The Narkomfin is more than a housing building. It is the converging point of the history of Constructivism. It is the most sophisticated expression of a "social condenser," in Moisej Ginzburg's words, where purposefully reassembled functional spaces are given an active role in transforming social behavior. Echoing the Russian Formalist method of analytic editing— like the cinematic "montage of attractions," to use Eisenstein’s expression— it represents a reconfigured semantic series of the notion of dwelling. These new associations, in turn, contribute to the transformation of everyday life— the byt. In this sense, the Narkomfin is more than a symbol; it is, in a nutshell, the program of Constructivism. It is also the highest point the construction House of Communes ever reached, the vast experimental field of numerous architects, and architectural workshops conducted in its most prolific time between 1926 and 1930.
ISBN: 978-3-8030-0788-9
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
The Political Context: 1928-1930, A Turning Point Between Revolution and Counter-Revolution by Danilo Udovički-Selb
Narkomfin Narratives: Dreams and Realities by Vladimir Papemy
Double-height Spaces: From Ateliers to "Cathedrals" by Wilfried Wang
The Communist Egosphere: The Single Room Abode in the Russian 1920s by Tijana Vujošević
Sources of the Narkomfin: The New Byt and the Collectivization of Everyday Life by Danilo Udovički-Selb
Moisej Ginzburg and Soviet Residential Architecture by Dmitry Khmelnitsky
Invisible Colors: The Narkomfin House-Painting Experiment by Alla G. Vronskaya
Ginzburg: Architect, Architectural Theoretician, Methodologist, Experimenter, Design Practice Organizer by Yury Volchok
The Narkomfin's Building Experiment: A Dialogue Between Culture and Civilization by Yury Volchok
EDITOR
Danilo Udovicki
SERIES EDITORS
Kevin Alter
Michael Benedikt
Barbara Hoidn
Wilfried Wang
ASSITANT EDITOR
Barbara Terrell
PRODUCTION EDITOR
Susan McNally
