School Encyclopedia. Constructivism in architecture Building constructivism

This trend in art is considered a Soviet phenomenon. It arose after the October Revolution and developed within the framework of avant-garde proletarian art.

But no manifestations of art can be limited to one country, so the term “constructivism” is rather arbitrary: signs of this trend can be seen in the architecture of functionalism, and in painting and sculpture, constructivism is clearly visible in the works of avant-garde artists. Strictly speaking, constructivism is the avant-garde method - its representatives were looking for new forms to express contemporary ideas for them: a new harmonious person should live in a harmonious society and in a well-organized city.

Term meaning

To understand the term "constructivism" (lat. cōnstrūctio - compilation; structure, structure; connection, connection), we will use not its direct meaning, but its figurative one.
So constructive:
1) relating to construction;
2) trans.: creating a basis for further work, fruitful, one that can be put as the basis for something (a constructive proposal, a constructive discussion, etc.).
In the period after the October Revolution in Russia, art was supposed to serve production, and production - the people. The constructivists believed that art should merge with the production of material values. One of the theorists of “production art” Boris Arvatov wrote that “... they will not depict a beautiful body, but will educate a real living harmonious person; not to draw a forest, but to grow parks and gardens; not to decorate the walls with paintings, but to paint these walls ... ".
Thus, the social basis of constructivism was precisely the "production art" with its direct appeal to the modern Russian realities of the 1920s (the era of the first five-year plans).

History of the term

In 1922 A.M. Gan wrote the book "Constructivism". Famous sculptors, graphic artists and painters of that time A. Rodchenko and V. Tatlin back in 1920 they called themselves constructivists.

V. Tatlin A. Rodchenko
By the way, V. Tatlin developed a project for a monument dedicated to the Third International - the famous Tatlin Tower. Its construction was planned to be carried out in Petrograd after the victory of the October Revolution of 1917. The iron grandiose monument was intended for the highest bodies of the world worker-peasant power (Comintern), which were to be housed in 7-storey revolving buildings. And although this project was not implemented, the Tower became a symbol of constructivism.

Tatlin's tower

The design of the tower consisted of two inclined metal spirals, consisting of buildings located one above the other of various geometric shapes, harmoniously interconnected. Buildings rotated around their axis. The lower building was cube-shaped and rotated at the rate of one revolution per year.

It was intended for conferences and congresses. Above it was a building in the form of a pyramid, which rotated at a speed of one revolution per month and was intended for the executive bodies of the International. The cylinder, which rotated at a speed of one revolution per day, was supposed to house information offices, a publishing house, a printing house, and a telegraph office. The fourth volume was in the form of a hemisphere and rotated at a speed of one revolution per hour. The tower was conceived as a symbol of the reunification of mankind, divided during the construction of the Tower of Babel. The height of the Tower was supposed to be 400 m.
The model of the Tatlin Tower can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the atrium of the City of Capitals multifunctional complex, in the Pompidou Center (Paris) and the Museum of Modern Art (Stockholm), in the exhibition hall of the K. A. Savitsky Art School in Penza, in the main dining room of Oxford University .

The tower model crowns the modern Patriarch House in Moscow, designed by the architect S. B. Tkachenko.

History of constructivism

Why is constructivism in art considered a Soviet phenomenon? After all, it is known that the Eiffel Tower, the symbol of Paris, was built back in 1889, much earlier than the term "constructivism" arose? It was conceived as a temporary structure - the entrance arch of the Paris World Exhibition in 1889, but now it is one of the most visited attractions in the world. It clearly contains features of constructivism.

Eiffel Tower (Paris)
Obviously, constructivism is considered a Soviet phenomenon for the reason that its manifestation in other countries was just a few samples, and in the USSR it became a socially conditioned basis, a production art. “For the first time, not from France, but from Russia, a new word of art arrived - constructivism,” V. Mayakovsky noted.

Vesnin brothers

The Vesnin brothers in childhood with their parents and sister

A great contribution to the development of constructivism was made by talented architects - the brothers Leonid, Victor and Alexander Vesnin. By this time they already had experience in the design of buildings, in painting and in the design of books. They became the leaders of a new direction in the architecture of the first half of the 20th century.
Participating in the competition for projects for the building of the Palace of Labor in Moscow in 1923, they received the third prize.

Project of the Vesnin brothers
The Vesnins' project was distinguished not only by the rationality of the plan and the correspondence of the external appearance to the aesthetic ideals of our time, but also implied the use of the latest building materials and structures.

House of Culture ZIL. Architects - Vesnin brothers
One of the largest works of the Vesnin brothers was the design of the Palace of Culture of the Proletarsky District in Moscow. The palace was built in 1931-1937, but only part of the project was implemented: a T-shaped club part with a small auditorium for 1200 seats. A separate building of a large auditorium was not implemented. In accordance with the principles of constructivism, the building is distinguished by a strictly logical volumetric and spatial composition, spectacular and club rooms are successfully correlated. The auditorium, facing the street with a side facade, is connected to a suite of rooms for classes in circles. The enfilade rests on the winter garden, at the end of the right wing there is a library, at the end of the left - a rehearsal room.

Library

A conference hall was placed above the winter garden, and above it was an observatory, the dome of which rises above the flat roof of the building. When creating the project, the authors relied on the well-known five principles of Le Corbusier: the use of pillars instead of massive walls, free planning, free design of the facade, elongated windows, and a flat roof. The volumes of the club are emphatically geometric and are elongated parallelepipeds, into which the projections of stairwells and cylinders of balconies are embedded.

The style of constructivism is also present in the composition of the facades: from the outside, the hall is surrounded by a semicircle of a two-tier foyer, the curvilinear outlines of which dominate the external appearance of the building.
Among the works of the Vesnins of the 1930s and early 1940s, many other projects, whether realized or not, deserve attention.

Square named after V. I. Lenin in the city of Oktyabrsky
The closest associate and assistant of the Vesnin brothers was Moses Ginzburg. In his book Style and Age, he reflects on the fact that each style of art corresponds to "its own" historical era. Ginzburg and the Vesnin brothers organized the Association of Contemporary Architects (OSA), which included leading constructivists. Le Corbusier came to Russia, fruitfully communicated and collaborated with the leaders of the OCA.
Since 1926, the constructivists began to publish their magazine " Modern architecture”, which has been published for 5 years.

Rise of constructivism

Convinced constructivists were anxious about the purity of their method, they did not want constructivism to turn into a style that uses only external imitation. They themselves were based on a scientific analysis of the features of the functioning of buildings, structures, urban complexes. That is, they considered artistic and practical tasks exclusively in the aggregate: each function corresponds to the most rational space-planning structure. Constructivists are involved in the design of industrial buildings, kitchen factories, cultural centers, clubs, residential buildings. During this period, other talented architects were added to society as a constructivist: brothers Ilya and Panteleimon Golosov, Ivan Leonidov, Mikhail Barshch, Vladimir Vladimirov.

House of Culture named after S. M. Zuev (1928). Architect I. Golosov
Communal houses became a typical example of the implementation of the functional method in constructivism. They were built according to Le Corbusier's principle: "a house is a machine for living." An example is the hostel-commune of the Textile Institute in Moscow.

Student hostel "Dom-Commune" (1930)
The author of the project was Ivan Nikolaev. The idea of ​​a house-commune: complete socialization of everyday life. The functional scheme of the building was focused on creating a strict daily routine for students: a sleeping cabin measuring 2.3 x 2.7 m, containing only beds and stools, then students are sent to the sanitary building, where there were showers, rooms for charging, changing rooms. From here they went down to a low public building, where there was a dining room. In other rooms of the building there were rooms for team work, booths for individual studies, a library, an assembly hall. In the public building there were nurseries for children under 3 years old, and an open terrace was arranged on the roof.
Various cities of the country (USSR) had their own architectural features of constructivism. An example of constructivism in Minsk is the House of the Government of the Republic of Belarus - the largest public building Joseph Langbard, one of the best monuments of constructivism, which marked the beginning of the formation of a new city center.

Government House in Minsk

Constructivism in other art forms

Constructivism is most often associated with architecture, but this is not entirely true, because. even before architecture, constructivism existed in design, printing, and artistic creativity. For example, in photography. In this art form, constructivism manifested itself in composition, unusual angles, etc. The master of the method was considered Alexander Rodchenko.

Photo by A. Rodchenko

Photo by A. Rodchenko
Constructivist trends also existed in the field of fashion. Based on the passion for straight lines, Soviet fashion designers of those years created emphatically geometrized forms of clothing design.
fashion designer Varvara Stepanova since 1924 together with Lyubov Popova developed fabric designs for the 1st cotton-printing factory in Moscow, designed models of sports and casual clothes. And the most famous fashion model of those years was the famous Lilya Yurievna Brik.

Lilya Brik (1924)
In 1923, constructivism was proclaimed as a trend in literature(primarily in poetry) and the "Constructivist Literary Center" was created. It was attended by poets Ilya Selvinsky, Vera Inber, Vladimir Lugovskoy, Boris Agapov, literary critics Kornely Zelinsky, Alexander Kvyatkovsky and others. Constructivist writers proclaimed the closeness of poetry to “industrial” topics (characteristic names of collections: “State Planning Committee of Literature”, “Business”), essayism, the widespread use of “prosaisms”, the use of a new meter - tactician (poetic meter), experiments with recitation. By 1930, the Constructivists became the object of harassment by the RAPP and announced their self-dissolution.

Meeting of the Literary Center of the Constructivists in 1929 (A. Kvyatkovsky, V. Asmus, E. Bagritsky, K. Zelinsky, N. Aduev, I. Selvinsky, B. Agapov, V. Lugovskoy, V. Inber, G. Gauzner, E. Gabrilovich)
As a literary creed, the constructivists put forward four principles:
Semantic dominant, maximum "exploitation" of the central theme
Increasing the semantic load per unit of literary material (“loadification”)
The principle of "local semantics", which consists in the subordination of images, metaphors and rhymes main topic works
Introduction to poetry of prose techniques.

Postconstructivism

In the early 1930s, the political situation in the country changed. This also affected art. Innovative and avant-garde movements were first subjected to sharp criticism, and then were banned as bourgeois.

Soviet post-constructivism
Strict and revolutionary asceticism was replaced by magnificent forms of totalitarian baroque. The constructivists were in disgrace. Those of them who did not want to "rebuild" eked out a miserable existence until the end of their days or were repressed. Some have managed to rebuild. For example, Ilya Golosov. The Vesnin brothers also participated in the creative life of the USSR, but they no longer had such authority as before.
In the 30s of the XX century. under the influence of political and ideological factors, there was a transition from constructivism to the Stalinist Empire style. Many buildings, originally built in the style of constructivism, were redesigned in a new decorative design. Stalin's predilection for classical architecture began to play a much greater role than the expediency popular in the 1920s and the "proletarian asceticism of forms."

School in Moscow (1932–1936). Architect I. Zvezdin
In post-constructivist buildings, some elements of the constructivist style are retained: rectangular parapets on roofs (a low wall enclosing the roof of a building); continuous vertical glazing of staircases; accentuation of the corners of buildings, solved in the form of vertical glass lanterns. But at the same time, coffered vaults of arches (with recesses of a rectangular or other shape) become characteristic methods of forming an architectural image; developed additional cornices with an upper floor-attic located above them; open bypass loggias with columns on the upper floor; orderless columns of square section; the use of sgraffito wall images and bright colors combined with indispensable white.

Cinema "Star". Opened in 1937

Introduction 2

Constructivism in architecture 8

Conclusion 14

References 19

Introduction

So why exactly constructivism? Well, firstly, the current leading generation of architects grew up on it; among everything that surrounded them in their youth, only constructivism was professionally well-founded (amateurs loved modernism, notorious aesthetes loved classics, especially Stalinist ones, and no one liked modernism in its Soviet version). There is also a moment of national pride here: constructivism is the only original and unborrowed of what was in Russian architecture of the twentieth century, and therefore in a time of unrest, when you don’t know what to be inspired by and which spring to fall for, it’s natural to fall for it.

In addition, Russian architecture is painfully struggling to catch up with Western architecture. But since this is technically very difficult, you have to be cunning: take back what was once your own (and the shaping ideas of constructivism are still loved in the West: leading world architects such as Rem Koolhaas or Zaha Hadid swear by the name of Leonidov , and one of the expositions of the spring exhibition "Architecture and Design" in the Central House of Artists was about how much the new buildings of Berlin, the main building site in Europe today, owe to Russian constructivism). Further: if "there" the ideas of Russian geniuses have found a diverse and wide embodiment, then with us they either remain projects, or fall apart before our eyes. Therefore, no less understandable is the noble desire of today's architects to bring the work of grandfathers to a victorious end - in new and high-quality materials.

Constructivism - a direction in art.

Constructivism - a trend in art in the 1920s. (in architecture, design and theatrical and decorative art, poster, book art, artistic design). Proponents of constructivism, putting forward the task of "designing" the environment that actively guides life processes, sought to comprehend the shaping possibilities of new technology, its logical, expedient designs, as well as the aesthetic possibilities of materials such as metal, glass, and wood. The constructivists sought to oppose the ostentatious luxury of everyday life with the simplicity and emphasized utilitarianism of new objective forms, in which they saw the reification of democracy and new relations between people (the Vesnin brothers, M. Ya. Ginzburg, etc.). The aesthetics of constructivism largely contributed to the formation of Soviet artistic design (A. M. Rodchenko, V. E. Tatlin and others). In relation to foreign art, the term is arbitrary: in architecture - a trend within functionalism, in painting and sculpture - one of the trends of avant-garde.

In architecture, the principles of constructivism were formulated in the theoretical speeches of A. A. Vesnin and M. Ya. Ginzburg, practically they were first embodied in the project of the Palace of Labor for Moscow created by the brothers A. A., V. A. and L. A. Vesnin (1923 ) with its clear, rational plan and the constructive basis of the building (reinforced concrete frame) identified in the external appearance.

A. A., V. A. and L. A. Vesnin. Project of the Palace of Labor in Moscow. 1923.

In 1924, a creative organization of constructivists, the OCA, was created, whose representatives developed the so-called functional design method, based on a scientific analysis of the features of the functioning of buildings, structures, and urban complexes. Along with other groups of Soviet architects, constructivists (the Vesnin brothers, Ginzburg, I. A. Golosov, I. I. Leonidov, A. S. Nikolsky, M. O. Barshch, V. N. Vladimirov, etc.) searched for new principles plans of populated areas, put forward projects for the reorganization of life, developed new types of public buildings (Palaces of Labor, Houses of Soviets, workers' clubs, kitchen factories, etc.). At the same time, in their theoretical and practical activities, the constructivists made a number of mistakes (treatment of the apartment as a "material form", schematism in the organization of life in some projects of communal houses, underestimation of climatic conditions, underestimation of the role of large cities under the influence of the ideas of deurbanism).

The aesthetics of constructivism in many ways contributed to the development of modern artistic design. On the basis of the developments of constructivists (A. M. Rodchenko, A. M. Gan and others), new types of utensils, fixtures, and furniture were created that were easy to use and designed for mass production; artists developed designs for fabrics (V. F. Stepanova, L. S. Popova) and practical models of work clothes (Stepanova, V. E. Tatlin). Constructivism played a significant role in the development of poster graphics (photomontages by the Stenberg brothers, G. G. Klutsis, Rodchenko)

G. Klutsis. "Sport". Photomontage. 1923.

and book construction (using the expressive possibilities of type and other type-setting elements in the works of Gan, L. M. Lissitzky and others). In the theater, the constructivists replaced traditional scenery with "machines" subordinated to the tasks of stage action for the work of actors (works by Popova, A. A. Vesnin, and others on the productions of V. E. Meyerhold, A. Ya. Tairov). Some ideas of constructivism were embodied in the Western European (W. Baumeister, O. Schlemmer and others) fine arts.

In relation to foreign art, the term "constructivism" is largely arbitrary: in architecture it denotes a trend within functionalism that sought to emphasize the expression of modern structures; . Pevzner)

Constructivism (from lat. constructio - construction) is an artistic trend in the art of a number of European countries of the early 20th century, which proclaimed that the basis of the artistic image is not composition, but construction. Constructivism found its fullest expression in architecture, design, applied design, theatrical decorative art, printed graphics, book art; expressed in the desire of artists to turn to the design of things, the artistic organization of the material environment. In the artistic culture of Russia in the 1920s, the constructivist architects, the Vesnin brothers and M. Ginzburg, relied on the possibilities of modern building technology. They achieved artistic expressiveness by compositional means, by comparing simple, concise volumes, as well as by the aesthetic possibilities of materials such as metal, glass, and wood. The artists of this direction (V. Tatlin, A. Rodchenko, L. Popova, E. Lissitzky, V. Stepanova, A. Exter), having joined the movement of industrial art, became the founders of Soviet design, where the external form was directly determined by function, engineering design and material processing technology. In the design of theatrical performances, the constructivists replaced the traditional pictorial scenery with transformable installations - "machines" that change the stage space.

L. S. Popova. Stage design drawing for the play "The Magnanimous Cuckold". 1922

The constructivism of printed graphics, the art of the book, and the poster is characterized by stingy geometrized forms, their dynamic layout, a limited color palette (mainly red and black), and the widespread use of photography and typesetting typographic elements. Characteristic manifestations of constructivism in painting, graphics and sculpture are abstract geometrism, the use of collage, photomontage, spatial structures, sometimes dynamic ones.

But let's take a closer look at the architecture of this style.

Constructivism in architecture

Significant progress in the 20-30s. 20th century reached architecture. The rapid growth of cities, industry, and the development of transport come into sharp conflict with the layout of old cities, which do not meet the new requirements, with their narrow, winding streets. The need to solve the complicated problem of transport services and provide normal sanitary and living conditions for the population, give rise to urban planning projects and new forms of resettlement of people. They are characterized by a desire to soften social contrasts in cities and eliminate excessive concentration of the population. Around large cities in some countries garden cities with individual residential buildings, industrial cities, workers' settlements, etc., with a strictly functional division of the territory, arise. The attention of architects was attracted by the tasks of not only industrial, but also mass housing construction, the development of residential complexes with economical standard apartments designed for the middle and low-paid category of people. More attention is paid to the design of districts, the architectural design of landscapes. A universal classification of streets and the principles of their combination are being developed, networks of city highways are being created, independent of transitional streets and cutting the city into a number of separate spaces. In the design of cities of a new type and large industrial enterprises, the principles of the functional-constructive system, which originated at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, are increasingly being affirmed. This style of architecture is called constructivism.

In the history of Russian constructivism, professional architects designed all kinds of modular structures of residential units, interconnected into large complexes, elevators moving along the outer walls, etc. Konstantin Melnikov is considered the coryphaeus of Russian (Soviet) constructivism. Starting with the construction of Russian pavilions at International Exhibitions in the style of traditional wooden architecture, thanks to which he gained international fame, Melnikov moves on to designing very relevant buildings of a new (revolutionary) type and purpose - workers' clubs. Club them. Rusakova,

club them. Rusakov. arch. K. Melnikov.

built by him in 1927-28, has nothing in common either with the architecture of the previous century or with Art Nouveau architecture. Here, purely geometric concrete structures are organized into a certain structure, the shape of which is determined by its purpose. The last remark applies to almost all modern and 20th century architecture and is defined as functionalism. In the architecture of constructivism, functionalism leads to the creation of dynamic structures, consisting of fairly simple formal elements, completely devoid of the usual architectural decor, connected in accordance with the organization of the internal space and the work of the main structures. The language of architectural forms is thus "cleared" of everything unnecessary, decorative, non-constructive. It is the language of a new world that has broken with its past. The emerging architectural image clearly conveys the dynamics of artistic processes and life in post-revolutionary Russia, the rapture of modern technical possibilities. The architects of the constructivism style believed that all elements of the building, even such as signs, clocks, billboards, loudspeakers, elevator shafts, etc., should take part in creating the architectural image of a modern building, so the architect should also design all of them. The Soviet constructivists concentrated their efforts on two big tasks: designing an exemplary socialist city and communal multi-apartment housing for workers - communal houses. Meeting the new needs of the socialist state, the constructivists were engaged in the design and construction of such types of buildings as offices, department stores, sanatoriums, printing houses, research centers, plants and factories, workers' clubs and hydroelectric power stations. The young Soviet architecture of the first post-revolutionary decades was really at the forefront of world architecture, implementing or creating on paper the most daring projects, including the famous Palace of Soviets, which could not be built on the site of the destroyed Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

With the advent of Stalinist totalitarianism in the 30s, Russia is gradually losing its positions in architecture, and so far they have not been restored.

An important milestone in the development of constructivism was the activity of talented architects - the brothers Leonid, Victor and Alexander Vesnin. They came to realize a laconic "proletarian" aesthetic, already having a solid experience in building design, in painting and in book design. (They started their career back in the Modern era).

For the first time, constructivist architects loudly declared themselves at the competition for projects for the building of the Palace of Labor in Moscow. The Vesnins' project was distinguished not only by the rationality of the plan and the correspondence of the external appearance to the aesthetic ideals of our time, but also implied the use of the latest building materials and structures.

The next stage was the competitive design of the building of the newspaper "Leningradskaya Pravda" (Moscow branch).

The project of the Moscow branch of the newspaper "Leningradskaya Pravda". Architects A. and V. Vesnin. 1924.

The task was extremely difficult - a tiny plot of land was intended for construction - 6x6 m on Strastnaya Square.

The Vesnins created a miniature, slender six-story building, which included not only an office and editorial premises, but also a newsstand, a lobby, a reading room (one of the tasks of the constructivists was to group the maximum number of vital premises in a small area).

The closest associate and assistant of the Vesnin brothers was Moses Yakovlevich Ginzburg, who was an unsurpassed theorist of architecture in the first half of the 20th century. In his book Style and Age, he reflects that each style of art adequately corresponds to "its" historical era. The development of new architectural trends, in particular, is due to the fact that "... continuous mechanization of life" is taking place, and the machine is "... a new element of our life, psychology and aesthetics." Ginzburg and the Vesnin brothers organize the Association of Modern Architects (OSA), which includes leading constructivists.

Since 1926, the constructivists began to publish their own magazine - "Modern Architecture" (or simply "CA)". The magazine has been published for five years. The covers were designed by Aleksey Gan.

In the late 1920s, constructivism began to spread outside the Soviet Union, becoming most widespread in Germany and the Netherlands. In the mid-60s - 70s, the traditions and ideas of constructivism found an unexpected continuation in the architecture of the so-called "high-tech", a direction that demonstratively exposes not only the work of architectural structures, but also engineering communications.

Conclusion

The second half of the 20th century passed under the banner of criticism of functionalism and constructivism and the search for new methods for the formation of an object-spatial environment. These searches have been and are currently being conducted by architects, artists, designers and other specialists from many countries, in particular Russia, on the basis of various creative concepts.

Among the theoretical problems of style formation, three have recently attracted attention: 1) the place of the engineering and technical sphere of creativity in the formation of the style of the 20th century; 2) the problem of stylistic unity; 3) the place and role of certain types of subject-artistic creativity in modern style-forming processes.

On the one hand, many are frightened by the growing expansion of technical forms into the modern object-spatial environment. On the other hand, on the contrary, some are confused by the growing influence in the general processes of style formation of artistic forms that are not grounded in the utilitarian-constructive structure of buildings and products. Let's turn to history.

In the second half of the 19th century, in connection with the separation of the sphere of engineering creativity and the displacement of crafts by industry, many areas of engineering and technical construction and the production of consumer goods were left without the influence of professional artists. At the same time, engineering structures and products of machine production, which reflected the specific shaping processes characteristic of the engineering and technical sphere of creativity, played an increasing role in the general appearance of the object-spatial environment. Moreover, since the middle of the 19th century, in engineering structures and in industrial products of mass consumption, along with engineering and technical style-forming trends, a significant role was played by decorative tendencies, which, in the absence of professional artists, as a rule, were lower in artistic level than architectural structures and handicrafts. products.

As a result, a gap has formed between the style-forming trends that have been independently developing over a number of decades in the artistic and engineering fields. A real social order arose for a fundamentally new professional artist who could skillfully work at this junction between the artistic and engineering and technical fields of creativity, restore the connection between them. So, in the first third of the 20th century, a new architecture and design was formed.

In the engineering and technical sphere, complex processes of searching for new interconnections of structure, function and external form were then proceeding, which subsequently predetermined some features of the shaping of the object-spatial environment as a whole. The new architecture and design of the 1920s are permeated with the pathos of invention, and it is important to note that the range of inventions was not limited to the engineering and technical sphere, but gradually captured architectural and design problems proper - the solution of functional and social problems.

At the stage of the formation of new architecture and design, innovative trends, closely associated with scientific and technological progress and devoid of conservative stylistic traditions, turned out to be the most favorable sphere for the manifestation of new shaping trends. They became a kind of experimental field, where the style-forming potentialities of the engineering and technical sphere and the experimental searches for fine arts intensively interacted. This was especially evident in constructivism.

Through the innovative trends of architecture and the then-born design, as a kind of channel, a rationalization factor entered the object-spatial environment, which determined a lot in a new attitude to the quality of the living environment,

New architecture and design became the defining style-forming centers in the 20th century because this is an area of ​​close intensive form-forming interaction between the artistic and engineering fields.

The experience of the development of a new style in the 20th century shows that the foundation of a new style system has been created.

In the current situation, those areas of art that, in their time, contributing to the formation of new architecture and design, helped to create a new stylistic reality, faced the serious problem of the need to correlate their development with these areas of creativity, which became a constant part of the stylistic structure of the subject-artistic environment. Now, if they do not dictate the direction of searches in the field of shaping, then, in any case, they largely determine the conditions for their implementation. It is also important to note that architecture and design contribute to the accumulation by the sphere of subject-artistic creativity of form-building potentials not only of engineering and technical creativity, but also of scientific and theoretical developments in the field of form-building.

In recent decades, art historians and art theorists have been increasingly confused by such trends in shaping that clearly go beyond the stylistic unity that has developed in the 20th century.

The style-forming foundation, laid in the 1920s with the decisive role of constructivism and functionalism, is a style system for more than one generation, and perhaps even more than one century. I think that this is a stylistic system for a very long time, and it is quite possible that the 20th century is still largely archaic of a large stylistic period that goes into the third millennium. If we evaluate the stylistic processes currently taking place in the object-spatial environment from this point of view, then much does not look so dramatic at all. Nothing fundamentally new in matters of style formation, which could be opposed to the style system laid down in the 1920s, was created in subsequent decades, including in the 1970s–1980s, and in 1990–2000 (not yet completed) years. It was. They enriched and developed the style system laid down in the 1920s. There were even several attempts to get away from her style-forming core.

The first attempt was in the 1930s, when a wave of neoclassicism swept through many European countries. At that time, the memories of the neoclassicism of the beginning of the century were still alive, its masters were still actively working / therefore this first wave of stylization and eclecticism was very seriously equipped with knowledge of the professional techniques of the past / - however, the powerful style-forming spring of the new system broke through this layer of stylization without much effort.

The second wave of traditionalist stylization in the 1950s took place mainly in the United States, and in many ways it was also a relapse of the recent past / functionalism came to America belatedly /.

Postmodernity and other similar currents are the third wave. It differs from the first (1930s) in that the modern style system is no longer opposed to another / for example, neoclassical /, and those who are dissatisfied with the new style see a way out only in decorativeism and eclecticism. As a psychological outlet in the face of difficulties in the field of shaping, eclecticism and decorativeism are effective, but they are unsuitable means for a serious fight against the new style system. Rather, it is a recognition of the fundamental solidity of the new style system and the search for means of "warming" it. All this, according to the author, is important to keep in mind when we evaluate the stylistic metamorphoses of the 1970s-1980s and 1990-2000s.

The rapid flowering of constructivism in the 1920s and its rapid introduction into various types of artistic creativity dramatically changed the appearance of the subject-spatial environment. The consequences of this affected the entire new style, and this is already an irreversible influence of constructivism. It remains only to analyze this style-forming phenomenon of the 20th century.

Bibliography

www.museum-online.ru

www.archiline.narod.ru

www.countries.ru

CONSTRUCTIVISM(lat. - building) - a direction in the art of the 20th century, successively associated with cubism and futurism and giving rise to its own artistic style, which affected Soviet ARCHITECTURE, painting, applied art and poetry of the 20s-beginning. 30s; main installation constructivism there was a convergence of art with the practice of industrial life along the line of form: the geometrization of contours and the exposure of the technical basis of construction in architecture, functionally justified design in applied art and architecture.

Constructivism- This is the style of architecture of the Soviet Union of the period of the 1920s and early 1930s. This style combines advanced technology, engineering systems and a clear communist social focus. Although this style was divided into several competing directions, many interesting projects were created, some of which were realized. In the early 1930s, this style fell out of fashion among those in power. Constructivism had a great influence on further development architecture.

House of the Chekist (Nizhny Novgorod) - a typical example, © site

The term "constructivism"

Constructivism came to architecture from a broader direction of constructivist art, which itself came out of Russian futurism. Constructivist art attempted to apply a three-dimensional cubist vision to absolutely abstract non-objective constructions with a kinetic element. After the revolution of 1917, all attention was turned to the new social requirements and industrial tasks of the new time. Two clear directions emerged: the first - in the realistic manifesto of Antoine Pevsner and Naum Gabo, dedicated to space and rhythm, and the second - represented the struggle in the Enlightenment commissariat between those who defended pure art and prodactivists (constructivist practices), such as Alexander Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova and Vladimir Tatlin, a group of socially oriented artists who believed that art should also participate in industrial production. Applied constructivism.

The split occurred in 1922 when Pevzner and Gabo emigrated. Now the movement developed with a socially utilitarian focus. Most of the product activists won the support of Proletkult and the LEF magazine (Left Front of the Arts) and later became the dominant force in the OCA architectural group.

Revolution in architecture

The first and most famous constructivist project was presented in 1919 for the Comintern in St. Petersburg by the futurist Vladimir Tatlin. This project is often called the Talin Tower. And although it remained unrealized, the materials - glass and steel - and its futuristic character and political background (the movement of its internal volumes symbolized revolution and dialectics) set the tone for all projects of the 1920s.

Another well-known project in the style of constructivism is the Lenin Tribune (author El Lissitzky (1920) in the form of a moving podium for a speaker. During the civil war, the UNOVIS group (Affirmative New Art) was formed, headed by Kazimir Malevich and Lissitzky. The creators of Suprematism built utopian cities. Components of constructivism can be clearly seen in Western high-tech projects, such as Gustav Eiffel and the skyscrapers of New York and Chicago.

ASNOVA and Rationalism

Immediately after the civil war, the treasury of the USSR was empty and there was nothing to build new houses. And yet, in 1921, the Soviet avant-garde school Vkhutemas (Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops) appeared, headed by the architect Nikolai Ladovsky, who organized ASNOVA (association of new architects). The teaching methods were fantastic; elements of the psychology of form (Gestalt psychology) were used, bold experiments with form were carried out (for example, Simbirchev's glass hanging restaurant). Among the architects included in this association were: El Lissitzky, Konstantin Melnikov, Vladimir Krinsky and the young Bertold Lyubetkin.

Working Club. Zueva, 1927.

The projects of 1923-1935, such as the horizontal skyscrapers of Lissitzky and Mart Shtam, and the pavilions of Konstantin Melnikov, demonstrate the originality and ambition of this group. Melnikov designed the Soviet Pavilion at the 1925 Paris Fine Arts Exhibition, where he promoted the new style. Its rooms were designed by Rodchenko. Another example of constructivism can be seen in the film Aelita (1924), where Alexander Exter's exteriors and interiors are modeled in an angular geometric form. The 1924 Mosselprom State Store was also built in early modernist style for a new generation of New Economic Policy shoppers; Mostorg architects Vesnin brothers, built three years later. Modern offices for the public were also popular, such as Izvestia's head office. It was built in 1926-1927 by Grigory Barkhin.

OCA (organization of contemporary architects)

A colder and more technological style of constructivism appeared in 1923-24, as an example, the project of the office building of the Vesnin brothers for Leningradskaya Pravda. In 1925, the OCA group was founded by Alexei Vesnin and Moisei Ginzburg, which was associated with Vkhutemas. This group had much in common with Weimar German functionalism (Ernst May's building designs). Residential buildings (commune houses) replaced nineteenth-century cohabitation buildings. Term "social condenser" described their goals, which were based on the ideas of Lenin.

Houses of joint residence, for example, the house of the commune of the Ivan Nikolaev Textile Institute (Ordzhonikidze St., Moscow, 1929-1931) and the Gosstrakh apartment building built by Ginzburg, and the Narkomfin house, also built according to his project. Apartment buildings in the constructivist style were built in Kharkov, Moscow, Leningrad and other cities. Ginzburg designed the government building in Alma-Ata. The Vesnin brothers - a film actor school in Moscow. Ginzburg criticized the idea of ​​building the buildings of a new society on the old principles: the attitude towards shared houses is the same as towards bourgeois apartments. The constructivist approach is to take into account as much as possible all the changes in everyday life ... our goal is to work together with the proletariat to create a new way of life. The OSA published the journal SA (Modern Architecture) from 1926 to 1930. The rationalist Ladovsky designed his own original cohabitation house in 1929. Extravagant project: Chekist village in Serdlovsk (today Yekaterinburg) designed by Antonov, Sokolov and Tumbasov. A residential complex in the form of a sickle and a hammer was designed for members of the Cheka, today it is a hotel.

Everyday life and utopia

Constructivism in Moscow Architecture

Constructivist work settlement - st. Korolenko - Kolodeznaya street (VAO Moscow)
photo: @ site

Constructivist dormitory complex B. Pirogovskaya, 5 - Constructivism in the architecture of Moscow

Public buildings in the style of constructivism in Moscow

Palace of Culture. I. V. Rusakova, photo: @ site

Constructivism is commonly referred to as avant-garde trends in architecture, arts and crafts, fine arts and photography. This style was developed in the period from 1920 to the beginning of the next decade.

Main character traits constructivism - rigor, conciseness of forms, geometrism and solidity of appearance. The constructivists even created their own official creative organization and developed their own functional one, which is based on a scientific analysis of the functioning of structures, buildings, and complexes. Constructivism in architecture has been preserved in its characteristic monuments - kitchen factories, Labor Palaces, workers' clubs, communal houses that were built in those days.

Those creative views that unite the concept of "constructivism" were embodied not only in architecture, but also in other areas of human activity, for example, in literature.

Despite the fact that this direction is considered a Soviet phenomenon, like any other trend, it is not limited to the countries of the former USSR. Perhaps this will be news to some, but the Eiffel Tower, which combines both constructivist and modernist elements, is also a harbinger of the constructivist style in architecture.

Such a trend was born in the conditions of a continuous search for something new. The innovators of that time extolled the rejection of "art for art's sake", and believed that it should serve production. Adherents of this opinion urged artists and architects to create only useful things, thereby ensuring a good life in comfortable cities. The term "constructivism" was introduced into the Russian language by the theorists of "production art", the main reason for this was the frequent use of the words "constructive", "construction", "construction" in brochures and speeches by architects.

The architecture of constructivism, like any other direction, has its brightest representatives. These are the brothers Leonid, Victor and Alexander Vesnin, who realized the laconic aesthetics of this direction, being already experienced specialists in the field of building design, painting and book design. The project of the brothers stood out in the competition for the design of the building of the Palace of Labor in Moscow. A rational plan, the correspondence of the external appearance to the aesthetics of modernity, the use of the latest designs and building materials - all this became the impetus for the development of the “constructivism” direction.

Architecture is a very difficult concept, and the next stage for the Vesnins turned out to be somewhat more difficult than the previous one. So, they had to design the building of the Leningradskaya Pravda newspaper on a tiny plot of land. The brothers created a small six-story building, but there was everything: an office space, editorial rooms, a newsstand, a lobby, and a small reading room, because it is the ability to group many necessary rooms in one that is the main task of the constructivists.

As mentioned above, constructivism in architecture had its own functional method. According to constructivists, each function corresponds to the most rational structure.

There was a time when the movement was criticized by conservatives who defended the right to use traditional forms, later it was banned. In the Soviet Union, an active struggle was waged against bourgeois formalism and right angles. When the constructivists fell into disgrace, some architects forgot, some adapted to the changes. Some Soviet scholars argue that “post-constructivism” has replaced the current.

Constructivism in architecture again made itself felt in the 60s, when the struggle against "architectural excesses" began, and in the early 1990s, some unembodied ideas of the 20s became a reality. Today, this trend is increasingly manifested in the architecture of large cities.

Constructivism is a trend in Soviet art of the 1920s. (in architecture, design and theatrical and decorative art, poster, book art, artistic design). Proponents of constructivism, putting forward the task of "designing" the environment that actively guides life processes, sought to comprehend the shaping possibilities of new technology, its logical, expedient designs, as well as the aesthetic possibilities of such materials as metal, glass, wood. The constructivists sought to oppose the ostentatious luxury of everyday life with the simplicity and emphasized utilitarianism of new objective forms, in which they saw the reification of democracy and new relations between people (the Vesnin brothers, M. Ya. Ginzburg, etc.). The aesthetics of constructivism largely contributed to the formation of Soviet artistic design (A. M. Rodchenko, V. E. Tatlin and others). In relation to foreign art, the term is arbitrary: in architecture it is a trend within functionalism, in painting and sculpture it is one of the trends of avant-garde. In architecture, the principles of constructivism were formulated in the theoretical speeches of A. A. Vesnin and M. Ya. Ginzburg, practically they were first embodied in the project of the Palace of Labor for Moscow created by the brothers A. A., V. A. and L. A. Vesnin (1923 ) with its clear, rational plan and the constructive basis of the building (reinforced concrete frame) identified in the external appearance. In 1924, a creative organization of constructivists, the OSA, was created, whose representatives developed the so-called functional design method, based on a scientific analysis of the features of the functioning of buildings, structures, and urban complexes. Along with other groups of Soviet architects, constructivists (the Vesnin brothers, Ginzburg, I. A. Golosov, I. I. Leonidov, A. S. Nikolsky, M. O. Barshch, V. N. Vladimirov, etc.) searched for new principles plans of populated areas, put forward projects for the reorganization of life, developed new types of public buildings (Palaces of Labor, Houses of Soviets, workers' clubs, kitchen factories, etc.). At the same time, in their theoretical and practical activities, the constructivists made a number of mistakes (treatment of the apartment as a “material form”, schematism in the organization of life in some projects of communal houses, underestimation of climatic conditions, underestimation of the role of large cities under the influence of the ideas of deurbanism).

The aesthetics of constructivism in many ways contributed to the development of modern artistic design. On the basis of the developments of constructivists (A. M. Rodchenko, A. M. Gan and others), new types of utensils, fixtures, and furniture were created that were easy to use and designed for mass production; artists developed designs for fabrics (V. F. Stepanova, L. S. Popova) and practical models of work clothes (Stepanova, V. E. Tatlin). Constructivism played a significant role in the development of poster graphics (photomontages by the Stenberg brothers, G. G. Klutsis, Rodchenko) and book design (the use of the expressive possibilities of type and other typesetting elements in the works of Gan, L. M. Lissitzky and others). In the theater, the constructivists replaced traditional scenery with "machines" subordinated to the tasks of stage action for the work of actors (works by Popova, A. A. Vesnin, and others on the productions of V. E. Meyerhold, A. Ya. Tairov). Some ideas of constructivism were embodied in the Western European (W. Baumeister, O. Schlemmer and others) fine arts.

As applied to foreign art, the term "constructivism" is largely arbitrary: in architecture it denotes a trend within functionalism that sought to emphasize the expression of modern structures; Pevzner) Constructivism (from lat. constructio - construction) is an artistic trend in the art of a number of European countries at the beginning of the 20th century, which proclaimed not composition, but construction, as the basis of the artistic image. Constructivism found its fullest expression in architecture, design, applied design, theatrical decorative art, printed graphics, book art; expressed in the desire of artists to turn to the design of things, the artistic organization of the material environment. In the artistic culture of Russia in the 1920s, the constructivist architects, the Vesnin brothers and M. Ginzburg, relied on the possibilities of modern building technology.

They achieved artistic expressiveness by compositional means, by comparing simple, concise volumes, as well as by the aesthetic possibilities of materials such as metal, glass, and wood. The artists of this direction (V. Tatlin, A. Rodchenko, L. Popova, E. Lissitzky, V. Stepanova, A. Exter), having joined the movement of industrial art, became the founders of Soviet design, where the external form was directly determined by function, engineering design and material processing technology. In the design of theatrical performances, the constructivists replaced the traditional pictorial scenery with transformable “machines” that change the stage space. The constructivism of printed graphics, the art of the book, and the poster is characterized by stingy geometrized forms, their dynamic layout, a limited color palette (mainly red and black), and the widespread use of photography and typesetting typographic elements.

Characteristic manifestations of constructivism in painting, graphics and sculpture are abstract geometrism, the use of collage, photomontage, spatial structures, sometimes dynamic. The ideas of constructivism matured in the previous directions of the Russian avant-garde. His program, which was formed in the post-revolutionary period, bore the features of a social utopia, since artistic design was conceived as a way of transforming social life and people's consciousness, designing the environment.

Constructivism. The direction of abstract art, which originated in Russia in 1913. Constructivism discarded traditional ideas about art in the name of imitation of the forms and methods of the modern technological process. This was most clearly manifested in sculpture, where the structure was created directly from the products of industrial production. In painting, the same principles were implemented in two-dimensional space: abstract forms and structures were placed on a plane like an architectural drawing, reminiscent of elements of machine technology. Although constructivism existed in Russia only in the first post-revolutionary years, its influence was felt throughout the 20th century. see Gabo, Lissitzky, Mohoy-Nagy, Popova, Rodchenko, Tatlin About the poetic movement In terms of its principles, theoretical platform, the breadth of the creative views of its participants, and, finally, in terms of the duration of its existence, constructivism could well claim to be considered an independent literary movement . The poetic principles declared (and implemented) by the constructivists in practice, unlike many pseudo-independent poetic groups of that time, really differed in “faces with a non-general expression”.

In addition, constructivism put forward many well-known names. And yet, it is usually not customary to single out constructivism as a separate poetic trend. Perhaps because he was too utilitarian (meaning "applied") character. In contrast to the tasks of this trend in other areas of art, which put forward the idea of ​​constructing the material environment surrounding a person in order to create simple, logical, functionally justified forms (architectural projects of the Vesnin brothers, M. Ginzburg, I. Leonidov; posters, books, theatrical scenography of artists A. Rodchenko, V. Tatlin, L. Lissitzky), in poetry, constructivism manifested itself in an orientation towards a rational “construction of material” instead of an intuitively found style. However, another explanation is possible. It has already been said above that one of the "mandatory" conditions for the formation of a new poetic trend was the presence of an "external enemy" - the point of application of the creative efforts of the members of the group, in the struggle against which the formation took place. The constructivists, by and large, had no one to argue with, except themselves. Sluggish attacks on futurism could hardly deceive anyone, since the “construction” of a poetic text goes back to the principles proclaimed by the ideologist of futurism F. Marinetti, who sought to reflect the dynamism of modern machine civilization and technical progress. True, for this purpose the futurists used somewhat different means, resorting more to experimenting with vocabulary and syntax. However, the methods were very similar - the transfer of the center of gravity from the image of a person to the image of his material and technical environment.

The constructivists as an independent literary group first announced themselves in Moscow in the spring of 1922. Its first members were the poets A. Chicherin, I. Selvinsky and the critic K. Zelinsky (group theorist). Initially, the constructivist program had a narrowly formal focus: the principle of understanding literary work like designs. In the surrounding reality, technical progress was proclaimed the main one, the role of the technical intelligentsia was emphasized. Moreover, this was interpreted outside social conditions, outside the class struggle. In particular, it was stated: “Constructivism, as an absolutely creative school, affirms the universality of poetic technique; if modern schools, separately, cry out: sound, rhythm, image, zaum, etc., we, emphasizing and, say: And the sound, And the rhythm, And the image, And zaum, And every new possible device in which the real necessary when installing a structure Constructivism is the highest skill, deep, exhaustive knowledge of all the possibilities of the material and the ability to thicken in it. But in the future, the constructivists gradually freed themselves from these narrowly defined aesthetic frameworks and put forward broader justifications for their creative platform. It was the representatives of modernism who took the most active part in the literary and artistic life of the country in those years, and many of them turned out to be by no means unwitting conductors of the political ideology that dominated that era. Here, for example, is the opinion of a well-known illustrator from the association of the so-called “production book” O. Chichagova: “In essence, constructivism denies art as a product of bourgeois culture. Constructivism is an ideology that arose in proletarian Russia during the revolution, and like any ideology, it can be viable and not built on sand only when it creates a consumer for itself; and therefore - the task of constructivism is the organization of communist life through the creation of a constructive person. The means to this are intellectual production - invention and improving production - technology. That is, there was a substitution of concepts: the methodology of constructivism was now placed in direct dependence on ideological principles. Here the first disagreements arose, in connection with which Chicherin departed from constructivism, and a number of authors grouped around Selvinsky and Zelinsky: B. Agapov, Dir Tumanny (N. Panov), V. Inber, E. Gabrilovich. In 1924, the Constructivist Literary Center (LCC) was organized. Later they were joined by N. Aduev, V. Lugovskoy, A. Kvyatkovsky, V. Asmus, E. Bagritsky, N. Ognev, N. Ushakov, as well as a group of young poets: V. Gusev, G. Katz, I. Koltunov, A. Kudreiko (Zelenyak), K. Mitreikin, L. Lavrov, and others, jokingly referred to as "Konstromolets". At first, the meetings of the constructivists were held alternately in the apartments of one of the members of the LCC, and from 1927 onward. they began to gather in the "Herzen House" on Tverskaya Street (d. 25). The Declaration of the LCC first of all stated that “constructivism is thoughts and public mindsets ordered into a system, which emphatically reflect the organizational onslaught of the working class,” and then spoke about the need for art to have the closest possible participation of constructivists in the construction of socialist culture. From this arises the attitude to saturate art (in particular, poetry) with modern themes. Declaration of the Literary Center of Constructivists (LCC) The main provisions of constructivism.

1. The nature of modern production technology, rapid, economic and capacious, also influences the methods of ideological representations, subordinating all cultural processes to these internal formal organizational requirements.

The expression of this increased attention to technical and organizational issues is constructivism.

2. Here, in the USSR, constructivism acquires a broad social and cultural meaning, due to the need in a relatively short time to cover the distance separating the proletariat, as a culturally backward class, from modern high technology and the entire developed system of cultural superstructures, which, in an increasingly throughout the world of class struggle, are used by the bourgeoisie, also as technical instruments of struggle.

3. The organizational design of this task is constructivism.

4. Thus, constructivism is thoughts and social mindsets ordered into a system, which emphatically reflect the organizational onslaught of the working class, forced in a peasant country, after gaining power, to build an economy and lay the foundation of a new socialist culture.

5. This onslaught in the field of culture rushes mainly on its technique in all areas of knowledge and skill, starting with the simple acquisition of literacy.

6. The carrier of the constructivist (i.e., assertive organizational) and cultural movement should be, first of all, the proletariat, and then the intermediate social groups under the ideological and political influence of the proletariat.

7. Constructivism, transferred to the field of art, formally turns into a system of maximum exploitation of the theme, or into a system of mutual functional justification of all the constituent artistic elements, that is, in general, constructivism is a motivated art.

8. Formally, such a requirement rests on the so-called principle of cargoification, i.e., an increase in the load of needs per unit of material.

9. Right-wing social strata, intellectual and petty-bourgeois groups adapt the formal requirements of constructivism as aesthetic trenches for sitting out in them from the onslaught of revolutionary modernity, seeking to gain a foothold in the artistic theme. Then constructivism turns into a special easel genre, that is, an unmotivated demonstration of the technique. This is equally true of painting and poetry. For the left social strata, this demand for maximum exploitation is naturally merged with the search for a great epochal theme and a tight form for it, which, by the logic of the plot, introduces prose techniques into the realm of poetry.

10. The principle of cargoification, as applied to poetry, turns into a requirement for the construction of verses in terms of local semantics, i.e., the deployment of the entire texture of the verse from the main semantic content of the topic.

11. The Literary Center of the Constructivists (LCC), which has made the aforementioned provisions its banner, is an organizational association of people united by the common goals of communist construction and whose task, through joint, practical study of the formal-technical and theoretical aspects of constructivism, is to give literature and, in particular, poetry, in today's cultural environment, effective meaning. Constructivists consider it necessary in their literary work to actively reveal revolutionary modernity both thematically and in its technical requirements.

In order to give this topic maximum effectiveness, constructivists put forward the principle of “cargoification” of the word, i.e., its maximum “densification”. This is achieved with the help of “local semantics”, which consists in concentrating all the visual and expressive means of the verse around the main semantic content of the theme “[B. Agapov in the poem“ Typist Topchuk ”comparisons, epithets, etc. are taken from clerical life:“ eyebrows , as the signature of the director of the trust”; in N. Panov’s poem about General Kornilov, the rhythm imitates a drum march, etc.], as well as by “introducing prose techniques into the field of poetry”, if this is dictated by the logic of the plot (for example, Selvinsky’s “Report”, or he has a series calculations and technical terms in "Pushtorg"). It also sharply criticized "right-wing social strata, intellectual and petty-bourgeois groups that adapt the formal requirements of constructivism as aesthetic trenches for sitting out in them from the onslaught of revolutionary modernity." Such a slide from the realm of art into the realm of ideology could not but affect the fate of constructivism as a poetic movement.

And although the LCC still claims a leading role, declaring: “Constructivism is replacing futurism both as a literary school and as a nihilistic worldview. Futurism has done its job. He was the grave-digger of bourgeois decadentism in the pre-revolutionary years. In its new guise - LEF, futurism continues its old work - the fight against the rotten rump. But the new literature, the new socialist culture will no longer be created by his hands. This new culture creates its own new style, its own new methods, and these are the methods of constructivism,” but in recent years the program of the constructivists in many ways resembled the program of the LEF they criticized.

The constant sharp criticism of the constructivists by Marxist theorists led in 1930 to the liquidation of the LCC and the formation of the M.I. and those who believe that our literature is called upon to play one of the responsible roles in this area. In 1930, the Constructivist Literary Center, sensing the coming harsh changes, disbanded itself. In the early 1930s, the political situation in the country, and, consequently, in art, changed to a large extent. Innovative currents were first subjected to sharp criticism, and then they were completely banned, like ... bourgeois ones. As the constructivist M. Ginzburg correctly wrote, each era has its own style of art. The romantic-utopian, strict and revolutionary asceticism was replaced by the magnificent forms of the totalitarian baroque and the arrogant redundancy of Stalin's neoclassicism. The following fact seems strange - in the USSR there was a struggle against “right angles”, against “bourgeois formalism”, against “Leonidism”, and palaces in the style of Louis XIV began to be considered completely proletarian. The constructivists were in disgrace. Those of them who did not want to "rebuild" eked out a miserable existence until the end of their days (or even were repressed). However, Ilya Golosov, for example, managed to fit into the conjuncture of the 1930s and was able to create really interesting buildings. The Vesnin brothers also participated in the creative life of the USSR, but they no longer had such authority as before. According to some authoritative scientists in the USSR in 1932-1936. there was a "transitional style", conditionally called "post-constructivism". In the 1960s, when the struggle against "architectural excesses" began, they again remembered the developments of the constructivists. The study of their heritage has become mandatory for young architects. And since the early 1990s, many of the unrealized ideas of the 1920s have become a reality. An example is the shopping complex "Three Whales" on the Minsk highway (made in the spirit of the twenties), a variety of luxury housing in Moscow and other buildings of a modern metropolis. constructivism soviet art avant-garde

At the beginning of the 21st century, constructivism returns to architecture again. Now it is called Scandinavian, since its roots lie in the suburban housing construction of the Scandinavian countries. Scandinavian constructivism is characterized by an abundance of space and sunlight, functionality and simplicity, naturalness and naturalness. It has a given rhythm of lines and strict geometry. It is characterized by the aesthetics of expediency, the rationality of strictly utilitarian forms. To date, Scandinavian constructivism has taken root most widely in Russia, in St. Petersburg. The architectural concept of Scandinavian constructivism is considered the most organic for country houses near the Northern Capital.

In St. Petersburg, the predominance of cloudy weather leads to a lack of sunlight. This problem is solved due to the large areas of glazing and spacious rooms in houses characteristic of Scandinavian constructivism. The rhythm of the lines and the emphasized rigor of geometry give the houses made in the style of Scandinavian constructivism their own unique look, while simplicity and naturalness, coupled with the use of natural materials, provide an attractive architectural solution. Such houses organically fit into the country landscape and are close in spirit to the aristocratic Petersburgers.

2. Constructivism in architecture

Significant progress in the 20-30s. 20th century reached architecture. The rapid growth of cities, industry, and the development of transport come into sharp conflict with the layout of old cities, which do not meet the new requirements, with their narrow, winding streets. The need to solve the complicated problem of transport services and provide normal sanitary and living conditions for the population, give rise to urban planning projects and new forms of resettlement of people. They are characterized by a desire to soften social contrasts in cities and eliminate excessive concentration of the population. Around large cities in some countries garden cities with individual residential buildings, industrial cities, workers' settlements, etc., with a strictly functional division of the territory, arise. The attention of architects was attracted by the tasks of not only industrial, but also mass housing construction, the development of residential complexes with economical standard apartments designed for the middle and low-paid category of people. More attention is paid to the design of districts, the architectural design of landscapes. A universal classification of streets and the principles of their combination are being developed, networks of city highways are being created, independent of transitional streets and cutting the city into a number of separate spaces. In the design of cities of a new type and large industrial enterprises, the principles of the functional-constructive system, which originated at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, are increasingly being established. This style of architecture is called constructivism. In the history of Russian constructivism, professional architects designed all kinds of modular constructions of residential units, interconnected into large complexes, elevators moving along the outer walls, etc. Konstantin Melnikov is considered the coryphaeus of Russian (Soviet) constructivism. Starting with the construction of Russian pavilions at International Exhibitions in the style of traditional wooden architecture, thanks to which he gained international fame, Melnikov moves on to designing very relevant buildings of a new (revolutionary) type and purpose - workers' clubs. Club them. Rusakov, built by him in 1927-28, has nothing in common either with the architecture of the previous century or with Art Nouveau architecture. Here, purely geometric concrete structures are organized into a certain structure, the shape of which is determined by its purpose.

The last remark applies to almost all modern and 20th century architecture and is defined as functionalism. In the architecture of constructivism, functionalism leads to the creation of dynamic structures, consisting of fairly simple formal elements, completely devoid of the usual architectural decor, connected in accordance with the organization of the internal space and the work of the main structures. The language of architectural forms is thus "cleared" of everything unnecessary, decorative, non-constructive. It is the language of a new world that has broken with its past.

The emerging architectural image clearly conveys the dynamics of artistic processes and life in post-revolutionary Russia, the rapture of modern technical possibilities. The architects of the constructivism style believed that all elements of the building, even such as signs, clocks, billboards, loudspeakers, elevator shafts, etc., should take part in creating the architectural image of a modern building, so the architect should also design all of them. The Soviet constructivists focused their efforts on two major tasks: designing an exemplary socialist city and communal multi-apartment housing for workers - communal houses. Meeting the new needs of the socialist state, the constructivists were engaged in the design and construction of such types of buildings as offices, department stores, sanatoriums, printing houses, research centers, plants and factories, workers' clubs and hydroelectric power stations. The young Soviet architecture of the first post-revolutionary decades was really at the forefront of world architecture, implementing or creating on paper the most daring projects, including the famous Palace of Soviets, which could not be built on the site of the destroyed Cathedral of Christ the Savior. With the advent of Stalinist totalitarianism in the 30s, Russia is gradually losing its positions in architecture, and so far they have not been restored. An important milestone in the development of constructivism was the activity of talented architects - the brothers Leonid, Victor and Alexander Vesnin. They came to realize a laconic "proletarian" aesthetic, already having a solid experience in building design, in painting and in book design. (They started their career back in the Modern era).

For the first time, constructivist architects loudly declared themselves at the competition for projects for the building of the Palace of Labor in Moscow. The Vesnins' project was distinguished not only by the rationality of the plan and the correspondence of the external appearance to the aesthetic ideals of our time, but also implied the use of the latest building materials and structures. The next stage was the competitive design of the building of the newspaper "Leningradskaya Pravda" (Moscow branch). The task was extremely difficult - a tiny piece of land was intended for construction - 6 × 6 m on Strastnaya Square. The Vesnins created a miniature, slender six-story building, which included not only an office and editorial premises, but also a newsstand, a lobby, a reading room (one of the tasks of the constructivists was to group the maximum number of vital premises in a small area). The closest associate and assistant of the Vesnin brothers was Moses Yakovlevich Ginzburg, who was an unsurpassed theorist of architecture in the first half of the 20th century. In his book Style and Age, he reflects that each style of art adequately corresponds to "its" historical era. The development of new architectural trends, in particular, is due to the fact that "... continuous mechanization of life" is taking place, and the machine is "... a new element of our life, psychology and aesthetics." Ginzburg and the Vesnin brothers organize the Association of Modern Architects (OSA), which includes leading constructivists. Since 1926, the constructivists began to publish their own magazine - "Modern Architecture" (or simply "CA)". The magazine has been published for five years. The covers were designed by Aleksey Gan. In the late 1920s, constructivism began to spread outside the Soviet Union, becoming most widespread in Germany and the Netherlands. In the mid-60s - 70s, the traditions and ideas of constructivism found an unexpected continuation in the architecture of the so-called "high-tech", a direction that demonstratively exposes not only the work of architectural structures, but also engineering communications.

3. Constructivism in design and photography

Constructivism is a direction that is primarily associated with architecture, however, such a vision would be one-sided and even extremely wrong, because, before becoming an architectural method, constructivism existed in design, printing, and artistic creativity. Constructivism in photography is marked by the geometrization of the composition, shooting from dizzying angles with a strong reduction in volume. Such experiments were carried out, in particular, by Alexander Rodchenko.

In graphic forms of creativity, constructivism was characterized by the use of photomontage instead of hand-drawn illustration, extreme geometrization, subordination of the composition to rectangular rhythms. The color scheme was also stable: black, red, white, gray with the addition of blue and yellow. In the field of fashion, there were also certain constructivist trends - in the wake of the global passion for straight lines in clothing design, Soviet fashion designers of those years created emphatically geometrized forms. Among fashion designers, Varvara Stepanova stands out, who, since 1924, together with Lyubov Popova, developed fabric designs for the 1st cotton-printing factory in Moscow, was a professor at the textile faculty of VKhUTEMAS, and designed models of sports and casual clothes. The most famous fashion model of those years was the notorious Lily Yuryevna Brik.