Real USSR » building

Think Big? No, Even Bigger!

eugenia — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:18:04 +0000

“New Moscow”, by Tschusev and Zholtovsky, was developed in 1917–1924.

We have come across a few private scans of a book “New Moscow” published in 1982. Just after the Revolution of 1917 the new government officials were very keen to change everything around — even more so, they wanted to raze the existing system to the ground and build a new one. So the architects were busy thinking big — and bigger — for the new Soviet country.

This wooden Lenin’s Mausoleum was built in 1924 and was to presuppose the current one, built in 1929. The architectural historians place a huge significance on this particular building, arguing that this turned the Red Square into the celebratory-memorial place (as opposed to the market place, as it was before).

Lenin’s Mausoleum, 1924. Architect A. Tschusev.

One of the biggest problems of those times was accommodation — there was an acute need to smooth out the gap between the rich and the poor, which the pre-Revolution Moscow was so prone to. In 1918 the first step was to shift the workers from the horrible barracks from the outer areas into the bourgeoisie’s flats in central Moscow. This was an action more symbolic rather it was practical as it did not help much: it only geographically distanced the workers from their factories and increased the density of the inner city.

So the “new era” accommodation was required, and this was the initial plan. Sadly, planning often failed as shortly afterward it was discovered that apartment blocks are cheaper to build and easier to maintain than the individual houses.

Sokol village, 1923–1935. Architect N.Morkovnikov.

So the apartment blocks of the new generation were meant to contain everything for the new Soviet people: initially planned as mini-cities, they were designed to have all necessary facilities for everyday activities (gyms, shops, cafes etc). This building below seemed to be slightly ahead of its times: it was simply too big, and the tiny Moskva-river seemed too shallow of a creek next to it. Fortunately, as the city continued to grow, such apartment buildings grew to be fit the city’s layout in a more harmonious way.

Apartment block on the Bersen Embankment. 1928–1930, Architect M. Iophan.

If you remember our old post “How Khrushchev had Killed the Vamprire” , we covered this architectural style there in more details.

Apartment building of 1934. Architect I. Zholtovsky.

1940. Atchitects A.Burov, B. Blokhin. One of the first apartment buildings built out of whole conctrere blocks

Below are some buildings designed for work and leisure.

Workers’ Leisure Club. 1927–1929. Architect K. Melnikov.

The publishing house “Izvestia” (“News”). 1925–1927, architect G. Bakhtin.One of the first Soviet business centres.

Project of the Palace of Soviets. 1938. Architects — B. Iophan, V. Tschukho, V. Gelfreich. Sadly it was never built due to the lack of financing.

More about this building here: How Khrushchev Had Killed the Vampire.

The lenin’s State Library. 1928–1941, Architects V. Tschuko, V. Gelfreich.

The Crimean Bridge. 1936–1938. Architect A. Vlasov, Chief Engineer B. Konstantinov.

Project of the Red Army Theater and Entertaining Centre. 1934–1940. Architects L. Alabyan & V. Simbirtsev.

One of the most epic buildings of that era: Moscow State Universty. 1949–1954, designed by a group of architects.

These monumental beauties would have belonged to the last “big” lot. Shortly afterwards the architects were told to downsize, to design affordable simplistic buildings for mass production. The war had certainly played its part, but it was just a sign of those times — grand, hopeful for the best, and monumental.

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A Trip Around the USSR: Leningrad 1972

eugenia — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:53:25 +0000

The Griboedov Channel. The bridges St Petersburg is so famous for.

By many, St Petersburg (Leningrad in 1924–1991) is often considered to be so beautiful due to its architecture of Italian origin. Quite strange to see these fine buildings embellished by the symbols of the Soviet Era. Let’s take a walk around this fine city in the summer almost 30 years ago.

When I was 7 years old, there was a flower market just like that next to our house. By Erhard K.

Image by Erhard K.

Peterhof, the Russian Versailles, by Erhard K.

Peterhof by Erhard K.

The Smolny Cathedral, by Erhard K.

The Neva River embankment, Rostral Pillars. Image by Erhard K.

The Dvortsovaya Embankment. Image by Erhard K.

Summer river cruises. By Erhard K.

St Isaac’s Cathedral, the monument of Peter the Great. By Erhard K.

The Winter Palace close up, Dvortsovaya Embankment. By Erhard K.

The Winter Palace, from the Palace Bridge, by Erhard K.

Peter the Great was the one to build this city on the swamps. During the Khruschev Era, the city was further decorated.

Nevsky Avenue, by Erhard K.

The Neva embankment, the Aurora cruiser, by Erhard K.

In 1925, the Aurora cruise ship played a major part in the October Revolution: the city was flaming with revolutionary spirit and so the Revolutionary Committee was created. On 25 October 1917, Aurora refused to carry an order to take off to sea, which sparked the Revolution. At 9.45 p.m. on that date, a blank shot from her forecastle gun signalled the start of the assault on the Winter Palace.

The Church of the Saviour on Blood (Spas na Krovi), by Erhard K.

The main street: Nevsky Prospect (Avenue). By Erhard K.

The Dvortsovaya Square, Aleksandriysky Stolp, by Erhard K.

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Best of Winter 2009–2010

Stas Kulesh — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:40:13 +0000

Military Discharge Handmade Scrap Book and Comics Album

You’re in the army now

The compulsory two years of military service was a rite of passage for every Soviet guy. When one turned eighteen — unless for sickness or injury — it was time to be called in for the military life — two years in the barracks. The guys usually bonded well and during their spare time created so called “Discharge Albums” — like scrapbooks, they were full of photos, songs lyrics, quick notes from the buddies etc.

Slava Kurilov: Alone at Sea. An Unbelievable Way to Escape the Iron Curtain

The only person to escape the Iron Curtain by swimming.

By job he was an oceanographer, by heart he was a dreamer, by nationality he was a citizen of the planet Earth — in short, he was an extraordinary guy. Yet his personal file in the USSR was stamped as “not worthy of an exit visa” so he was not allowed to leave the country, even if it was for a holiday. So in December, 1974 he jumped a cruise boat “The Soviet Union” off the coast of the Philippines islands — and he swam to freedom.With no food or drink, no swimming equipment apart from flips and goggles, he swam to the shores about a hundred kilometers for three days — completely alone at sea.

A Rough Guide to Moscow from the Daughter of the American Embassador

Emlen Knight Davies, at the age of 20 (ish)

Joseph E. Davies was the second Ambassador to represent the United States in the Soviet Union in 1937–1938. His daughter, the twenty years old Emlen Knight Davies, took some pictures of the surroundings. These images, courtesy of her private collection, were on display in Moscow for the anniversary of the Spaso House — the official diplomatic residence.

So! What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

You will be quite a craftsman!

The Professional Orientation in the USSR meant, first and foremost, a process of advising the youth on the future career choices. A group of teachers and fresh graduates of a college would go to high schools to give talks to school kids in order to deliver the first hand information on vocational choices. Every occupation is regarded highly in the Soviet Union — well, this slogan turned out to be quite untruthful.

Moscow Winters, Fragments of the 20th Century.

1925. A private house on the bank of the Tarakanovka river

Here is a fine collection of images of Moscow winters, dating from 1920s till 1991. Sadly many places portrayed on these photographs are gone now, just like the Soviet Union itself, yet lest we forget. Please read on to see the image of the first set of traffic lights in Moscow CBD in late 1930s, which was operated by a specially trained person; or the largest freshwater outdoor swimming pool in the world - as well as people, wooden houses, old boulevards covered with the virgin snow.

Labour Riots in Novocherkassk: Soviet ‘Tiananmen’

Meat, butter, pay rise!

Novocherkassk is a small town in the South of Russia, also known as the unofficial capital of the Cossacks, the Slavic military community. Unfortunately this town was the place of a huge tragedy, when in 1962 the civilian demonstration was opened fire on.

Russian Ice Cream In Winter — Bring It On!

The city of Khabarovsk, 1970.

In the USSR, the very first ice cream factory was opened in 1932 — when the Minister of Food Supply (if translated not too liberally) Anastas Mikoyan visited the United States of America and was so impressed with their ice cream, he decided that Russia needed something of the kind. So the ice cream making technology and equipment were imported and the ice cream supply to all and everybody began.

Novosibirsk: Then and Now.

The Communal Bridge, nowadays.

The Fearsome Threesome – Lenin and His Lovebirds

Paris, city of love, brought them all together. A Russian movie of 1981.

The official history often misses a very important and interesting point in the course of the Russian Revolution – not everybody knows that Vladimir Lenin, a formidable mind behind the Great October Patriotic Revolution and the leader of all communists, had less than straightforward love life – apart from a wife, he had a mistress – and not only that, these two women knew each other and got on very well!

21+ Depressing Photos of Post-Revolutionary Russia by Arkady Shaikhet

Gymnasts. Red Square. 1924

When the new Soviet country was born, the people were promised a wonderful future under the socialism — just a few more years, the billboards boasted — and we’ll live in a glorious state. However the early days were more than gloomy: the rundown economy, disoriented society, the reek of fear and uncertainty — and that clearly can be seen through the photos of a prominent Soviet photographer Arkady Shaikhet.

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Moscow Underground Without Stalin — See the Gaps

eugenia — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:26:24 +0000

The Moscow underground metro system, opened in 1935, is well known for its ornate decorations, outstanding architecture and artwork. Most of that art is in the socialist realism style, which has its purpose of reinforcing the goals of socialism and communism. In 1932 Joseph Stalin introduced the decree “On the Reconstruction of Literary and Art Organizations”, thus making socialist realism state policy. Understandably, Stalin became the face of this movement — due to strict censorship rules, artists had to obey in order to avoid the punishment. So the majestic Moscow metropolitan system had bearings of many statues, portraits, mosaics of the man himself.

However, after his death, the Thaw and altogether the disintegration of the cult of his persona, images of Stalin were removed — no longer he was the face behind the socialism goals. Please read on to see the scars on the body of the finest example of the Soviet architecture — the Moscow Underground System.

Kurskaya Circle Station, 1944. Stalin by Tomskiy. After the statue was moved, the place was taken by a kiosk.

A mosaic: three women are embroidering a portrait of Stalin. Belorusskaja Station.

Later Stalin was replaced by the Emblem of the Red Labour Flag.

The trumpets are praising noone: the part of the mosaic with the face of Stalin was removed. Paveletskaya Station

This station, opened in 1944, was initially called Stalinskaya. In 1961 it was renamed as Semenovskaya.

Semenovskaya Station nowadays.

Semenovskaya, inside. Another portrait gone, not much polishing given.

Dobryninskaya Station, open in 1950 — Yuri Gararin was a teenager then and could not be portrayed as yet. However he replaced Stalin in mid196s there.

Elektrozavodskaya Station: at the back wall there used to be an ornament with a portrait of Stalin.

Elektrozavodskaya Station, nowadays.

Partizanskaya Staton. Above the statue is Stalin’s portrait and a quote “To defend our country is the most sacred duty of every citizen”.

Partizanskaya Staton. Now both the quote and the portrait have been removed

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21+ Depressing Photos of Post-Revolutionary Russia by Arkady Shaikhet

eugenia — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:11:22 +0000

This collection of photos starts off with nice, clearcut images of what the country was portrayed as by the media and propaganda — and progresses to a unsweetened world of the simple folk, vagrants, and peasants. Please let us know if there is a photo below that has touched your heart — we always value your feedback.

Gymnasts. Red Square. 1924

Arkady Shaikhet’s life story is one of the most remarkable ever. A fourth kid in a Jewish family from the South of Russia, with no school education or special skills, he was called in the army to serve in the WWI. However, the outbreak of typhoid saved him and so, being discharged at the age of 24, he moved to Moscow in search of great opportunities. And there they were: after getting a job at a local paper, Arkady tried his luck with a camera — only to realise that he got a special talent. It was all uphill ever since: publishing in the most influential newspapers, the honour of duty to photograph Lenin and Stalin, busy exhibitions and so on. He had the most remarkable shots of the Second World War events, which we hope to publish here in the future.

The cycle parade. 1924.

Morning exersize. 1927

Morning exersize. 1932

A sportsman. 1932

At the gym. 1928

And here’s some of the less life-assuring images of the new country.

A street kid is learning a shoemaking skill. 1929

A village in the mountains. Father and son. 1929

Engineers to be. Moscow. 1930

Bathing of a vagrant kid. Moscow. 1927

Voting. 1925

Out in fields. 1927

Plowing. Samara. 1927

Test drive. Moscow. 1924

City of Elista. A school lesson for the kalmyk’s kids (a small indigenous nation).

Electrification. 1925

Visit of a tax collector. Moscow. 1928

Putting up the poles for the electrical cables. 1925

Sharpening the tools. 1939

A building site. Uzbekistan. 1939

Workmen resting by a fountain. 1926

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Novosibirsk: Then and Now.

eugenia — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:11:01 +0000

The Communal Bridge, back then (late 1970s)

The Communal Bridge, nowadays.

The unofficial capital of Siberia, the city of Novosibirsk was founded in 1893 with the initial population of only 8,000 people. By the time of the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917, it grew to the population size of 80,000. The name, literally meaning New Siberian City, was adopted in 1926 — and since then, the town had become to grow and prosper.By 1962, Novosibirsk became the youngest city in the world to have the population of 1 million — it only took about 70 years. Now it is an important industrial, cultural and socioeconomic hub of the country.

We realise that today’s post is a little different from our usual format, as the modern pictures of the city are, well, modern and not of the Soviet epoch. It is still nice to see, however, how the city has been changing over the past hundred years — and the old photographs are still full of life and very easy on the eye.

Apartment block nicknamed “The house of porters”. Late 1930s

“The house of porters” now

The Architecture Academy, 1929.

The Architecture Academy now.

The Train Terminal. Early 1930s.

The Train Terminal nowadays.

Now the three images of the City Trade Complex.

Back in those days, the city was called Novo-Nikolaevsk

The City Trade Complex in late 1920s

The Labour Day Parade, 1938.

Still one of the prettiest buildings around.

The Siberian Military HQ. 1940s = please note the horse carriage.

The Siberian Military HQ building, now.

Stalin Street (later renamed as Lenin St). 1938.

Lenin St Now.

Another view of then-Stalin St. Please note the green building of the Opera and Ballet Theatre.

A modern close up of the Opera and Ballet Theatre — it is the largest theatre of the kind in Europe.

The city centre. Note the parking lot for the coachmen.

The same street photographed from a similar spot much later — a modern photo.

And finally some shots of the main street of Novosibirsk — the Krasnyi (“Red”) Road.

1927.

Exactly the same spot — now

The house of the merchant Mashtakov. Late 1920s.

The house of the merchant Mashtakov nowadays.

1960s

1960–1965

The Krasnyi Road now.

Most images are courtesy of Egor Egoshin, and we are very grateful for that.

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More pictures of Soviet Moscow 1960s by Mark Riboud

Stas Kulesh — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 11:12:48 +0000

Moscow, 1960s

This is our fourth post devoted to Marc Riboud, an outstanding French photographer, who traveled extensively throughout the Soviet Union. His images captured an array of everyday life episodes from the lives of the Soviet people. As always, click on the magnifying glass icon to see the photos in detail.

Please follow us on twitter and stay tuned. Oh, and thanks for being such a wonderful crowd!

At the winter market. Moscow, 1960s

The old between the new. Moscow, 1960s

Presenting to the class. Moscow, 1960s

The one and only V.I. Lenin. Moscow, 1960s

I am the October’s leader! Communists forever. Moscow, 1960s

In the fields. Moscow, 1960s

At the factory. Moscow, 1960s

By the Moscow river. Moscow, 1960s

Y. Gagarin — glory of the Party! Moscow, 1960s

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Enthusiastic Photography from Soviet Russia, 1950s — 1960s.

eugenia — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:07:49 +0000

Just a very pleasant collection of photos from a private family archive. All photos were taken in 1950s — 1960s, in the streets of Yaroslavl, a small town not far from Moscow. Simple things — outdoor sports, fishing, swimming, enjoying the music or spending time with the family — these 38 photos are relishing small pleasures and bringing a smile to a face.

As always, click on the magnifying glass icon to see the photos in detail. All photos are courtesy of Sergey Kulikov, a granddad of one of our contributors. He is 86 years old now, and photography has been his hobby all along. Let us know which ones you like — or if you have photos in your family archive which you’d like to share.

Waiting for the play off.

The first half

I am going to make it!

The start line

Fishing in the bay

The big one.

Full of hope.

In the street

First ride after the winter

The team spirit

Oh those icy Russian women!

Spring: sailing the wooden ships onto the puddle water

The ice skate rink

Winter games

Dashing through the snow

Close up

A second hand book stall

The town of Yaroslavl chess championship. 1964.

The October Kids inauguration — see our article on them a couple of posts back.

The October kid.

Like father like daughter

Us or them!

Allow me

Summertime

Yyyes!

Two friends

Orchestra’s little helper

Drumming away

An aspiring trombonist

Spring carnival

Deep breath in

In the street

Yaroslavl in paintings

A young artist

The camera behind the camera behind the camera..

Girls’ stuff

They won’t make it without me

Let’s fix that now

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Interior Design and Furniture in the USSR

eugenia — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:27:25 +0000

Welcome!

As previously stated, the majority of people in the USSR lived in the apartments. Unfortunately, due to the the time constraints, they had to be built in a speedy rather than comfortable manner. After the war, when accommodation was extremely scarce, a three bedroom flat could accommodate up to 16 people (four average families), with one shared kitchen and one shared bathroom. The quality of living there was truly horrendous. So when Khruschev started his building binge in 1960s, a joke went that the legacy of those communal flats was agoraphobia – the fear of open spaces and the tendency to hoard things. Well, if you spent your formative years in a pokey flat where you’d have to dry your laundry next to the stove, you’d be just as agoraphobic.

So let’s look at the main trends in the interior design Soviet style.

Personal attachment

The severe deficits caused by planned economy had turned every Soviet into a thrifty squirrel hoarding everything, from tin cookie boxes to imported shampoo bottles. Everything which had a semi-practical implication (take an old tooth brush, pluck all the bristle out, heat it over a fire to bend in the middle – voile! You just made yourself a wonderful hook to hang clothes!) would have been kept for years, hence the overall cluttered look of a typical Soviet flat.

This is still “All in One” flat.

The habit to hoard

As we have figured, it grew out of extreme consumerism poverty, which barely anybody could escape. The constant visual hunger for pretty household things (say, the k-mart level would have been to die for, yet it was not there!) had lead to the lack of understanding of the true value of items. Hence the quantity of furniture items in a given flat was equated with the social status of its owners and overall achieving abilities. Considering there were no Tiffany lamps or Barcelona chairs, typically it was a sad cemetery of depressing clutter.

In a furniture shop.

Furniture essentials

During the Soviet times, the furniture shops had a truly non-existent range of furniture items. That’s why 95% of all apartments looked very much alike. The wall units were a must have, as they allowed lots of storage space and display. The sofa with two matching chairs was a popular item, however the irony was that the chairs were matching across the country. A lamp on a stand (aka torchere, after its French name) was also available.

Just another Soviet interior look.

Personalise it!

That’s why kitschy personalising was so in: macramé, tile mosaics, appliqué sofa covers, embroidered curtains, construction out of matches and paper snowflakes on windows every winter. Plus the rest of what was thought to be pretty (stuffed toys as a decorative element, artificial flowers in plastic vases, bamboo curtains etc), the look was truly sad.

This is more likely to be a village flat.

The standard Soviet wish list

Apart from wanting to own a flat, a motor vehicle and a summer bach on the allotment, the things that everybody desperately wanted to own included: a Yugoslavian wall unit (a piece of furniture having several units that stands against one wall of a room), a Polish bedroom suite, a collection of rugs (for the floors and for the walls, too!). A strange yet incredibly widespread habit of decorating the walls with rugs in the USSR took off in an instant and stayed till maybe late 1990s.

Dinner time.Please note the wallpaper, another Soviet craze, which is still popular.

And finally some appliances “Made In the USSR”

A vacuum cleaner, circa 1970s, to keep those carpets cleaned.

A device to manually clean the carpet by repeated hitting. Even those who could afford a vacuum claner would get one, to clean the carpet in winter on the snow.

A Soviet TV set, the image is still visible — it was often the quality of broadcast.

A manual meat mincer.

A semi-automatic washing machine (the crunching had to be done manually between the rolls)

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USSR, the Birthplace of Feminism

eugenia — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:46:11 +0000

From the very dawn of Soviet power and development, due to a series of tragic events, women significantly outnumbered men by about 20 mln. The Revolution of 1917, first World War, Stalin’s political repressions, second World War, tough recovery periods — all of this contributed to the number of men steadily decreasing. Not only it affected the marriage market — it had a few more severe implications to the canvas of the Soviet life altogether.

Love is in the air.

Firstly, industrialisation was extremely labour intensive, and with manpower shortages, women had to step in to keep the processes going. It didn’t matter too much whether the jobs were mundane, or physically demanding, or simply tough — they had to be done. Thus women were trained as construction site workers, crane or digger operators, foundry workers, oil rig workers, asphalt layerers and so on — there was not a job considered “too manly” or female unsuitable.

Two is better than one.

The Revolution of 1917 gave the women their right to vote, be educated, and, in contemporary jargon, have equal employment opportunities. This allowed the Soviets to call the USSR one of the most advanced feminist country in the world. However, all of the industrialisation of the USSR never provided women with enough of the home help — and women, coming home after an 8-hour shift at a factory, still had to take care of their families.

Nonetheless, the USSR was notorious for its bad roads.

Everyday appliances, like washing machines, so widespread in the West, were still scarce in the USSR — and, according to the statistical data, on average a Soviet woman would spend another 6 to 8 hours a week hand-washing, ironing and mending clothes. These extra 8 hours of unpaid labour did not include cooking or cleaning time. Scary, really.

Ms Kiseleva has achieved a 414% excess on her production plan by 8 March, the board boasts.

Very few women of those times were officially housewives. Firstly, anybody without a job could easily be labelled a vagrant, and that was a jailable crime in the USSR. More importantly, the wages were still fairly low and a family of four would need two incomes to survive. The state would also try hard to get as many people out into the workforce as possible; hence the image of a housewife was far from a Western pin-up beauty with a steaming hot pie in her hands.

Quite the opposite: in the Soviet books and movies, housewives were portraited as slothful women of no education, lacking social graces and ambitions — in other words, not good citizens at all. To be fair, though, the state would provide financial maternity support — women can stay at home to look after the newborns for up to three years. In a way, that was a win-win situation: women could stay home providing they popped a baby every fourth year, and the state had its birth rates up. Not too bad, after all.

They wouldn’t miss.

As the marriage market was skewed due to the lack of men, the government, in a bid to raise the birth rates, issued a bylaw, allowing the men not to pay alimony on their children born out of wedlock, thus indirectly encouraging single motherhood and, in a way, adultery. Financial support was provided by the government, as well as a range of social security measures.

She looks young, grumpy and not very motherly.

Being a woman was challenging. All those pretty shiny things that women need were not to be found in the Soviet shops. The state, however, realised that and issued appropriate propaganda lines. Like, spending time on beautifying was announced to be wasteful, as this time could be spent on education and self-improvement.

Hard to call these lingerie! Also, it does not look like there was much of a variety in colour, model range or sizes, for that matter

All in all, there is much to be continued about here. The list of issues and challenges that women faced in the USSR can be extended for many pages, from Soviet cosmetics industry to the basic non-existence of hygienic goods; the high morale of a woman-member of the Communist Party and double standards in the society. Stay tuned. Also, if there is anything that particularly interests you, please let us know — new topics for investigation are always welcome.

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