Constructivism in Soviet architecture. Architectural style: constructivism

Constructivism is a trend in Soviet art of the 1920s. (in architecture, design and theater decorative art, poster, book art, art design). Proponents of constructivism, putting forward the task of "designing" environment, actively directing 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, 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). Applied 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, they were practically embodied for the first time 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 (the attitude to the apartment as to " material form”, schematism in the organization of life in some projects of communal houses, underestimation of natural and climatic conditions, underestimation of the role major cities influenced by 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 construction (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 Western European (W. Baumeister, O. Schlemmer, etc.) 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, in painting and sculpture it is one of the avant-garde trends that used some formal searches for early constructivism (sculptors I. Gabo, A Pevzner) Constructivism (from lat. constructio - construction) - artistic direction in the art of the series European countries beginning of the 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 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. Artists of this trend (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 a book, a poster is characterized by stingy geometrized forms, their dynamic layout, limited color palette(mostly red and black), extensive 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. Direction abstract art 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 architectural drawing, reminiscent of the 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 a material environment, human environment, to create simple, logical, functionally justified forms ( architectural projects brothers Vesnin, M. Ginzburg, I. Leonidov; posters, books, theatrical scenography by 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. For the constructivists, by and large, there was 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. The first members were poets A. Chicherin, I. Selvinsky and critic K. Zelinsky (group theorist). Initially, the program of the constructivists had a narrowly formal orientation: the principle of understanding a literary work as a construction came to the fore. IN 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, they 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 a real need will meet during the installation constructions 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. in literary and artistic life It was the representatives of modernism who took the most active part 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 took place alternately in the apartments of one of the members of the LCC, and from 1927 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 an attitude to saturate art (in particular, poetry) modern theme. Declaration of the Literary Center of Constructivists (LCC) The main provisions of constructivism.

1. The nature of modern production technology, accelerated, economic and capacious - also affects the methods of ideological representations, subordinating everything cultural processes these internal formal organizational requirements.

Expressing this heightened attention to technical and organizational issues and 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 a situation of growing 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 public mindsets ordered into a system, which emphatically reflect the organizational onslaught of the working class, forced into peasant country, after the conquest of 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 artistic theme. Then constructivism turns into a special easel genre, i.e., an unmotivated demonstration of the reception. 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 common goals communist construction and setting as its task, through a joint, practical study of the formal, technical and theoretical aspects of constructivism, to give literature and, in particular, poetry, an effective meaning in the modern cultural environment. 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 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 respects 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 "Literary Brigade of M. I", which became part of the federation of associations Soviet writers(FOSP), which carried out "unification of various writers' groups who want to actively participate in the construction of the USSR and 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 with "right angles", with "bourgeois formalism", with "Leonidism", and the palaces were in the taste of Louis XIV began to be considered quite 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” had just begun, 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 would be shopping mall"Three whales" on the Minsk highway (made in the spirit of the twenties), elite housing in Moscow of various designs and other buildings of the 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 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 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 on 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 artistic processes and life in post-revolutionary Russia, intoxication with 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. Soviet constructivists concentrated their efforts on two major tasks: designing an exemplary socialist city and communal multi-apartment housing for workers - communal houses. To meet 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 famous Palace Councils, which they could not build 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 Contemporary 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.

Avant-garde architecture was decades ahead of its time. In Russia, awareness of the value of this heritage did not come even after 80 years. Constructivism has to be defended against barbaric reconstructions and demolitions, while it has long been recognized throughout the world as the most important contribution to world culture XX century. Stars of world architecture: Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas, Peter Eisenman - since the 1970s and 80s have been talking about the unconditional influence of the Soviet avant-garde on their work. At least three generations of architects have changed, for whom constructivism is the ABC of modern architecture, and the projects of Leonidov, Ginzburg, Melnikov, the Vesnin brothers, Chernikhov are an international legacy that inspires to this day with its freedom and fearlessness.

For a story about the basic principles of Soviet architecture of the 1920s - early 1930s, we chose one building from different cities of the country: in addition to the desire to get away from the well-known and repeatedly described metropolitan examples, we wanted to show the scale of the movement in architecture, which covered one sixth of the world .

1. Building-machine: Kushelevsky bakery

Illustration from the book "Architectural graphics of the era of constructivism." SPb., 2008

Illustration from the article by T. V. Tsareva “Automated bakeries of the system of engineer G. P. Marsakov: form and function”, collection “Khan-Magomedov readings”. M., St. Petersburg, 2015

St. Petersburg, st. Polytechnic, 11
Georgy Marsakov, 1932

At the turn of the 1920s and 30s, engineer Georgy Marsakov invented a rigid ring conveyor, thanks to which a completely new type mechanized-ro-baking plant. Flour from the fourth floor, descending along the circular conveyor chain, was kneaded into dough, which fermented, cut and baked in circular ovens, and the finished bread was loaded down inclined slopes into the bread storage - all without the use of manual labor. According to the patented scheme, seven bakeries were built in Moscow and Leningrad. The hybrid of the vertical (flour lifting conveyor) and ring conveyors had no analogues in the world and in a few years completely solved the problem of bread supplies in Moscow and Leningrad.

This project expresses main idea constructivism about the complete fusion of form and function. The factory building is a machine in the truest sense of the word, and the engineering beauty of the production scheme is reflected in the expressive cylindrical volumes of the facade. Despite the common patented system, the buildings were slightly different, so the “cases” of all bakeries are different. The Kushelevsky plant is one of the most expressive: the boiler room, warehouse, administrative premises are located in semi-circular and cylindrical volumes rising by ledges, grouped around the main massif. The powerful verticals of the stairwell and pipes set off this rotation, and the bakery itself looks like a monumental sculpture.

2. Compositional freedom: Rusakov club

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Moscow, st. Stromynka, 6
Konstantin Melnikov, 1929

The new era has generated a request for a completely new typology of buildings. Churches are being replaced by clubs - universal cultural and educational centers, to some extent inheriting the typology of pre-revolutionary people's houses people's house- public cultural and educational institutions of the late XIX - early XX century, intended for children and adults. Usually included libraries, theater and concert halls, study rooms, a Sunday school, a tea room, etc.. Konstantin Melnikov, the most expressive and bright representative of the Soviet architectural avant-garde, is primarily known for the projects of six clubs, each of which can be considered a manifesto. Melnikov argued that in the new architecture there is no place for established methods and forms. triangles, sharp corners, overhanging volumes - he removed all the taboos of previous eras.

The internal structure of the club of the trade union of communal services (workers of the tram depot who was nearby) resembles a mouthpiece, where in its narrow part there is a stage, in the middle part there is a stalls, and the wide one is divided into three amphitheatres, hanging with consoles over the main facade. With the help of descending walls, these hanging volumes could be cut off inside for autonomous work of circles and meetings. Unfortunately, the machinery invented by Melnikov for each of the clubs was never implemented: his technical requirements ahead of time, and building-transformers worked only half-heartedly. Despite this, Rusakov's club, which shocked contemporaries with its unprecedented forms, continues to amaze with absolute compositional freedom and innovation even now.

3. Savings: Uraloblsovnarkhoz residential building

Photo courtesy of Nikita Suchkov

Cell type F. Development of the typing section of the Stroykom of the RSFSR. 1928

Yekaterinburg, st. Malysheva, 21/1
Moses Ginzburg, Alexander Pasternak, Sergei Prokhorov; 1933

"Being determines consciousness" - that is why, since the beginning of the 1920s in the USSR, both government and architects paid special attention to designing a new type of housing. The image of a house organized according to the principle of a universal mechanism, where life is maximally socialized and simplified, of course, was inspired by the ideas of Le Corbusier. But if the latter managed to implement his concepts on a large scale only in the post-war years, his followers in the USSR, paradoxically, were able to do it much earlier. Experimental communal houses and transitional houses, built at the turn of the 1920s and 30s, included, in addition to residential premises, the entire infrastructure: laundries, nurseries and kindergartens, canteens. This was supposed to save the woman from housework. In addition, for the first time on such a scale, the question of standardization, ergonomics and economy - materials, space, energy - was raised.

Designed by Moisei Ginzburg, the residential cell type F, used by him in the Narkomfin building in Moscow and then repeated in Sverdlovsk, is a two-level apartment, where, due to the half-height in the sleeping area, the hallway and the bathroom, one common corridor (hall) is obtained in the house, service living two floors. In the house of the Uraloblsovnarkhoz, cells F are arranged in a dormitory building with office space on the ground floor and a dining room with a terrace on the last, seventh. The dining room is connected by a passage to the neighboring building, where on the roof there is kindergarten and a solarium (place for sunbathing). Tape windows ribbon window- the conquest of avant-garde architecture, made possible thanks to reinforced concrete frames that unloaded the walls of buildings. The characteristic narrow horizontal windows became a symbol of 1920s architecture both in the Soviet Union and in Europe. Their popularity was so great that often such windows were even imitated, for example, in brick houses - by painting the window piers in a dark color., flat roof, reinforced concrete frame and the possibility of changing the layout - the five principles of Le Corbusier's modern architecture are partially realized (there are not enough pillars instead of the first floor). Despite the later alterations (the built-up loggia of the upper floor), the house-ship still looks much more modern than other houses of the 2000s.

4. Symbol: Factory-kitchen of the Maslennikov plant

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Illustration from L. Kassil's book "Delicious Factory". M., 1930

Samara, st. Novo-Sadovaya, 149
Ekaterina Maksimova, 1930-1932

The factory-kitchen is another new typology of the 1920s and 30s, along with the bathhouse, the commune and the club, which was conceived as the most important tool for the emancipation of women. In the spirit of the era, this is not just a canteen, but a food factory that could provide factories with ready-made meals, a club and sports Complex. In the 1920s, architecture becomes a new kind of propaganda and education: buildings loudly announce their function, in fact advertising a new way of life. For the first time in Russia, speaking architecture appears: buildings-airplanes, tractors, steamships, demonstrating their progressiveness, dynamism, and functionality. The kitchen factory in Samara, located in the same row, is famous for its hammer and sickle plan. The sign could only be seen from above, from an airplane - which is typical of the era of the "flying proletarian". However, the author (which is also important - a woman architect) found a functional justification for an uncomfortable form. From the hammer, where the kitchen was located, the prepared dishes were to be delivered along three conveyors to the sickle, where there were dining rooms with a panoramic view. In the hammer's handle were all the additional club rooms - the gym, club rooms, a reading room. The building is also known for its bold design solution: cantilever reinforced concrete ceilings, which made it possible to use continuous glazing of half-cylinder staircases. The factory-kitchen was extensively rebuilt in the 1940s and 1990s, the facades changed, but the general layout structure remained the same. VHUTEMAS (Higher Artistic and Technical Workshops) is an educational institution in Moscow. It included eight faculties: architectural, painting, sculptural, printing, textile, ceramics, woodworking and metalworking. VKHUTEMAS teachers in different time were Konstantin Melnikov, Alexei Shchusev, the Vesnin brothers, Wassily Kandinsky, Vladimir Tatlin, Alexander Rodchenko, Vladimir Favorsky and others. (basic course, aimed at studying the basics of composition and design) taught to abstract forms and look for a plastic expression of the ideas of movement, weight, lightness, etc. It is this program that is still included in training courses fundamentals of architectural design.

The theater in Rostov-on-Don, designed by Leningrad architects of the old school, is a visual aid to the plasticity of the avant-garde. The technique of contrasting deaf and glazed surfaces, heavy and light, straight and rounded, rough and thin, is here exposed to the limit, and most importantly, the theater is best perceived in motion. A lapidary, monumental cube with two halls, a theater and a concert hall, is placed on the transparent volume of the vestibule. On the sides, large glazed vertical volumes of stairwells with long passages, galleries, which visually support the heavy deaf "forehead" of the theater, are taken out. Two wide strips of continuous glazing of the galleries on the sides of the main volume are supported by the rigid vertical rhythm of the pillars. Semi-circular ramps for cars dive under galleries-transitions from the sides of the main facade, emphasizing the best angles for viewing. The building is usually associated with a caterpillar tractor, but such a literal association undeservedly simplifies the architects' idea.

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 has been divided into several competing directions, many interesting projects, some of which have been implemented. In the early 1930s, this style fell out of fashion among those in power. Constructivism had a great influence on the further development of 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 problems of the new time. Two clear directions emerged: the first - in the realistic manifesto of Antoine Pevzner and Nahum 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 famous project in the style of constructivism is the Lenin tribune (author El Lissitzky (1920) in the form of a moving podium for the speaker. During civil war the UNOVIS group (Affirmative of the 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 apartment house Gosstrakh, built by Ginzburg, and the Narkomfin House, also built according to his design. 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 SA magazine ( 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 Bolshaya Pirogovskaya, 5 - Constructivism in the architecture of Moscow

Probably, there are no more Soviet symbols than the famous sculpture "Worker and Collective Farm Woman" and, of course, the Lenin Mausoleum - monuments of constructivism. And although in the minds and hearts of this grandiose style did not rule for long, its scope, fundamentality and spiritual rationality are associated with Soviet era much stronger than the "Stalinist" Empire style and "Khrushchev" industrial buildings.

From Europe to the Union: the history of constructivism

Despite the fact that constructivism is most often called the architectural method that arose within the framework of avant-garde in the first Soviet years, it originated earlier, and not in the Soviet Union, which did not exist then ...
The forerunners of architectural constructivism are called the pavilions for the first World Exhibition, held in 1851 in London, and the Eiffel Tower. But the term itself - constructivism - was proposed to the world by Soviet artists and architects.
The 1920s were a period of struggle between the old and the new, traditional and revolutionary, a time of searching for innovative forms and concepts. Those who were the first to call themselves constructivists called for abandoning art for the sake of art, arguing that the latter is obliged to create purely useful things and serve production. The task of the new architecture, they proclaimed, was "the communist expression of material values."

So there were impressive buildings in the style Soviet constructivism- giant houses of culture, palaces of trade unions, kitchen factories, residential complexes.

The difference between constructivism and similar styles

Understandable, you say, but how did this Soviet constructivism differ from other minimalist trends, for example, from functionalism? After all, he also preaches extreme practicality and simplicity of presentation.
Perhaps the main difference is that the constructivists tried to combine the high functionality of buildings with artistic expressiveness. This was achieved not due to decorative elements, but due to forms and materials.

Conceptual features of constructivism:

1. solidity (even very large, fragmented buildings are perceived as a whole);
2. segmentation (houses often consist of sections that pass one into another);
3. a greater variety of forms than is inherent in functionalism. Of course, the constructivists did not offer anything pretentious, but there was definitely a play with forms: the squares of the walls flowed into cylinders of balconies, the parallelepipeds into cubes and risalits of stairs.

In addition to the listed features, Soviet buildings built by constructivists are also characterized by flat roofs, elongated windows, and massive pillars.

If we talk about ideological differences, they can be formulated as follows: in general, he uses simple materials and stingy forms because he puts convenience at the forefront, and constructivists also because they see beauty in it.

Materials and style palette

Concrete and glass are the main "elements" from which most of all buildings in the spirit of constructivism came out. Later, metal, plastic and other modern raw materials joined them.

As for paints, the most common colors of constructivism are:

• light grey,
• slate,
• white,
• beige,
• Dark red,
• red-brown.

The buildings of this genre are characterized by a muffled and even tone. And additional color is brought by the brilliance of metal and glass.

Oblivion and return of the ideas of constructivism

Even in the 1920s, when avant-garde trends flourished, constructivism did not win mass sympathy. Spears of criticism flew at him from those who defended, originating in ancient times, and from those who proved the superiority of other, no less new architectural ideas.

Soon, however, the dispute ended: the rhythmic, strict lines characteristic of constructivism were suddenly declared bourgeois formalism ... And romantic, but harsh, utopian, but rational, proletarian asceticism was replaced by buildings, the style of which was later called Soviet neoclassicism and "Stalin's" Empire style.

Updated constructivism returned in the 70s, during the years of another "fight against excesses". Well, the third coming of this style took place recently, at the beginning of this century. Yes, constructivism is relevant again, and not in the city, but outside it.

Modern constructivism: exterior features

His successor today is Scandinavian countryside architecture, and the style is called that - Scandinavian constructivism.

The laconic geometry and high expediency inherent in constructivism are today intertwined with naturalness, naturalness, an abundance of light and space.

Due to external simplicity, such houses organically and effectively fit into any landscape, any natural environment. They do not focus solely on themselves, thanks to which the trees, a reservoir or a hillock, which are nearby, do not become secondary, but beautifully frame the building, continue it.

Modern constructivism is not only experiments with shapes and lines, but environmental friendliness and high energy efficiency of building and finishing resources, the widespread use of the latest techniques, as well as big square glazing.

Wood is no longer banned, as are stone, ceramic tiles, expanded clay panels, cladding, strictly shaped bricks, as well as the latest materials. By the way, they should not only be High Quality and catchy texture, but also tactilely pleasant to give the household maximum comfort.

Wide, uncluttered verandas and terraces (including those on flat roofs), panoramic windows and even entire glass walls creating the illusion of merging with nature; gray, black-and-white, restrained gamma - such is the language of modern constructivism.

The exterior decor of such houses is, first of all:

• dynamics and a combination of strict, vertical and horizontal lines;
• diversity of segments - windows, terraces and canopies;
• chasing, expressiveness of entrance portals;
• finish texture, moderate glass glimmer;
• the contrast of light and dark tones, white plaster and, for example, dark gray stone.

The rapid technological progress of the beginning of the last century gave rise to the latest trends in art and, as a result, a trend towards the destruction of traditional canons, the search for other forms and aesthetic principles. This was most clearly expressed in avant-gardism - a complex of artistic phenomena of the first third of the 20th century. One of the many avant-garde trends was the style of constructivism, which arose in the young Soviet state of the 1920s and 1930s. It is also called "industrial" or "building" art.

Areas of influence and distribution

Constructivism in painting is expressed too weakly, the direction is mainly associated with architecture, in which simple geometric forms and ultimate functionality are most characteristically applied. But the principles of constructivism, being comprehensive and rapidly spreading, also had a significant impact on graphic, industrial design, photography, theater, cinema, dance, fashion, fiction and music of that period.

Soviet constructivism had a significant impact on modern creative movements 20th century and not only within the Bolshevik country. The consequences of his influence can be seen in the main trends of the German Bauhaus design school and the Dutch artistic movement De Stijl, in the work of the masters of Europe and Latin America.

The emergence of the term

The term "building art" was first used as a sarcastic expression by Kazimir Malevich in 1917 to describe the work of Alexander Rodchenko. The term "constructivism" was coined by sculptors Antoine Pevsner and Nahum Gabo. The latter developed an industrial, angular style of work, and he owed something to Malevich's Suprematism for his geometric abstraction. The term first appears in N. Gabo's "Realistic Manifesto" (1920), then as the title of a book by Alexei Gan (1922).

The birth and development of the movement

Constructivism among the many styles and trends in the visual arts was formed on the basis of Russian futurism, in particular, under the influence of the so-called "Counter-reliefs" (various textured collages from various materials) by Vladimir Tatlin, exhibited in 1915. He was (like Kazimir Malevich) one of the pioneers of geometric abstract art, the founder of the avant-garde Suprematist movement.

The concept of a new direction was developed at the Moscow Institute of Artistic Culture (INKhUK) in the period 1920-1922 by the first working group of constructivists. Lyubov Popova, Alexander Vesnin, Rodchenko, Varvara Stepanova, Alexei Gan, Boris Arvatov and headed by the first chairman of the group Vasily Kandinsky worked out a theoretical definition of constructivism as an inseparable combination of the main elements of industrial culture (constructions, texture and specific material properties of an object with its spatial position) .

Principles and Features

According to constructivism, art is a means exclusively intended for the artistic design of everyday, utilitarian, practically applicable objects. The expressive laconic form of works, devoid of all sorts of "beauties" and "decorations", should be as functional as possible and designed for convenient use in mass production (hence the term "production art").

The non-objectivity of Kandinsky's sensory-emotional forms or Malevich's rational-abstract geometry were rethought by constructivists and transformed into real-life spatial objects. Thus, a new design of work clothes, fabric patterns, furniture, utensils and other consumer goods appeared, the characteristic of the Soviet era was born.

A special asceticism in pictorial means of expression distinguishes this trend from similar styles, but in many respects generalizes it with rationalism. In addition to the theoretical ideology, constructivism is distinguished by such external properties:

1. A small tonal range within blue, red, yellow, green, black, gray and white. The colors were not necessarily locally pure, their tinted muted variants were often used, but no more than 3-4 at a time.
2. Forms and lines are expressive, simple, few, limited to a vertical, horizontal, diagonal direction or the shape of a regular circle.
3. The contours of objects give the impression of a monolithic structure.
4. There is the so-called "machine" aesthetics, which displays graphic or spatial engineering ideas, mechanisms, parts, tools.

"The Art of Construction and Productivism" by Tatlin

The key point of the direction was the model of Vladimir Tatlin, proposed for the construction of a monument to the Third International (1919 - 1920). The design had to combine the aesthetics of the machine with dynamic components that celebrated technologies such as spotlights and projection screens.

At this time, the work of Gabo and Pevsner on the "Realistic Manifesto", which affirmed the spiritual core of the movement, was coming to an end. Gabo publicly criticized Tatlin's project, saying, "Either create functional houses and bridges, or create pure art, and neither at the same time." The idea of ​​erecting monuments with no practical use was at odds with the utilitarian-adaptable version of constructivism. But at the same time, Tatlin's design fully reflected a new progressive idea of ​​​​the form, materials used and manufacturability of creation. This caused serious controversy and controversy among the members of the Moscow group in 1920.

German artists proclaimed Tatlin's work as revolutionary in international, and not just Soviet, fine arts. Drawings and photographs of the model were published in Taut Fruhlicht magazine. The Tatlinskaya Tower became the beginning of the exchange of creative ideas of "building art" between Moscow and Berlin. The monument was planned to be erected in Leningrad, but the idea was never implemented due to lack of money in the post-revolutionary period. Nevertheless, the image of the Tatlin Tower remained a kind of symbol of constructivism and the world avant-garde.

A talented self-taught artist, the founder of the movement, Tatlin was the first constructivist who tried to offer his design abilities to industrial production: projects for an economical stove, workwear, and furniture. It should be noted that these were very utopian ideas, like his tower and the “letatlin” flying machine, on which he worked until the 1930s.

Constructivism in painting

The very idea of ​​the movement, excluding pure art and any "beautifulness", already denied painting as a form of creativity that was not capable of serving the utilitarian needs of the people. New artist He was proclaimed an engineer who creates things that are obliged to influence the consciousness and lifestyle of a person. The postulate "... do not decorate the walls with paintings, but paint them ..." meant a dead end for easel painting - an element of bourgeois aesthetics.

Constructivist artists realized their potential in posters, design projects for industrial products, the design of public spaces, sketches of fabrics, clothes, costumes and scenery for theater and cinema. Some, like Rodchenko, found themselves in the art of photography. Others, like Popova in her cycle of Space-Force Constructions, argued that their paintings- an intermediate stage on the way to engineering design.

Not being fully embodied in painting, constructivism contributed to the development of the art of collage and spatial-geometric installation. Tatlin's "counter-reliefs" and El Lissitzky's "prouns" served as an ideological source. The works, in essence, like easel painting, had no practical application, but looked like fantastic engineering developments and looked in the technogenic spirit of that time.

"Prouns"

Developed by the beginning of the twenties by the artist and architect El Lissitzky, the so-called projects of new art (“prouns”) were abstract geometric compositions made in a picturesque, graphic form in the form of applications and three-dimensional architectonics. Many artists (not only constructivists) in their paintings of the 20s depicted such “prouns”, which remained abstract images. But many of Lissitzky's works were later implemented in furniture, interior, theater design projects or were embodied as decorative and spatial installations.

Art in the service of agitation

In the middle of 1920 - 1930, a special style of posters of the Soviet era was established, which subsequently stood out in separate section design. It covered theatrical and film posters, commercial and industrial advertising. The followers of the movement, picking up Mayakovsky's dictum, called themselves "advertising constructors." In the same period, the character was formed as one of the mechanisms of influence on the consciousness of the masses.

For the first time in Russia, the constructivists used the techniques of collage for a poster, combining drawing, photography and elements of typographic products. The font, as well as the carefully thought-out placement of the text, played a special artistic role and often looked like a laconic graphic ornament. The artistic methods of poster design developed in those years remained basic throughout the entire Soviet period.

Progressive photography by Rodchenko

The discrepancy between the utilitarian ideas of constructivism in painting was opposed to their embodiment in photography - a real reflection of life itself. The unique works of the multifaceted artist Alexander Rodchenko are recognized as masterpieces of this art form.

Not sparing consumables, he tried to capture each object or action in different conditions and from several angles. Impressed by the photomontage of the German Dadaists, he was the first to use this technique in Russia. His debut photomontage, published in 1923, illustrated Mayakovsky's poem "About It". In 1924, Rodchenko created what is probably his most famous poster montage, an advertisement for the Lengiz publishing house, sometimes referred to as Books.

He made a revolution in composition: nature was captured by him amazingly picturesquely and often resembles a rhythmic graphic pattern or abstraction. At the same time, his images are incredibly dynamic; they can be generally characterized by the slogan: “Time, forward!”. Rodchenko's work was also striking in that nature was often shot from rather unusual angles, for which the photographer sometimes had to take simply dizzying positions.

Rodchenko's groundbreaking shots have remained classics for generations of photographers and inspired many design makers. For example, the American conceptual artist Barbara Kruger owes the success of her numerous works to Rodchenko. And variations of his photo portrait of Lilia Brik and the poster "A Sixth of the World" became the basis for the covers of music albums of foreign punk and rock bands.

Russian constructivism in world art

Some constructivists taught or lectured at the Bauhaus school, where some of the VKhUTEMAS teaching methods were adopted and developed. Through Germany, stylistic principles “emigrated” to Austria, Holland, Hungary and other European countries. In 1930 - 1940, one of the leaders of the world avant-garde, Nahum Gabo, founded in England a version of constructivism, which became established after the First World War in British architecture, design and various fields of artistic creativity.

The creator of the constructivist movement in Ecuador, Manuel Rendon Seminari, and the artist from Uruguay, Joaquin Torres Garcia, played an important role in spreading the style in European, African, and Latin American countries. Constructivism in painting is expressed in the works of contemporary Latin American artists: Osvaldo Viteri, Carlos Merida, Teo Constante, Enrique Tabara, Anibal Villak and other equally famous masters. In Australia, followers of constructivism also worked, the most famous of which was the artist George Johnson.

Master graphic designer Neville Brody reproduced the style in the 1980s based on constructivist Soviet posters, which aroused keen interest among connoisseurs of contemporary art. Nick Phillips and Ian Anderson created in Sheffield in 1986 famous studio graphic design The Designers Republic, based on constructivist ideas. This strong company continues to thrive today, especially in the direction of music logos and album art.

From the beginning of the thirties, when any progressive and avant-garde trends were banned in the Soviet country, constructivism continued to develop and influence world art abroad. Having lost ideological basis, the style became the foundation for other areas, and its elements can still be traced in modern art, design and architecture.