The "Cultural Revolution" communal house is a Soviet avant-garde residential complex built in Nizhny Novgorod in 1934 at Piskunova Street. The six-storey building consists of five blocks linked by covered walkways and is a listed cultural heritage site.[1]
Construction history
The communal house was designed by architect Vladimir Medvedev, a member of the "Cultural Revolution" housing construction cooperative. The city's residents themselves took an active part in erecting the building. Construction was completed in 1934, a period when the idea of building a new communist society occupied an important place in Soviet ideology.[1]
Architecture and layout
Four of the five blocks were residential, while the fifth served as a nursery. The walkways between the blocks were located at the level of the second and fifth floors. The central block housed a two-storey canteen; the basements contained laundries, bathhouses and utility rooms; a solarium was planned for the flat roof. Each floor had shared kitchens, libraries, and spaces for recreation, meetings, child-rearing and study — a layout intended to instill a spirit of collectivism in the residents. The housing stock included one-, two- and three-room apartments; the three-room apartments were fitted with kitchen alcoves with extractor hoods. It was in the "Cultural Revolution" house that The History of Nizhny Novgorod appeared.[1]
The fate of the communal idea
In its original form, the building functioned as intended for only a few years. Due to a housing shortage, the "red corners" — libraries and other communal spaces — were settled by people. Supply disruptions led to the closure of the canteen. In the 1950s many apartments were reconfigured, and the communal spaces were taken over by various organizations. The idea of the communal house proved unworkable in practice, but the building's architecture preserved evidence of the social processes and mood of the early Soviet avant-garde era. Today the house is recognized as a cultural heritage site.[1]
Sources
- GIPERNN — Nizhny Novgorod residents told the history of the "Cultural Revolution" communal house (archive)
- czechprestige.cz — Topics for the oral part of the general SJZ exam in Russian (archive)
- valdisole.cz — Val di Sole Summer 2009 (archive)