Reshaping Russian Architecture
Reshaping Russian Architecture examines the development of twentieth-century Russian architecture as it relates to the transformation of the imperial Russia into an industrialized Soviet empire and shows how Western notions of style and technology were assimilated on a massive scale into a uniquely Russian vision.
Among the issues examined in articles by four distinguished historians of architecture and urban planning are: the decline of imperial architectural design during the mid-nineteenth century as occasioned by fundamental changes in aesthetic values and the social structure; the denouncement of the European capitalist economic system and consequent rejection of modern urban architecture during the period immediately prior to the 1917 revolution; and utopian concepts of modern urban design that were implemented during the interwar years of phenomenal industrial development.
An important contribution to our understanding of Russian and Soviet culture in a critical period of its evolution, Reshaping Russian Architecture will also appeal to those interested in modern architecture and urban planning in general.
Reviews & endorsements
"Reshaping Russian Architecture is something of an eclectic introduction to a fascinating topic. Well-illustrated, beautifully produced, it is to be welcomed as a substantial contribution to our appreciation of the architectural history of the city in Russia and the Soviet Union." James H. Bater, Canadian Slavonic Review
Product details
July 1990Hardback
9780521394185
240 pages
254 × 176 × 19 mm
0.728kg
100 b/w illus.
Unavailable - out of print September 2006
Table of Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgments
- Editor's note
- Introduction William C. Brumfield
- 1. From Palace Square to Moscow Square: St Petersburg's century-long retreat from public space Blair A. Ruble
- 2. Russian perceptions of American architecture, 1870-1917 William C. Brumfield
- 3. Architectural design in Moscow, 1890-1917: innovation and retrospection William C. Brumfield
- 4. Moscow's revolutionary architecture and its aftermath: a critical guide Blair A. Ruble
- 5. The realization of Utopia
- Western technology and Soviet avant-garde architecture Milka Bliznakov
- 6. Foreign architects in the Soviet Union during the first two five-Year Plans Manatole Kopp
- About the authors
- Index.