built - a chest with a giant glass on the roof and an even larger canopy in front of the entrance. In general, what we got was not luxury (and now there should be only luxury in the center) in the European sense, but a cartoonish Lag Vegas near the walls of the Kremlin.
Also from the destroyed or condemned to demolition, the swan song of stagnation is the House of Political Education on Trubnaya Square, the Sport, Rossiya, Minsk hotels (by the way, one of the last modernist buildings on Tverskaya), the Airport terminal with two hotels on Leningradka, a miracle of constructive thought - Cheryomushkinsky and Baumansky markets (the latter did not even have to be demolished, it fell on its own). Soviet architecture of earlier times is being washed out of the city, for example, the post-constructivist Institute of Balneology on Novy Arbat. It was, of course, not a masterpiece, but one of the elements that formed the diverse environment of this quarter: three houses in a row from the 50s, 30s, and 60s. Now instead of the thirties there will be zero. One can argue about the aesthetic value of all these buildings, but the fact remains: a whole layer of Soviet architecture is disappearing without any public discussion.
Mosconstruct is also trying to comprehend the heritage of the 20th century in a new way. This is a joint project of the Moscow Architectural Institute and the Sapienza University of Rome, carried out with financial support from the European Union. It would seem that what new can be learned about constructivist architecture? But if the state of the monuments of the 20s is constantly discussed, little is known about what is happening with ordinary buildings.
In what condition are (and do they even exist) a huge number of administrative buildings, residential settlements, dormitories, industrial buildings that remained in books and magazines from the time of industrialization? It is necessary to understand what still needs to be protected and protected. Therefore, the first thing we started doing was collecting a database. The collected information in the form of a map will be posted on the Internet.
Within the framework of Moskonstrukt, seminars will be held for students, and most importantly, a competition will be held among Moscow and Roman students for the best project for incorporating one of the buildings of the Russian avant-garde era into the modern urban environment. That is, not just a reconstruction project will be developed, but also a revitalization project for the urban environment.
The almost simultaneous appearance of Moskonstrukt and Sovarkh is significant. Apparently, the time has come not just for an inventory, but also for understanding Soviet architecture and developing a more civilized approach to handling it. The work will be carried out both in the virtual space, and in the scientific environment, and directly on sites, on the streets. Thus, within the framework of Moskonstrukt, work will be carried out with local residents to find out their attitude towards these buildings. Sovarkh plans to conduct excursions dedicated to Soviet architecture, and there will also be joint events between the two projects.
It is noteworthy: both projects were not initiated or funded by either the state or official structures. Sovarkh agents independently collect and process information without any financial support. Mosconstruct is supported by the European Union and initiated by an Italian university.