XIV Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2022

This document began with the words that "raising the standard of living and the well-being of the people is one of the most important tasks" touched upon almost all issues related to housing construction in the Soviet Union and cited very interesting figures. In particular, the decree noted that more than 1,700 cities and towns were completely or partially destroyed during the Great Patriotic War (other documents provided such data: 1,710 cities and more than 10 thousand villages). The country has lost over 6 million homes, or more than 70 million square meters of living space, more than 25 million people were left homeless. And at the same time, during the war years, it was possible to restore or rebuild 50 million square meters of the living space. And over the first post-war decade, this volume has grown sixfold - up to 300 million square meters! And this was only built by the state, since at the same time about 5.7 million residential buildings were built privately. Still, there was still an acute shortage of housing in the country, primarily in cities where almost half of the population of the Soviet Union lived. Even on the eve of the war, one Soviet citizen had about 7 square meters of living space, although fifteen years earlier this figure in cities was 8.2 square meters. And then these seven square meters often represented dilapidated or poorly equipped housing, without sewerage and running water, since during the war and the first post-war years there was no time for repairing available living space - it was more important to give a new apartment to those who had none at all.

In such conditions, the previous approaches to the design and construction of housing, introduced back in the Stalin years, when almost every house was planned individually and built quite slowly, were no longer good for anything. They could only be used in the construction of housing, as they say, of increased comfort - and the country simply needed a lot of cheap housing, and quickly. And then Nikita Khrushchev recalled his experience during the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine. In 1949, on Khrushchev's initiative, panel construction of residential buildings began in the republic. And now, eight years later, it was decided to extend this practice throughout the country.

In the decree "On the development of housing construction in the USSR", paragraphs 29 and 30 were assigned to the actual construction of panel houses. The first of them stipulated that from the next, 1958, " residential buildings construction both in cities and in rural areas is to provide for economical comfortable apartments for one family to move in”, and build these houses according to standard designs. Moreover, on the basis of these new standard projects, the Gosstroy of the USSR was supposed to develop and approve new design standards, including those related to the height of the residential premises. That opened the road to low, no more than two and a half meters high ceilings in the Soviet residential buildings.

And the second point outlined the responsibility of local authorities to ensure that new standard houses became widespread. In particular, the local authorities had to decide for themselves what number of storeys of buildings should be, although the resolution stipulated that in cities it should be mainly 4-5 floors, and in small towns and villages - 2-3 floors. The local authorities were responsible for the development of production of the reinforced concrete structures for standard houses, and in addition, "large-sized partitions, panel doors, double window frames and other structures and details." And a separate task was set to provide new houses with new furnishings suitable for their small size: in the localities they had to "organize in the required quantity the production of small-sized furniture and built-in kitchen equipment for apartments of a new type." And there was another notable point in the resolution - the 35th. According to it, the republican, regional and other authorities were to build a sufficient number of residential buildings in regional centers and large cities according to new economical standard projects in 1958. These demonstration buildings, as stated in the decree, were to become "in terms of their quality, landscaping, planning and design solutions ... for the next 3-5 years, a model for state, individual and collective farm housing construction."

According to the plan, it was to take a month to build a panel house, but the assembly was so simple that it was carried out in seven days. Most of the Khrushchev-panel apartment blocks have five floors and this is no accident. According to the doctors’ conclusion, climbing to the fifth floor on foot is safe for health, but above it is no longer. They listened to the opinion of the doctors but not only because of the concern for the residents’ health. The presence of an elevator in every house would significantly increase the financial and time costs of construction. Another time-saving trick is the so-called dry construction method. No concrete work was carried out at the construction site, the panel mounting hinges were fastened by welding. As a result, tenants could be moved into the house immediately after assembly, without "drying" it. This method of installation is used in Russia to this day.

At the beginning of the construction of five-story buildings, they were placed in pairs in a row. It seemed to many that this was due to the achievement of a certain width of the yard. But the point was the possibility of laying rails for a tower crane that could travel between the yards. There is also a version, growing from the course of Civil Defense that the large distance between the Khrushchev-panel apartment blocks and their location relative to each other is due to the achievement of resistance to a shock wave in the event of a city bombing. And although the reasons were utilitarian, the neighborhoods were very comfortable at that time with everything necessary for everyday life: a kindergarten, a clinic, shops, hairdressers were within a walking distance from the houses. Schools and stadiums have always been located where children cannot run out onto the road: in the back of the yard.

What are the features of the Khrushchev-panel apartment blocks? An experienced realtor recognizes the house made according to the projects approved by Nikita Sergeevich from a couple of photographs. The characteristic features of the Khrushchev-era apartments are called: small footage of living quarters, but the apartment has a kitchen and a bathroom (most often combined); low ceilings, their average height is 2.5 meters; lack of elevators and refuse chutes; spacious pantry and "refrigerator" in the kitchen under the windowsill; it is almost always cold in the apartments. The floors in the apartments also have their own characteristics. They consist of five layers: base, waterproofing, sound and heat insulation pad, screed and topcoat. All five require maintenance and repair. Most often, the wooden layer suffers, which is quite difficult to restore in full.

As for the advantages of the Khrushchev-era apartments, despite the fact that they are houses built in the 1980s or even earlier, they have certain advantages, thanks to which many are still looking for just such apartments. The main advantage of brick and panel apartment is accommodation. Most of the Khrushchev houses are located in the central districts of the city with a well-developed infrastructure. On the basement floors, residents have additional storage space or cellars. As for the

price on average in the market, the cost of the Khrushchev-era apartments blocks is slightly lower than the price of new buildings, so it is not difficult to take them out on a mortgage. House territory - in the USSR, attention was paid not only to buildings but also to the condition of the streets. Enough space was left for courtyards and parks. Low cost of utilities is another advantage. The small area of ​​the apartment significantly reduces the cost of paying bills. As it can be seen from the advantages and peculiarities of the layout of the apartments, they may well become a suitable housing option if an apartment is needed, and the budget is limited. What can be done, then? In about 90% of these apartments, interior partitions can be dismantled (with the exception of the wall between the room and the kitchen, these spaces cannot be combined by law). If you are smart about redevelopment, you can dramatically change the apartment and make it comfortable. But be sure to do everything officially, otherwise you can get a fine.

Of course, any layout has its drawbacks, and numerous panel and brick houses built by Khrushchev are no exception. The disadvantages of such houses largely depend on the series. For example, frame-panel houses of the K-7 series have the thinnest walls, and II-07-19 have fragile external facades. Low brick houses of the Khrushchev-era apartments development are considered the best, but they also have imperfections.

The main disadvantages of brick and panel Khrushchev-era apartments is cold. Cold apartments are a real scourge of panel buildings. Over time, the joints between the panels cease to be airtight, and drafts begin to walk around the apartment. This is especially felt in the corner apartments of the panels, the warmest of all is in the brick Khrushchev-era apartments. Poor soundproofing is also due to thin walls. The builders saved time and materials. The same circumstance causes the appearance of fungus and cracks on the walls. Outdated electrical wiring. Although the houses are electrified, the materials used to conduct the electricity are not designed for modern capacities. The floor almost always requires expensive repairs. If you decide to buy a Khrushchev, despite the disadvantages, then be sure to inspect the facade of the building, inquire about the condition of the roof, make sure that the stairwells are wide enough for your furniture. It is also worth checking the temperature of the water in the bathroom and in the kitchen, to make sure that the ventilation is working and the walls are not too thin. If you buy an apartment in winter, see if there are many windows open. If yes, then the apartments are warm.

It is rightly considered that they changed the life of the Soviet people irrevocably.

The reason for the start of the typical five-story apartment buildings construction in cities is associated with the rapid growth of the level of urbanization before and after the Great Patriotic War. In the late 1950s, people began to move to them from urban "makeshift houses" and villages. It was then that the life of the Soviet person changed determinately. Construction of the Khrushchev-era apartments allowed to eliminate the housing crisis and this led to a demographic explosion, because for the first time in many years, families acquired separate housing without any"foreign eyes". This is how the everyday revolution took place.

Bibliography:

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​A clash of bricks, blocks & panels: The timeline of Soviet mass housing construction