Constructivism

Introduction Russian fashion imageerure since the 11th blow up to the first twentieth century was predominately religious. For many an(prenominal) centuries, churches were the unaccompanied creates that were constructed give away of st ace. However, the Russian transmutation of 1917 and the enamor of the Suprematism drive of 1915 brought ab turn out the kin of Constructivism, the modernistic graphic functionerural style of Russia from 1924-1932. The brief layover that followed the 1917 Revolution marked the beginning of the lure of the audacious Constructivist strawman in the structure and fashion model of major underframeings.It enjoyed a shortly popularity until the late 1920s when it was repudiated by the to a greater extent conservative Stalinist-era decoratorure. The doctrines of Constructivism theory come from i-third around main contrivance movements that evolved in atomic number 63 during the too soon p cheat of the 20th century Russian Supr ematism, Dutch Des Stijl, or Neo Plasticism, and the Bauhaus in Germany . Historical setting The Russian Revolution of 1917 In former(a) 20th century Russia, particularly in 1917, there was a series of revolutions that in the finish destroyed the autocracy of the Tsar.This series of revolutions light-emitting diode by the workers of Russia under their leader Vladimir Lenin was cognise as the Russian Revolution. The February Revolution in March of 1917 foc employ on St. Petersburg. During this time, the Soviets, or workers councils, delegated to the members of the imperial beard Parliament the task of organization Russia and overthrowe Nicholas II, the Tsar during that time and the last of the Tsars. Mean piece of music, the Soviets, lead by the socialists or Bolsheviks, had the full consignment of the lower-class citizens and workers as wellhead as the political left. The Bolsheviks so organize workers militias.In the October Revolution that followed, the Bolshevik party u nder the require of their leader Vladimir Lenin, as well as the workers councils, overthrew the Provisional Government in St. Petersburg. Eventu tout ensembley, the advantage of the revolution pave the way for the birth of the USSR. After this series of razets, peasants took over the lands previously owned by the vassals and redistri hardlyed land. This in any case marked the beginning of common world especially among the working classes, which take to the twist of several(prenominal) constructivist makes to house the first ommunities and to crusade the political theory of communism. The Suprematism Movement of 1915 Suprematism is the main political theory in art that inspired Constructivism, which is the pre possessive architectural style of Russia during the time occlusion from 1924 to 1932. Suprematism lasted from 1915 to 1935 and is regarded as the first systematic school of modernity based on purely vacate pictorial compositions and geometric figures. It is a Russian art movement which was reliablely founded in capital of the Russian Federation in 1913 by the Russian painter Kazimir Malevich.Malevich advocated Suprematism as he believed that this is the staring(a) way to liberate art from the stabilise of the representational world. He himself did this by producing art consisting of geometrical shapes flatly painted on the surface of the canvass. The goal of Suprematism is pure sense and the pictorial length should be emptied of all symbolic content as in Surrealism. Malevich believed that art has to be decongested and cle ard in order to show a pertly reality where the nearly important affair is thought as well as sensation.Malevichs Suprematism was a same heavily learnd by the then cutting edge movements in art such(prenominal)(prenominal) as Cubism and Futurism. Suprematism, considering that it was based on Malevichs ghostly beliefs, was regarded as non-objective and apolitical. Aside from its use of nonwithstanding g eometric shapes as the ones demonstrated by constructivist forms of architecture, Suprematism overly emphasized the use of a limited wring rank, which explains the overall visual aspect of constructivist buildings.The Beginnings and Golden Age of Constructivism The development of Suprematism led to the movement toward a non-objective art, or art without a subject, in architecture. During the early old age of Constructivism, the Russian modernists or original started compreh demise Cubism and Futurism, which were cardinal of the major sources of influence of Constructivism. Cubism was a 20th century modern movement popularized by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque in France and new(prenominal) split of Europe from 1907-1921.Futurism, on the other hand, started in Italy in 1910 and from 1920-1940 was utilize in the tress of buildings despite the opposition of the fascist bring up which sp beed classical Roman imperial patterns. In 1913-1914, the Russian and Soviet archit ect and painter Vladimir Tatlin used industrial materials to happen upon and showing a number of relief constructions. He was inspired by Italian futuristic Umberto Boccionis dream of plastic configurations in space and Pablo Picassos 3D collages, both of which he set forth by exploitation the term Constructivism.Vladimir Tatlin was and then the progenitor of this post-Revolutionary movement in architecture. The class 1921 marked the appearance of the first Constructivist manifesto after the formation of the First on the job(p) Group of Constructivists in capital of the Russian Federation. The key artists were Vladimir Tatlin, Kasmir Malevich, Liubov Popova, Aleksandr Rodchenko, Vavara Stepanova, Vasily Kandinsky, Naum Gabo, Antoine Pevsner, El Lissitzky. Actual constructivist theory and name set began in 1922 in conjunction with the adduceing of Vesnin brothers of the plan for the Palace of Labor, which was presented during a aspiration in 1922.However, genuine buildin g on a significant scale did non start until 1925 after the founding of the northward of Modern Architects, the official organization of the Russian Constructivist architects. By 1925, the first experimental attitude and residential buildings began their first appearance. Towards the end of 1925, the Constructivists of Russia formed their own organization as a response to the decision of the Rationalists to establish the standstill of New Architects, or ASNOVA, cardinal wide time earlier in 1923. sequence the Rationalists and ASNOVA focused on their search for purely aesthetic get up forms, the Constructivists and OSA (union of modern architecture) brought to liveliness a novel, more than than practical architectural form, with reference to the mathematical function of the of the specific building, the materials used to construct it, its objective and other conditions for production, and most of all the promotion of social development of Russia at that time. While the Rationalist emphasized the delicious or aesthetic side of architecture, the Constructivists favored its functional aspect.The period from1927 to 1929 was considered the golden age of Russian avant-garde architecture. In these leash age, a pure group of Russian constructivist architects was able to build or plan the best-known buildings in the country. Among the structures build during this time were the Zuyev inn by Ilya Golosov, all the clubs by Konstantin Melnikov and his house, Lenins Mausoleum and the Narkomzem building by Aleksey Shchusev, Narkomfin by Ginzburg and Milinis, the Barshchs and Sinyavskys Planetarium, and Nikolaevs communal house for students. The impression of ConstructivismConstructivism, or Constructivist fine art, is a term used to describe a type of non-representational, or totally abstract, relief construction, sculpture, painting, and kinetics. Constructivist buildings are ordinarily ordered and often minimal, spatial, geometric, architectonic and experimental with how industrial material is used. Furthermore, constructivism combined technology and advanced technology with a dominant Communist social purpose. The movement produced several pioneering projects as well as orotund buildings and structures beforehand falling out of favour during the early 1930s.Early constructivist art and architecture, just corresponding Communism, was exemplaristic and seeking a current order that dealt with motley social and scotch problems. The appearance of several constructivist buildings and monuments is characterized by an tension on geometrical shapes bid impertinent solids and cylinders, often cross from each one other or demonstrating asymmetry. Limited influence range is a nonher role of constructivist buildings, with the woof of colour as flesh or black-and-blue signifying simplicity in the communal society. carmine was also a precise popular choice of colour for the buildings and monuments like Lenins Mausoleum as this colour was known to symbolize Communism. Both the geometrical emphasis and the limits in colour are characteristics of Constructivist Architecture brought about by the influence of Suprematism, which was the most dominant art movement in Russia at that time. German Constructivism or the Bauhaus Architecture, the German word Bauhaus literally room support of grammatical construction or Building inform. It refers to a school in Germany far-famed for the style and design that it taught.It is a form of modernist architecture that was founded by Walter Gropius and existed in Germany, some parts of Europe, the United States, and Israel from 1919 to 1933. The Bauhaus was an architectural ideology connatural to Russian Constructivism and existed at the same time that it did. As Constructivism lost its favour because of Stalinist Neoclassicism, the Bauhaus gradually became inactive as the Nazi rose to power. Just like Constructivist structures, Bauhaus buildings usually possess a cubelike design and favour right angles owing to its geometrical figure.Nevertheless it may occasionally disport rounded inlets as well as balconies. These buildings usually have an open tier plan and smooth facades. The Most remarkable Constructivist Buildings The Rusakov Workers cabaret. One of the most notable good examples of constructivist architecture in Moscow is the Rusakov Workers Club. It was designed by Konstantin Melnikov and was constructed from 1927 to 1928. On the outside, the club resembles a cull out and in elevation, it is do up of a base and leash cantilevered concrete areas for the rats.If the pose areas are combined, the building can seat over 1,000 people while each of these three cantilevered seating areas can be used as a bump auditorium. More conventional offices are found at the rear of the building. Moreover, the materials used in its construction are glass, concrete and brick. The constructivist individuality factor of the building is expressed in its exterior, which the architect Melnikov himself described as a strain muscle. On the outside, the three seating areas are seen as three tumescent extraneous solids protruding from the walls of the building on the velocity part.Melnikov naturally applied his own determine to its construction by setting the Rusakov Workers Club, as well as other clubs he had designed, against the hostile city rather than be to it by employing sharply distinctive forms to make the structure appear individualist and curious against the general backdrop of urban buildings. Svoboda mill Club, another constructivist building worth mentioning is the Svoboda milling machinery Club, or Maxim Gorky Palace of Culture. It was also Konstantin Melnikov who designed the building in 1927. It was finish two historic period later.For the general design of the Svoboda Factory Club, a conventional angulate masonry block was used as a replacement for the original plan of using a flat elliptical tube, and then giving its design a constructivist spirit. The stairway was not curved but make straight, leaving the central rostrum towboat as the only curvilinear element in the structure. However, although the central rostrum tug balances the left and right halves of the building, these halves are not identical with the north side end block significantly higher than the reversion one.This unique hold is a quality of the individualism of the constructivist movement. Nonetheless, the central rostrum hides such a discrepancy . Zuev Workers Club, another prominent example of constructivist architecture is the Zuev Workers Club in Moscow. The architect Ilya Golosov designed the structure in 1926 and it was finished after two long time. The original function of the building was to house various facilities for the workers of Moscow.The innovative and unique glazing treatment at its corner and the facade formed from the spectacular intersection of a cylindric burnished staircas e and a stack of orthogonal floor planes prove to be very photogenic and make the Zuev Workers Club a symbol of Russian avant-garde architecture. These two unique qualities reflect a gruelling unique identity which is characteristic of Soviet Constructivism. The stack of orthogonal floor planes has croup them a sequence of club populate and open foyers that lead to a orthogonal auditorium made up of 850 seats.Golosov, like Melnikov, was an enthusiast not for the logics but for the dynamic forms Constructivist design methods. In the Zuev Workers Club, this is evident in the vastly powerful drama of the cylinder intersecting the flat planes . Narkomzem, also known as Peoples provender of Agriculture, Narkomzem was another noteworthy example of avant-garde architecture in early 20th century Russia. The building, which is now used to twenty-four hours as a working ministry, was designed by Aleksey Shchusev and was finished in 1933.The most physical contact constructivist feature of the building is its corner details where a rectangular plane intersects with the cylindrical edge. Aside from the corner details, the overall asymmetry and the ribbon window turn up on the precede floor remain to be the most striking features of Narkomzem . Melnikovs kinsfolk. The house of the architect Konstantin Melnikov, or apparently known as Melnikov provide, is one of the most notable examples of 20th century avant-garde architecture. It is located in Moscow and is located well away from the street.Melnikov House is a building made up of a combination of both Futuristic and determinate designs consisting of two interlocking cylinders with the rear one noticeably taller than the front. The structure is also punch with some sixty identical extensive hexagonal windows provided with Constructivist glazing bars. The asymmetry in the cylinders and the uniquely designed hexagons are testaments to Melnikovs commitment to Constructivism. The cylinders are made from stucco -covered bricks similar to those used in Russian churches and on the facade are written the words KONSTANTIN MELNIKOV ARKHITECTOR .Narkomfin, another Russian building with constructivist design is the Narkomfin building. It was designed by the architects Ignaty Milinis and Moisei Ginzburg along with get up Sergei Prokhorov. It was constructed from 1928 to 1930 for the purpose of providing apartments for the employees of the Peoples Commissariat of Finance, of the Narkomfin. The transitional, semi-communal apartment was supposed to maintain to the Soviet citizen the communal way of life and to introduce communism into the heart of domestic life and prepare the citizens to fully live a communal existence .Narkomfin, for its constructivist elements, had a long elegant facade with several rows of naiant windows. It was topped with the Commissars penthouse making it look like and be called the ship. Upon its finis it turned out to be an ensemble composed of three buildings the lodg ement block, the communal block and a small laundry building. The Narkomfin has remained an icon of modernism in avant-garde architecture of Soviet Russia primarily because of these constructivist elements that make it stand out among the counterweight.The Narkomfin building was also known as the most perfectly realized building out of all the communal buildings constructed during the Constructivist duration or in the utopian years of the early Soviet Union. It was also considered the range for the modern European apartment blocks and lodging estates. Now, the Narkomfin remains as a trip sites for historians and architects from all over the world. The communal House (1920-1930) of the cloth Institute, or the communal House for Textile Institute Students, in Moscow is considered Ivan Nikolaevs masterpiece and is another noteworthy architectural work of the Soviet constructivist era.Popularly called Nikolaevs House or The Hostel, the communal House demonstrates the dom kommuna, or the 2000 full-grown apprentices shared cabins along an eight-storey block extending for a length of 200 meters. in that location was a creative mix of dining suite and recreational spaces in the low block. The Communal House was actually built for stuff students to live and study in while adopting a strict military communal fashion that starts with a wake-up call, and proceeds with exercise, lavish, and study.The constructivist elements of the Communal House include half-round stair towers, the three-sided staircase, and the vast rectangular volumes as well as the asymmetry demonstrated by the uneven intersections of the various planes in the facade of the building. The Barshchs and Sinyavskys Planetarium, or the Moscow Planetarium, was established on November 5, 1929 and is considered at present a focus of natural sciences. The planetarium is principally involved in reading public lectures and implementing scientific and artistic programs in cosmonautics and astronomy. In the observatory of he planetarium, one can watch the sunspots, the Moon, the planets and many other heavenly bodies with the use of a telescope. The Modern State of the Planetarium M. O. Barshch and M. I. Sinyavsky were answerable for the design of the planetarium and commenced the construction on September 23, 1928, the day of the autumnal equinox. The planetarium was actually one of the largest gibbosity domes for any planetarium in the world, which makes this unique feature one of its most prominent characteristics as a symbol of avant-garde Soviet architecture. However, its apex was only 4cm thick. Located in the former city of Leningrad, now St.Petersburg, the blood-red superior Textile Factory was partial derivatively designed by the first remote architect asked to design in the USSR, Erich Mendelsohn, in 1925 to 1926, and later designed by E. A. Tretyakov, S. O. Ovsyannikov, and Hyppolit Pretraeus until its completion in 1937. The exit Banner Textile Factory was a dyna mic, futuristic large factory and was a most notable example of Soviet Constructivist architecture. The Red Banner Factory resembled a ship with the top part of it jutting out of the planes. There is also an asymmetry with the intersection of the cylindrical and rectangular sections of the building on the outside.These two constructivist features of the factory give it its unique identity and make it stand out. Notable Architects of Russia from 1924-1932 The Russian constructivist condition Vladimir Tatlin was considered the progenitor of Soviet Constructivism because of his ultra exhibits of relief constructions from 1913 to 1914. He was also responsible for the appearance of the Constructivist Manifesto in 1921 which paved the way for the first construction of a plan for a constructivist building in 1922 and the actual establishment of constructivist office and sign buildings in 1925.Tatlin trained at the Moscow shoal of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture as well as in the P enza artistic production School. It was after completing his formal studies that he joined a group of avant-garde painters and writers all over Russia. It was also during this period that he formulated several designs for a theater and participated in exhibitions. Konstain Melnikov was one of the bouffant names in Soviet constructivist architecture, universe the architect behind the Rusakov Workers Club, the Svoboda Factory Club and his own Melnikov House.Melnikov apprenticed as an engineer after attending the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. He analyse architecture from 1912 to 1917 and it became his passion although he initially canvass painting in 1905. As a romanticist and a supporter of Communism, Melnikov was an architect who had independence of mind and rejected the principle of method in design and kinda focused on intuition as the most essential factor in expressing the social and symbolic meaning of an architectural form such as a building.In hi s works, Melnikov struggled to combine Classicism and Leftist contemporaneity and often designed his architectural masterpieces with obvious and symbolic historicism. A leader of Constructivism from 1925 to 1931, Ilya Golosov was the Russian architect responsible for the design of the Zuyev Workers Club in Moscow and communal housing in Ivanovo. Just like Tatlin and Melnikov, Golosov studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculture and Architecture. However, he also studied in the Stroganov School of Arts.His main impression with the works of the Vesnin brothers made him join the constructivist organization, or the OSA Group in 1925, and from then on he started aim his masterpieces. However, although Golosov was a champion of Constructivist architecture, he regarded the architectural philosophy of Constructivism only as ideal for exterior decoration but not for wholesomeness in terms of functional style. These contrasting candidates of his regarding Constructivism eventually m ade him abandon the avant-garde form of architecture in 1932 and settled for neoclassical architecture in his works, thence from Soviet Constructivism to Soviet Realism.Another name in the Soviet Constructivist architects hall of fame is Ivan Nikolaev. He was famed for the constructivist design and even the formulation of the rules and regulations of the Communal House of the Textile Institute built from 1929 to 1931. He devised a rather exacting and Communist procedure for the members of the training be which was supposed to be followed through any single day a wake-up call, exercise, shower and study. In addition Nikolaev was also historied for his modernist campus of the Moscow Power Engineering Institute.He, however, attached his constructivist beliefs in order to adopt Stalinist architecture. Another prominent name in avant-garde Soviet architecture of early 20th century Russia was Aleksey Shchusev. Shchusev was responsible for the constructivist designs of the Kazan ra ilway Station, the Narkomzem, or Agriculture Ministry, building in Moscow, and most important of all, Lenins Mausoleum on Red Square, which he designed only in a stunning period of three days. Another one of his constructivist designs was the Institute of Resorts in Sochi, which he designed from 1927 to 1931.Shchusev was tasked to design many more buildings after 1932 and some say that he was even the originator of gothic skyscrapers in Moscow. Shchusev studied at the Imperial Academy of Arts from 1891 to 1897 and his travels to North Africa and important Asia from 1894 to 1899 may have somehow influenced his partial non-adherence to pure Constructivism. It is also worth mentioning that even before Shchusev designed buildings, he was already tasked to restore church and to design a cathedral during the first ten years of the 20th century.His restoration of the St. Basil perform in Ukraine, his designs for the Trinity Cathedral in Pochayiv Lavra, and the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent in Moscow made him one of the best and most versatile architects of his time. The expressionist architect Erich Mendelsohn was a German Judaic architect and the first foreign architect who was allowed by the USSR to work for them. In 1926, he partially designed the Red oarlock Textile Factory in St. Petersburg. The constructivist design of the exterior of the factory made it resemble a ship.This particular masterpiece of Mendelsohn is similar to the Mossehaus, which he himself designed in Berlin. He also designed the rear view of the Einstein Tower in Potsdam and the Cohen House in London, all of which had designs similar to that of Soviet Constructivism. Mendelsohn studied architecture at the practiced University of Berlin and the Technical University of Munich, where he graduated seeded player laude in 1812. His initial work before he became an international architectural designer was as an independent architect in Munich.One of the champions of Russian Constructivism, not neces sarily for his actual works but for his theories, was the name Yakov Chernikhov. by chance Chernikhovs only actual architectural movement was the Red Nail Makers Factory, or Red Carnation Factory, built in St. Petersburg from 1930 to 1931. The rest of Chernikhovs fame is attributed to his written works. Chernikhov studied at the Odessa Art School where he taught drawing and sketching years later, and at the Academy of Arts at St. Petersburg where he graduated in 1925. He then joined the Constructivist movement and sooner of concentrating on the actual ractice of his profession, he wrote and create a series of books which showcased his constructivist architectural fantasies fundamentals of Modern Architecture, written from 1929 to 1930 Construction of architectural and Machine Forms, written in 1931 and architectural Fantasies 101 Compositions, written in 1933. These three books did not only make him illustrious all over the world but also became a source of dream to many gene rations of architects. He had five more books published from 1934 to 1948. Decline of ConstructivismA competition for a grandiose project for the Palace of the Soviets was held in 1932. The constructivists joined the competition with their best entries. However, there was an ever-growing criticism of Modernism as that time, and this abnormal as well all the Soviet Constructivism. The winning entry was therefore not constructivist but an eclectic Stalinist architecture project by Boris Iofan. By the end of the 1920s, Constructivism was eventually replaced by Post constructivism, which feature buildings designed in a composite plant style and bore close resemblance to Neoclassicism.