الصفحات

11 يناير 2018

عن صعود وهبوط الكتلة الإسكانية السوفيتية

rise and fall of the soviet housing bloc

Hallmarks of Soviet postwar building boom are finally meeting their demise

Some are happily bidding farewell to aging apartments, known for their low ceilings, thin walls and faulty plumbing.

But khrushchevki were a major step forward for urban planning, said Kuba Snopek, a Polish architect who did research in Russia and wrote a book called “Belyayevo Forever” about the importance of self-contained, midcentury Soviet housing developments called “mikrorayony,” or microdistricts, which regulated urban expansion by ensuring access to green spaces, public transportation and municipal buildings.

It’s very easy to communicate the flaws of this architecture,” said Snopek, who sought to have Belyayevo, a region of Moscow, put on the UNESCO World Heritage List. “It’s vulnerable because it is ugly and doesn’t look precious. But it’s hard to communicate its values because they’re invisible.”


When they first appeared, the apartment buildings were hailed as a revelation. In the 1962 musical film “Cheryomushki,” Dmitri Shostakovich, a young couple literally sings the praises of the new apartments. “The whole apartment is ours, ours. The kitchen is also ours, ours. The windows are ours, the doors are ours. I can’t believe my eyes,” they sing.

ليست هناك تعليقات:

إرسال تعليق

جحا يحكم المدينة