PROCEEDINGS | Scientific Symposium
of rationalists and constructivists , with their desire for necessity and proletarian austerity of forms , were no longer supported by the establishment . Stalin ’ s predilection for classical architecture has become the key influencing factor . The desire to create “ Great Soviet architecture ” has led to the beginning of the total architectural reform in the USSR .
The architects who have revised their beliefs and embarked on the path of classical style , as well as individual “ constructivists ” who were still very much devoted to the avant-garde style , have made repeated attempts to “ apply ” the features of classical style to modern construction .
These attempts were not always successful , which could only be explained by one thing : the architects approached the complex reality too formally . They were still influenced by their creative past , and their mistake was that they perceived cultural heritage uncritically . As a result , instead of the “ Great Style ”, a new eclectic style has been formed , which modern theorists describe with the term “ post-constructivism ”.
On June 16 , 1937 , at the First All-Soviet Union Congress of Architects , an architect J . Collie presented a report , which emphasized that “ the architectural work did not reach the level that is mandatory for every creative worker of our socialist motherland . Large-scale architecture has again reached the cliché , like it did in the era of constructivism ; only now the cliché has become more ornate , more expensive and a little more diverse .” The Congress delegates were urged to approve the already proven method of socialist realism in architecture and thereby put an end to questions and discussions , and consider the study of classical legacy to be the only true way of creating “ Great Soviet Architecture ”( 1 ).
Subsequent Soviet architectural styles , known as Stalinist Neoclassicism and Stalinist Empire style , have been studied and described in sufficient detail by architectural theorists , but the legacy of post-constructivism has not yet received due attention .
Only during the last decades , the literary works has started to pay special attention to the ‘ second five-year plan ” architecture and the legacy of post-constructivism is beginning to appear as a kind of stylistic integrity . But , unfortunately , its specificity is still not revealed , together with the ideas that shaped it , and the circle of architects who worked within the style . Unlike the legacy of the Avant-garde and Stalinist Neoclassicism , post-constructivism is not fully defined , there are no criteria for identifying and systematizing the numerous monuments of post-constructivism scattered throughout the country .
It should be noted that this layer of architecture has a rich architectural , construction , and technical potential , which is still relevant as a source of urban planning and architectural planning ideas .
Another important factor in the study of the legacy of post-constructivism is the fact that the style developed alongside Western European and American art deco .
The economic functions , socio-political and historical-cultural processes taking place in Eu-rope and America in 1920-1930s contributed to the formation of a new architectural language , which had an impact on Soviet architecture . In modern practice , the term ‘ soviet Art Deco ” is sometimes used along with the term “ post-constructivism ”. Nevertheless , post-constructivism avoided obvious stylistic borrowing , remaining essentially a unique Soviet phenomenon .
This paper studies the features of shaping , stylistic , compositional features of post-constructivism - Soviet Art Deco , identifies borrowings and cites the links with European and American buildings in Art Deco style . Particular attention is paid to the study of post-constructivism in its regional variety .
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