«Mir» — a cinema in the Avtozavodsky District of Nizhny Novgorod, on I. I. Kiselev Square, at the main entrance to Avtozavodskiy Park. It opened on October 5, 1937 as the film and concert hall of the automobile plant; the building is a cultural heritage site and one of the first cinemas in the city built before the war.
Building
The project was designed by Moscow architect Alexander Zinovyevich Grinberg — the same architect whose vision formed the basis of the Palace of Culture of the automobile plant. The building is executed in the Art Deco style and is considered a characteristic monument of post-constructivism: the era was moving away from strict constructivism toward more ornate forms, and the cinema captured this turning point.
The façade is adorned with sculptures of Soviet people — holding a book, a ball, a wrench: the typical 1930s trio of worker, athlete, and reader.
History
The hall was single-screen and for decades remained the district's main cinema. By the end of the century the building had fallen into disrepair.
Restoration was undertaken by the company Elektronika: during the renovation, elements of the interior with historical value were preserved, and the venue was transformed from a single cinema hall into an entertainment complex — with a café seating forty-eight, arcade machines, and a billiard room on the second floor.
Sources
- lib-avt.ru — Centralized Library System of Avtozavodsky District — Cinema "Mir"
- culture.ru — Kultura.RF — Cinema "Imperiya Gryoz. Mir"
- kult-ra.ru — Cultural Capital of the Volga Region — Cinema "Mir": remembering the history