reflections

Narkomfin inspired The Narkomfin building was acknowledged by Le Corbusier as an influence on his Unité d’Habitation . the layout of its duplex apartments have been copied by Moshe Safdie in his Expo 67 flats, as well as by Denys Lasdun in his luxury flats at St James’, London. jo pixel No responses 2009-09-10
Moscow Today Nearly two decades after the fall of Communism, Russia’s rapidly expanding economy, led by the current oil and gas boom, is transforming Moscow real estate. Construction cranes have joined the cupolas of Russian Orthodox churches and the spires of Stalinist-era edifices on the city’s skyline. Parts of the capital that were once desolate are filled […] jo pixel No responses 2009-07-16
The old poet There is an old man who lives nearby the Narkomfin, notably in the stalinian building build in the place of the 5th element of the narkomfin project; every time he sees someone hanging around and taking pictures, he comes out and start to tell stories about both buildings, and the competition among them to be […] jo pixel No responses 2009-05-14
Ugolok Diadi Lenina In the same room of the dining table should be a corner set aside for the children: an Ugolok Diadi Lenina (Uncle’s Lenin Little Corner) where children can be instilled with love and respect for lenin. Here also should hang a picture of Lenin, and images of the old pre-Revolutionary byt of children suffering under […] jo pixel No responses 2009-04-05
Social Condenser ”…the principal objective of constructivism… is the definition of the Social Condenser of the age…” OSA Group (Union of Contemporary Architects) conference in 1928 Moisei Ginzburg It published the journal SA (Sovremmennaia Arkhitektura or ‘Contemporary Architecture’). Da Kopp, Città e Rivoluzione, jo pixel No responses 2009-04-04
BYT Byt encompasses all the following English terms “daily life”, “domesticity”, “lifestyle”, “style of life”. With the revolution and the problem of constructing a new socialist society, the word byt assumed an increasingly political significance. (…) With the end of the civil war, the following period of capitalist economic recovery known as New Economic Policy (NEP), and […] jo pixel No responses 2009-03-28
Realist Manifesto / Manifesto del Realismo Naum Gabo Reads the Realist Manifesto first published in 1920. MANIFESTO DEL REALISMO “Come contribuisce l’arte all’attuale epoca della storia dell’uomo?” “Il mondo sconvolto dei cubisti, spezzettato dalla loro anarchia intellettule non può soddisfare chi, come noi, ha già realizzato la Rivoluzione e sta edificando un mondo nuovo” “L’attuazione delle nostre percezioni del mondo sotto forma di spazio […] jo pixel No responses 2009-03-24
L’aménagement du territoire 173 Pour la première fois une architecture nouvelle, qui à chaque époque antérieure était réservée à la satisfaction des classes dominantes, se trouve directement destinée aux pauvres. La misère formelle et l’extension gigantesque de cette nouvelle expérience d’habitat proviennent ensemble de son caractère de masse, qui est impliquée à la fois par sa destination et […] jo pixel No responses 2009-03-06
July I5th, I972 Charles Jencks dates the symbolic end of modernist architecture and the passage to the post-modem as 3:32 p. m. on July I5th, I972, when the Pruitt-Igoe housing development (a version of Le Corbusier’s “machine for modem living”) was dynamited as an unlivable environment for the low-income people it housed. Shortly thereafter, President Nixon officially declared […] jo pixel No responses 2009-02-05
Ruins The future of our lives lies in the ruins of your cities. jo pixel No responses 2008-12-13