THE CONSTRUCTIVIST PROJECT

The Narvsky District in St. Petersburg is rich in architecture, with many Constructivist treasures. One fine example is the Gorky House of Culture.

Below is the translation of the history of the ДВОРЕЦ КУЛЬТУРЫ ИМЕНИ ГОРЬКОГО
(Gorky House of Culture) found at its official website at http://www.gorkogo.spb.ru/

The City of Leningrad Moscow-Narvsky District Palace/House of Culture (later on the House of Culture named after A.M. Gorky) was opened on the 8th of November to coincide with the 10th Anniversary of the October Revolution. This was the first House of Culture in the city and in the country, for which a building with a theater-concert complex and a movie theater had been built with trade union money. The House of Culture was built according to the design by the architects A.I Gegello and A.I. Dmitriev, with the participation of the architect D.L. Krichevky and engineer B.F. Railyan. In 1937, the House of Culture received the Gran Prix award at the International exhibition in Paris, and in 1968 it was officially recognized as an architecture landmark from the epoch of constructivism.

The name of A.M. Gorky was given to the Moscow-Narvsky House of Culture on the 8th of July, 1929. The function devoted to that event was attended by the proletarian writer in person. During the Great Patriotic War and the siege of Leningrad, the Gorky House of Culture was not closed even for a single day. It was the place where concerts, play performances, movie shows were given and the library was frequented by readers. During the intervals between air raids, the outstanding artists, including Vagram Papazyan – the greatest presenter of Shakespeare repertoire, performed on the stage of the House of Culture. In the hardest winter of the siege, on the 2nd of January 1942, the staff of the House of Culture at the cost of incredible efforts, put on a New Year Party for the children.

For its achievements, the Gorky House of Culture has been given numerous awards, including Certificates of merit from the country leadership, the Ministry of Culture, trade unions, diplomas from the National Exhibition Center and acknowledgements from different businesses and NGOs. In 1978, the Gorky House of Culture was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.

St. Petersburg’s cityscape is ever changing, with buildings being torn down to make room for new ones. At other times, the transformation takes the shape of re-naming, and re-purposing the building for something quite different than the original functions.

Before: Немецкая реформатская церковь / St. Peter’s German Reformed Church
Built 1862-1865

photo date unknown

After: Дворец культуры работников связи / Postal Workers’ Club
Church closed in 1929, rebuilt in 1932-1939 as the Postal Workers’ Club

7.6.2011

Before: Дом технической учебы / Technical College
Built 1930-1932

photo taken around 1932

After: Дом мебели “Нарвский” / Narvsky House of Furniture

7.6.2011

Two examples of Constructivist architecture I found in my wanderings in St. Petersburg:

Меняевский рынок – Жилой дом / Menyaevskii market – Housing
Original market was built in 1883, and was later converted into housing in the Constructivist style in 1932-1933, with some elements of the original building remaining.

Здание Кировского райсовета / Kirovsky Town Hall
1931-1935

Moscow is not the only city to boast a fine collection of Constructivist architecture, and I plan to run into a few treasures in my upcoming trip to Russia’s second largest city. I’m looking forward to taking a few photographs of my own there, but for now a link to a beautiful collection of photographs of Constructivist architecture in St. Petersburg.

http://www.lomography.com/magazine/locations/2009/07/21/onstructivist-architecture-of-st-petersburg