XV Международная студенческая научная конференция Студенческий научный форум - 2023

Emergence of Constructivism. Newly minted Soviet Russia, struck by the Civil war and revolution, began to recover. The rapid growth of industry and cities created contradictions between the old way of life and the new ideology of the state. Constructivism emerged under these conditions.

Constructivist architects turned to simple and understandable forms trying to show their true properties. There were ideas of space transformation, the possibility of multi-purpose use of premises. Roughness and rough surfaces gave a special color, curves and diagonals emphasized the differences between the new life and the old one.

Vladimir Tatlin (1885 - 1953) is considered the founder of this style. He for the first time showed three-dimensional abstractions made of iron, wood, glass, plaster, wallpaper and fragments of finished things at the exhibition in his own studio in 1914. His ideas were very much like utopia, the projects were too complex for implementation, and sketches of household items looked like impracticable ideas.

The famous "Tatlin’s Tower" (that was never built) is a symbolic embodiment of the revolutionary era. Each of the seven floors of the Tower should rotate at its own speed around its axis.

Another bright person who formed the term “Constructivism” is Alexander Rodchenko – an artist, photographer and designer. He made a huge breakthrough in design and photography, his techniques are still used. The main feature in his work is the identification of an advantageous angle, with the help of which he tried to convey new ideas to the viewer in the post-industrial world. Probably, everyone knows his famous portrait of Vladimir Mayakovsky.

Contests and ideas of creative associations. When Moscow began to recover after the Civil war, the first architectural competitions began to be held, in which such architects as Moisei Ginzburg, the Vesnin brothers, Konstantin Melnikov, Ilya Golosov and others took part. They all started out before the revolution. Competitions were held for the projects of the Palace of Labor in Moscow, the buildings of the Moscow branch of the newspaper “The Leningradskaya Pravda”, the buildings of the joint-stock company “Arkos”.

Some projects combined the ideas which later formed the basis of new creative associations. Among the specialists there was a division into constructivists and rationalists. The key difference between them was the perception of buildings: constructivists paid a great attention to the functions of buildings, while rationalists considered the functions to be secondary and emphasized the psychological characteristics of perception. Constructivists tried to increase the role of architecture in human life, abandoning classical decorative elements. Characteristic features of Constructivism are strictness, laconism of forms and perfectly readable geometry in the exterior of buildings. Future buildings were subjected to a thorough analysis, which revealed the features of building operation. The functional scheme of the structure was used as the basis of the composition. Looking at constructivist buildings, we can observe clean lines, dynamics of simple structures, combinations of verticals and horizontals of the structure.

The rise of Constructivism and its followers. Alexander Vesnin is considered the leader of architectural Сonstructivism. His ideas were the creation of new household items and the rationalization of art. By 1925 Vesnin organized the Association of Modern Architects - a group of creative like-minded people. It included both architects and people closely associated with the construction industry: designers, building materialsinventors, production specialists, mechanics, chemists, technologists. It included such famous personalities as M. Ginzburg, B. Vladimirov, A. Burov, G. Orlov, A. Kapustina, A. Fufaev, V. Krasilnikov.

All of them worked on the development of new architectural methods. The pavilion method of composition appeared, when a building or a complex was divided into separate structures and parts, different in purpose, which were then connected to each other (by corridors, passages) in accordance with the requirements of the general functional process. According to these principles, the building of the Centrosoyuz on Academician Sakharov Avenue was built.

The heads of the new socialist statewere very fond of Constructivism. The propaganda of new ideals was carried out with its help. Besides, since there was a shortage of paints and materials in the country, the laconism of forms and colors was very attractive to the authorities. The propaganda posters looked simple but lively, despite the static nature of figures and texts located on them. The artists used photomontage, text and graphic elements. Brevity and abstraction helped convey meaning faster. But as time went on, the problem of artistic materials shortage became less acute, but the demand for portraits of beautiful, healthy-breathing, rosy-cheeked collective farmers, courageous workers, Red Army soldiers, wise and prudent leaders increased. Constructivism gave place to Socialist Realism which became the leading creative method in the country.

Constructivism managed to influence world culture and the masterpieces of Western architecture of Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Mies Van der Rohe, etc.

Bibliography.

Памятники архитектуры 20-х годов в Москве. Конструктивизм. [Электронный ресурс]. – URL: http://constructivism.tilda.ws/

Конструктивизм — отражение новой постреволюционной действительности. [Электронный ресурс]. – URL: https://veryimportantlot.com/ru/news/blog/konstruktivizm-stil-zhivopisi

Конструктивизм. Первый некоронованный стиль Страны Советов. [Электронный ресурс]. – URL: https://artchive.ru/encyclopedia/41~Constructivism