Synopses & Reviews
This book offers a comprehensive account of Russiaandrsquo;s architectural production from the late nineteenth century to the present, explaining how its architecture was both shaped by and came to embody Russiaandrsquo;s rapid cultural, economic, and social revolutions over the past century.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Richard Anderson looks at Russiaandrsquo;s complex relationship to global architectural culture, exploring the countryandrsquo;s central presence in the Rationalism and Constructivism movements of the 1920s, as well as its role as a key protagonist during the Cold War. Looking deeply at Soviet Russia, he brings the relationship between architecture and socialism into focus through detailed case studies that situate buildings and architectural concepts within the socialist milieu of Soviet society. He tracks the way Russian architectural institutions departed from the course of modernism being developed in capitalist countries, and he reappraises the architecture of the Stalin era and the final decades of the USSR. Finally, he traces the influence of Soviet conventions on contemporary Russian architectureandmdash;which is now a more heterogeneous mix of approaches and stylesandmdash; and how itand#160;made a lasting and little-known impact on territories extending from the Middle East, to Central Asia, and into China.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
A bold new assessment of Russiaandrsquo;s architectural legacy and contemporary contributions, this book is a fascinating exploration of a tumultuous placeandmdash;and the creativity that has come from it.and#160;
Review
andldquo;This isandnbsp;an elegantandnbsp;recasting of the modern architectural tradition in Russia. Spanningandnbsp;150 years, from theandnbsp;reforms introduced byandnbsp;Alexander IIandnbsp;inandnbsp;1861 and theandnbsp;subsequentandnbsp;industrial urbanization of the Romanov Imperium, to the abstract constructivism of the avant garde that accompanied the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917,andnbsp;Andersonandrsquo;s text moves from theandnbsp;lessandnbsp;familiar but more pragmatic Sovietandnbsp;realityandnbsp;of the late andrsquo;20s, andandnbsp;the laterandnbsp;historicizing Socialist Realism that constituted the reactionary architectural production of the Stalinist totalitarian state,andnbsp;to the Russian Federation of today.andnbsp;Anderson has written aandnbsp;precisely articulated, socioeconomic cultural historyandnbsp;of Russian architecture.andrdquo;
Synopsis
To nonspecialists outside Eastern Europe, Soviet architecture conjures up vast, gray cityscapes of monotonous Brutalistbuildings, all created with utility rather than style in mind. This widely held impression glosses over the many stunning works created during the Soviet era and the diversity of architecture throughout the Soviet region.
Soviet Modernism 1955andndash;1991 seeks to correct pervasive opinions on Soviet architecture by exploring and documenting buildings throughout the former Eastern Bloc. Poor construction techniques and a lack of funding for conservation mean that these buildings are rapidly decaying. The Vienna Centre of Architectureand#160; (Az W)is creating a comprehensive inventory of the notable architecture from fourteen different former Soviet republics. The volume begins with an introduction to the period and an overview of the relationship between Moscow and the other city centers found in the region. The book is then organized geographically into four chapters: the Baltic States, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Each country is represented by a factsheet, which gives a brief account of its national history, a research and travel report by a member of Az W, and a scholarly essay by a local expert.
More than four hundred buildings are represented in over eight hundred images, making Soviet Modernism 1955andndash;1991 impressively complete and stunningly illustrated. Essays outside the country profiles cover topics such as Soviet urban planning and typologies found throughout these regions.
About the Author
Richard Anderson is lecturer in architectural history at the University of Edinburgh. He is the editor and principal translator of Ludwig Hilberseimerandrsquo;s Metropolisarchitecture and Selected Essays and coauthor of Architecture in Print: Design and Debate in the Soviet Union, 1919andndash;1935.
Table of Contents
Preface: Soviet Modernism. 1955and#8211;1991
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Dietmar Steiner
Introduction: Unknown Histories
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Katharina Ritter, Ekaterina Shapiro-Obermair, Alexandra Wachter
The Soviet Union and Its Nations
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Andreas Kappeler
THEand#160;BALTIC
On the Baltic
Baltic Modernisms
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Mart Kalm, Estonia
The Architectresses
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Maija Rudovska and Iliana Veinberga, Latvia
Inventing a Social Ritual: Funeral Homes in Lithuania
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Marija Drand#279;maitand#279; and Vaidas Petrulis, Lithuania
EASTERNand#160;EUROPE
The Lack of Tradition as Tradition
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Anatolie Gordeev, Moldova
On Ukraine
and#8216;Scientifically Justified Artistic Consciousness.and#8217; Artists and Architects in Late-Soviet Ukraine. A Case Study
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Oleksiy Radynski, Ukraine
On Belarus
Architecture of the BSSR: Texture of the Standardized
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Dimitrij Zadorin, Belarus
CAUCASUS
On Armenia
An Architecture of Paradoxical Shifts
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Ruben Arevshatyan, Armenia
On Azerbaijan
and#8216;Baku Modernismand#8217;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Rasim Aliyev, Axerbaijan
On Georgia
and#8216;Everybodyand#8217;s Favoriteand#8217;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Rusudan Mirzikashvili, Georgia
CENTRALand#160;ASIA
On Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
Ghost of a Garden City
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Yuliya Sorokina, Kazakhstan
A Short-Lived Revival
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Gamal Bokonbaev, Kyrgyzstan
On Uzbekistan
Building the and#8216;Living Eastand#8217;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Boris Chukhovich, Uzbekistan
On Tajikistan and Turkmenistan
On the Empireand#8217;s Periphery
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Rustam Mukimov, Tajikistan
Homo Liber: Abdullah Akhmedov in Ashgabat
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Ruslan Muradov, Turkmenistan
and#8216;The Soviet Union Is an Enormous Construction Siteand#8217;
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Elke Beyer
Serial Housing Construction in the Soviet Union: An architectural-historical approach
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160; Philipp Meuser
Creative Salto Mortale: Interview with Felix Novikov by Vladimir Belogolovsky
Biographies
Bibliography
Index of Names
Map of the USSR
Photo Credits
Photo Archive