Vesnin brothers
Encyclopedia
The Vesnin brothers: Leonid Vesnin (1880–1933), Victor Vesnin (1882–1950) and Alexander Vesnin
(1883–1959) were the leaders of Constructivist architecture
, the dominant architectural school of the Soviet Union
in the 1920s and early 1930s. Exact estimation of each brother's individual input to their collaborative works remains a matter of dispute and conjecture; nevertheless, historians noted the leading role of Alexander Vesnin in the early constructivist drafts by the Vesnin brothers between 1923 and 1925. Alexander also had the most prominent career outside of architecture, as a stage designer
and abstract painter
.
The brothers’ earliest collaboration in architecture dates back to 1906; their first tangible building was completed in 1910. Between 1910 and 1916 the Moscow-based family firm designed and built a small number of public and private buildings in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod
, stylistically leaning towards neoclassicism
. During the Russian Civil War
Leonid and Victor concentrated on industrial projects and teaching while Alexander had a successful solo career as theatre stage designer.
In 1922 the three brothers reunited, embraced avant-garde
concepts and developed their own vision of modern architecture that emphasized functionality of buildings and modern construction technology. The Vesnin brothers won professional leadership through winning architectural contests of 1922–1925, and activities and publications of the OSA Group
chaired by Alexander Vesnin. When the economy recovered from post-war depression, they were rewarded with high-profile real construction projects like the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station
and Likhachev Palace of Culture in Moscow.
The death of Leonid Vesnin in 1933 coincided with the government’s crackdown on independent art unions and modernist architecture. Victor continued a successful if unremarkable career in industrial architecture and administration of the Union of Soviet Architects, becoming the first President of the Soviet Academy of Architecture (1939–1949). Alexander failed to adjust to the rise of official Stalinist architecture
and quietly withdrew from public professional activities.
merchant family. Shortly after marriage he relocated to his wife's home town Yuryevets
on the Volga River
where he established a distillery. The business ran successfully until the 1905 Russian Revolution; the Vesnins were wealthy enough to provide high school and graduate level education to all their children. The historical Vesnin House in Yuryevets became the Vesnin brothers museum in 1986.
Three sons: Leonid (born 1880), Victor (born 1882) and Alexander (born 1883) received basic home schooling and demonstrated talent in drawing since early childhood. At the age of 10 – 12 years their father sent them to a boarding school at the Academy of Commerce in Moscow where they perfected their drawing skills in the class of M. V. Mamistov.
Leonid, the older brother, enrolled at the Imperial Academy of Arts
in Saint Petersburg
in 1900. The father hoped that at least one of his sons would continue the family business, or at least obtain a business-like profession, and insisted that Victor and Alexander chose a different college, the Institute of Civil Engineers (also in Saint Petersburg). Architectural training at the Institute was clearly subordinate to engineering courses and practical construction training. Difference in age and training caused stylistic differences between Leonid and his junior brothers, at least in the early stages of their professional work. Leonid embraced Art Nouveau
, which flourished from 1900–1905, Alexander and Victor leaned towards the Russian neoclassical revival
that emerged around 1902 and gained widespread recognition after 1905.
The Vesnin family business was ruined by the 1905 revolution; from now on the brothers had to earn their own living and support two sisters and father (their mother died in 1901 giving birth to Anna Vesnina). Alexander and Victor dropped out of the Institute and moved to Moscow
where they worked for architectural firms of Roman Klein
, Illarion Ivanov-Schitz
, Boris Velikovsky and other architects, building a reputation for their energy and dependability. Leonid stayed in Saint Petersburg and graduated from the class of Leon Benois
in 1909.
terminal at Strastnaya Square
. The second, a 1908 draft for a church in Balakovo
by Alexander and Victor, combined elements of medieval architecture of Uglich
and Kolomenskoye
. This draft was recommended by the commission, however, none of the brothers had an architect’s license and the church was built by Fyodor Schechtel
. Later, Victor Vesnin asserted that Schechtel executed the Vesnin brothers’ design, but contemporary authors give credit to Schechtel alone, citing different proportions and a simplified tented roof
alignment. Other Vesnin drafts of this period lean towards traditional 19th century eclecticism
with formal neoclassical trim. Each of these drafts bears personal stylistic clues, but exact attribution to Alexander, Leonid or Victor remains a matter of conjecture.
The first tangible building by Vesnin brothers, designed for Boris Velikovsky's firm, was a neoclassical six-storey apartment block on Myasnitskaya Square, completed in 1910. One year earlier, Leonid obtained an architect’s licence and the brothers went independent. Their first building, the City Post Office on the same Myasnitskaya Street, was based on an earlier draft by Oscar Muntz, was approved for construction in 1911 and completed in 1912. The Vesnins retained the original planning and redesigned the facade
s in an eclectic Romanesque
-Byzantine
style.
Their father’s death in 1910 and, perhaps, improved finances, prompted Alexander and Victor to return to classrooms and complete professional training. Alexander graduated in May 1912. Incidentally, Alexander’s and Victor’s graduation drafts of 1911-1912 are the only architectural drawings actually signed by each brother individually, and thus provide insight into each brother’s own stylistic preferences that later blended under the ‘’Vesnin brothers’’ trademark. Specifically, Alexander demonstrated proficiency in Russian Revival
art but clearly mediocre, run-of-the-mill work in the neoclassical manner. Nevertheless, in 1912–1913 the Vesnin firm established itself among the Neoclassical Revival movement
, as evidenced by the 1913 Historical Exhibition where their drafts were displayed along with works by Ivan Fomin
, Ivan Zholtovsky and other masters of the style.
Prior to the outbreak of World War I the brothers completed a bank building and a neoclassical mansion in Moscow and two country churches in Russian Revival manner. Their most visible building of the period, Mantashev Stables on Khodynka Field, mixes Petrine Baroque
with Russian Revival and Neoclassicism, yet is clearly apart from mainstream eclecticism. The actual stables were demolished in the 2000s; the central core still stands.
At the beginning of World War I
, Leonid was drafted and became a military engineer
. Alexander and Victor stayed deep in the rear, in the factory belt on the Volga
. Alexander was cashiered for poor eyesight, Victor worked in defence factory construction; his most important project of the period, a textile mill and adjacent worker's town in Kineshma
, was completed in 1917. In 1914–1916 Alexander and Victor built the landmark neoclassical Sirotkin House in Nizhny Novgorod
with elaborate internal paintings by Alexander. At the same time they collaborated with avant-garde artists Alexander Rodchenko
and Vladimir Tatlin
; the latter was initially Alexander’s partner on Sirotkin House project but dropped out to pursue his futuristic experiments. By the time of the February Revolution
Alexander was finally drafted but soon demobilized as the Imperial Army fell apart.
for a May Day
demonstration. Work for the Bolshevik
s cost Victor his job for Nadezhda von Meck
's heirs, but he and Leonid quickly found employment opportunities in industrial construction; Alexander stayed in starving Moscow.
Architectural drafts by Leonid and Victor Vesnin dated 1918-1922 clearly followed the pre-revolutionary neoclassical tradition. Yet, around 1923 the brothers emerged as leaders of a new, modernist, architecture. Selim Khan-Magomedov attributed this "instant" change to Alexander Vesnin’s solo work in graphic arts and, in particular, in theatre. Leonid and Victor perceived themselves as primarily architects; when Civil War brought practical construction to a standstill, they joined the architectural faculty of MVTU and Vkhutemas
, and continued exercises in “paper architecture”. Both (especially Victor) also worked on real-world industrial projects in Podolsk
, Saratov
, Shatura
and other towns. Victor established ties with the textile
industry of Ivanovo
where he would build solo projects in the late 1920s.
Alexander, on the contrary, abandoned architecture for five years and dedicated himself to abstract art and stage design. In 1917-1918 critics placed Alexander on the "extreme left" of emerging modernist art, although Kazimir Malevich
described his paintings as "too material". As Alexander moved from fringe abstract art to theatrical design, his sets for Alexander Tairov
and Vsevolod Meyerhold
shows regularly made headlines while his architectural past was nearly forgotten by contemporary press. Alexander actively experimented with "materializing" cubist art into three-dimensional, dynamic, tangible objects. Many contemporary artists (Malevich, Tatlin, El Lissitzky
, Stenberg brothers) did the same, but, unlike them, Alexander had a solid background in structural engineering
and practical construction management. His return to architecture in the end of 1922 explains the radical change in the Vesnin brothers' collaborative projects, first exposed to the public in February 1923.
" (as opposed to earlier concept of constructivist art
).
. It was the first national competition for a building perceived as the main building of the Soviet Union, with an 8,000-seat congress hall; ten years later, the idea resurfaced as the Palace of Soviets
. Competition terms specifically ruled out any revivalist styles.
The Vesnins filed their draft, codenamed Antenna
, in February 1923 along with 46 other entrants. The rationalist arm of modernist architects led by Nikolai Ladovsky
boycotted the competition, confident that the old-school commission led by Igor Grabar
, Alexey Shchusev
and Ivan Zholtovsky was biased against modernist art. Neoclassicists also neglected the contest, confident that the project would never materialize. The show attracted mostly constructivist architects and became a sweeping victory for the Vesnin brothers: their 125 meter tall reinforced concrete
Palace, remotely reminiscent of Walter Gropius
's Tribune Tower
draft, made headlines in the professional mainstream press. Reviews by Vladimir Mayakovsky
and Moisei Ginzburg
declared Vesnins’ draft the definitive statement of modernism. Zholtovsky, did indeed reject the novelty and in the end, in May 1923, the first prize was awarded to Noy Trotsky; the Vesnins came third. For unknown reasons the highly publicized draft was omitted from the official competition catalogue; floorplans and cross-sections were published only in 1927, along with Ginzburg's praise: "It cannot be imitated. It can only be followed, along the thorny path of independent, thoughtful and creative work."
One month before filing the Palace of Labor, Leonid Vesnin presented his drafts of a housing block, marked by clever rational floorplans but otherwise fairly conventional. This fact, and the existence of early Palace of Labor sketches drawn by Alexander Vesnin are, according to Khan-Magomedov, evidence that the Palace was primarily inspired by Alexander. Catherine Cooke
arrived at the same conclusion by examining Alexander's elaborate stage set for Alexander Tairov
's production of The Man Who Was Thursday
: the layout of the Palace, according to Cooke, was directly based on Alexander's earlier "fantastic conception". Cheredina, on the contrary, noted that Victor Vesnin's own industrial drafts of 1922 were just as important in shaping the Vesnin brothers' collaborative style.
A draft of the diminutive Leningrad Pravda tower was created by Alexander and Victor in 1924. According to Khan-Magomedov, it became the summit of Alexander's architecture, the last instance when he enforced his leadership over his brothers and the last work unconditionally credited largely to him.
The Leningrad
-based newspaper Moscow offices were intended to be first and foremost an advertizing magnet, rather than actual offices. The client secured a strategic but very small (6×6 meters) parcel of land on Strastnaya Square
in Moscow. The Vesnins responded with a lean, six-storey tower housing two-storey public area (newsstand and reading room) and four-storey editorial office. It embraced various engineering and avant-garde novelties, including Alexander's own stage sets and the design cues of Nikolai Ladovsky
's rationalist school. However, the building was completely devoid of graphic art or sculpture of any kind. Alexander Vesnin rejected the concept of synthesis of the arts
: for them, architectural form itself synthesized past experience in graphic art and spatial installations, and need no embellishments besides the inevitable advertizing.
, a British-Soviet trading company that temporarily served as liaison between two countries without diplomatic ties, declared a public competition for its Moscow headquarters in 1924. The Vesnin brothers easily won the contest with a Brutalist, simple design emphasizing the structural grid of reinforced concrete and wraparound glazing. Moisei Ginzburg criticized the ‘’Arcos’’ draft as lacking any true novelty, which was expected of constructivist architecture: it was little more than a traditional office block wrapped in modern materials. Vesnins proposal became a model for numerous practical adaptations as the path of least resistance
between novel concrete structure and traditional expectations of a "solid" facade
. Critics like Ginzburg dubbed the emerging trend "constructive style", opposed to true "constructivism"; according to them, simple following the function
was sufficient and needed no external stylistic cues, no aesthetics
whether original or borrowed. According to Khan-Magomedov, by 1927 the Vesnins, fed up with indiscriminate copies of their own work, also subscribed to Ginzburg's opinion. Their Arcos did not materialize; actual Arcos building in Kitai-gorod
was designed and built by former neoclassicist Vladimir Mayat in moderate "constructive style".
In 1925 Alexander and Leonid Vesnin teamed with structural engineer Alexander Loleyt. Loleyt’s structural scheme disposed with external load-bearing columns altogether, allowing unrestricted use of glass curtain wall
s. The idea, however, has not caught their attention instantly: the Vesnins and Loleyt continued the style of Arcos in their 1925 Central Telegraph and TSUM department store drafts, gradually moving to simpler, larger, laconic shapes. In 1925 they stopped just one step short of glass curtain walls running the whole length and height of the building (the future International Style
).
during the Civil War, before the 1920-1921 conflict that split its Architectural Department into "academic" (Ivan Zholtovsky), "united" (Nikolai Ladovsky
) and "independent" (Ilya Golosov
) workshops. Leonid always associated himself with the old-school academic line of teaching. Alexander was engaged in the Painting department, teaching the basic subject of Color
, a subject that potentially could become mandatory for students of all departments. Alexander had far-reaching plans of restructuring basic training at Vkhutemas along productivist ideas
, that were cut short by its board in February 1923 Soon afterwards his students and staff, including Rodchenko, transferred to Ladovsky’s United Workshop.
Victor and Leonid accepted an offer from Alexander Kuznetsov and joined the faculty of MVTU. Victor leaned towards industrial construction and targeted his courses to "real problems addressed by various state economic organs", rather than pure art. His MVTU class of 1924–1925 became another incubator of the constructivist movement.
Alexander was practically ousted from Vkhutemas until the March 1924 publication of the Arcos drafts instantly made him a celebrity. In the 1924–1925 season he was given a chair at a new, fourth, architectural workshop; Leonid assisted Alexander with management but did not interfere with the actual training process. Alexander Vesnin chaired his department until the dissolution of Vkhutemas in 1932; his workshop was engaged in informal rivalry with Ladovsky’s United Workshop. Notable Vesnin alumni of this period include Andrey Burov (class of 1925), Mikhail Barsch (1926), Ivan Leonidov
(1927) and Georgy Krutikov
(1928).
, headed by Ginzburg and Alexander Vesnin. They recruited the formerly independent Ilya Golosov and Konstantin Melnikov
, making OSA the most representative left-wing architectural group since inception. The government’s reluctance to recognize yet another architects’ union forced OSA founders to reconsider its goals; these were proclaimed as “drafting the new, modern architectural style of large industrial hubs” and defence of constructivism as art, rather than the bare following of function. Later OSA leaders, including Alexander and Victor Vesnin, dropped the "constructivism as art" concept and frequently voiced the opposite viewpoint, that of rejecting any stylistic content in constructivism.
OSA was the only left-wing architects’ union that regularly published its magazine, SA (Contemporary Architecture), edited by Ginzburg and Alexander Vesnin. Its editorial "offices" was based at the Vesnin’s Moscow apartment and their country dacha
. Alexander Vesnin "censored
" the magazine, blocking any extremist
, fringe theories that the liberal Ginzburg would accept. SA was issued continuously for five years, 1926–1930, and consolidated nearly all practicing constructivists, including Victor Vesnin. Leonid Vesnin, on the contrary, stood aside from OSA and never spoke publicly in favor of any trend in art.
Vyacheslav Glazychev noted that the unique role of SA led to an overstatement of the constructivists’ influence at the expense of rival art schools, especially by foreign authors. LEF
and SA shaped a biased, incomplete image of Soviet architecture inside the country; their point of view, omitting successful work by the majority of Soviet architects of the period, was indiscriminately reproduced by Western historians. With or without the influence of SA, by the end of 1920s constructivism became a generic word for "new architecture". Constructivism made a leap from fringe theory into mass culture, and OSA struggled to retain its monopoly on its former brand name.
of the firm, according to Khan-Magomedov, crystallized into clearly defined roles for each brother. Usually, Alexander provided the initial artistic concept and sketched the building exterior. Leonid managed functionality: floorplans and internal communications between functional parts of the building. Victor, who lived and worked separately from Alexander and Leonid, would come at a later stage as devil's advocate
, pinpointing weaknesses of intermediate drafts. Neither Leonid nor Victor questioned Alexander's lead in defining overall exterior looks and composition. The brothers employed numerous student assistants and clearly preferred professional draftsmanship to sparks of genius; in fact, students who demonstrated their own creative ideas were quickly dismissed. To Vesnins' credit, they never incorporated such ideas in their projects.
. The Vesnins lost both stages of this contest to Vladimir Shchuko.
The first materialized constructivist work by the Vesnin brothers, a new workers' town
was launched in the suburbs of Baku
in 1925. The Vesnins developed a lasting association with Soviet oil industry (then based primarily in Azerbaijan
). In 1928, they built three workers' clubs in Bailov
, Suraxanı and the Black Settlement of Baku; all three followed the pavilion composition. These asymmetrical buildings had no visible oriental features but their low, horizontal outlines were tailored to fit into medieval Muslim city. Later, after World War II, the workshop of Victor and Alexander Vesnin worked full-time for the Ministry of Oil Industry.
dam was already in place, the state announced a competition to design its generator
building. Competition for an apparently insignificant industrial building was elevated to the level of top state priority; competing drafts were displayed in the Moscow Kremlin
. Floorplans and dimensions (nearly 200 meters long and 20 meters tall) were set in advance. Visually, the intended building was dominated by a taller and longer dam with its pattern of vertical buttress
es.
Victor Vesnin entered this competition alone. All his rivals attempted to split the 200-meter wall with a rhythmic pattern of columns, arches or bay window
s. Vesnin, on the contrary, completely eliminated any vertical patterns, confident that they would be dwarfed by the dam. Instead, the flat granite-clad wall was cut with a horizontal band of glass running nearly the whole length of the building. The final stage of the competition (January 1930) considered only two drafts - by Vesnin and Zholtovsky. Experts were split over the decision: Vesnin's structure was deemed inefficient and overweight; Zholtovsky's renaissance styling was deemed unacceptable. Engineering issues were brushed aside, and the commissioners chaired by Avel Enukidze
(Anatoly Lunacharsky, Alexey Shchusev
and others) clashed over style alone, finally awarding the contract to Vesnin. After World War II
Victor Vesnin supervised reconstruction of Zaporizhia
and rebuilt the destroyed power station to its original design.
The Vesnins continued competing for contracts in Ukraine
, specifically Kharkiv
. In 1930 they made a bid for the Cooperation Building and Government Building on Dzerzhinsky Square
(opposite the Gosprom Building). Their draft was deemed the best aesthetically, but was not executed due to high estimated costs. Also in 1930, they won an international contest for the 6,000 seat Kharkiv Theatre. Although the Vesnin brothers won the contract to produce working drawings, they were forced to share control with Arkady Mordvinov
and his VOPRA associates, harsh critics of the OSA Group
and other established architects. Friction among the "team" delayed construction for years; the project was abandoned when the capital of Ukraine relocated from Kharkiv to Kiev
.
The Vesnins did not take part in the public 1930 competition for the Proletarsky District Palace of Culture, to be built on the site of the demolished Simonov Monastery
. After the competition ended with no clear winner the job was awarded to the Vesnins. Their original proposal, influenced by Le Corbusier
’s ideas of ‘’flowing spaces’’, comprised two buildings – a complex T-shaped public services building with a 1,000 seat theatre hall, large dancing space, a library for 200,000 volumes and winter gardens, and a detached 4,000 seat main theatre. The latter, based on Kharkiv theatre draft, did not materialize. The smaller hall was inaugurated in 1933, construction of the public services building dragged until 1937. Unlike other constructivist buildings of the period, "enhanced" by stalinist facades, the Palace of Culture was completed in precise agreement with 1930 drafts. After World War II its exterior was, indeed, altered but all the Stalinist additions were stripped in the 1970s.
The building, operated by ZIL
throughout most of its history, is known as Likhachev Palace of Culture.
, Narkomtiazhprom
, STO building in Moscow and Government of Ukraine compound in Kiev), but lost all their bids to revivalist architects
. Leonid died in October 1933, soon after the Palace of Soviets competition sealed the demise of constructivism. A street in Moscow (former and current Denezhny Lane) where he lived was named in his honour from 1933 to 1991. Alexander and Victor recruited the young revivalist architect Sergey Lyaschenko, who became the style expert of the firm as Alexander gradually withdrew from practical architecture.
The Vesnin brothers were selected as one of thirteen teams invited to the third round of Palace of Soviets
contest (1932). The complex composition of cylindrical and prismatic shapes connected by skywalk galleries clearly borrowed from their earlier Palace of Soviets. According to Khan-Magomedov, it was marginally inferior to competing modernist entries by Ladovsky and Ginzburg. For the fourth (and last) stage the Vesnins radically redesigned their proposal; this time, all parts of the building merged into a single monolithic volume. The Vesnins apparently reversed to the despised "constructive style", blending constructivist styling with a monumental structure more appropriate of stalinist architecture.
The same pattern continued at the Narkomtiazhprom
contest. The first (1934) draft proposed four glass skyscrapers connected by skywalks. After experimenting privately with a twin tower option, in 1936 the Vesnins and Lyaschenko switched to a single star-shaped, relatively wide tower shrouded by typical socialist realist
sculpture and pseudo-classic arches. Neither of these designs gained official recognition.
Perhaps the only high-profile public project awarded to the Vesnins after 1932 was the design of Paveletskaya-Radialnaya
station of the Moscow Metro
. However, due to war-time cost cuts the station was built in a different, temporary shape. In 1950–1952 it was rebuilt to a new design by Alexey Dushkin
.
, is dated 1940. During World War II
Alexander, evacuated to Chimkent, designed makeshift new workers towns
for the defense factories. In his spare time he painted numerous canvasses on Central Asia
n subjects, first displayed to the public in 1961 and considered his best since the early 1920s. After the war he retired from architecture although he held the title of chief architect for the Ministry of Oil Industry until 1950.
's establishment after the Palace of Soviets contest sealed the stylistic outline of Stalinist architecture
. Between 1932 and 1938, he chaired the Union of Soviet Architects, a state-managed union that replaced all the formerly independent associations. In the same period, being chief architect of the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy
and its successor, Commissariat for Heavy Industry, he reported directly to Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze
and was the top-ranking architect of the Soviet industrialization. He cooperated on good terms with Albert Kahn and was the only Soviet to send condolences to Kahn's widow after his death in 1942. Vesnin's alumnus and protege Anatoly Fisenko (1902–1982, MVTU class of 1925) was the principal point of contact between Soviet authorities and Kahn's firm, and was secretly tasked with training masses of local students at the expense of Kahn's Moscow offices. After the breakup with Kahn in 1932 Fisenko was arrested, spent half a year in prison but was extricated by Victor Vesnin. Gosproyektstroy-1 (later Metallostroyproyekt), managed by Fisenko and supervised by Vesnin before World War II
, designed practically all Soviet metallurgical plants, Gorky Auto Plant
, Zhiguli Hydroelectric Station
and other top priority industrial sites.
Highly valued work for the militarized
industry kept Victor on top, but also meant withdrawal from actual architectural design and public professional life. His involvement in design process, the workings of Soviet-Kahn partnership and the means of "borrowing" American design technology remain unknown to the public, despite the fact that Vesnin remained a public person, one of the few constructivists known in the West and still active. He chaired the Soviet Academy of Architecture (1939–1949) and was awarded the 1945 British Royal Gold Medal
by the RIBA
for lifetime professional achievement.
Alexander Vesnin
Alexander Aleksandrovic Vesnin , together with his brothers Leonid Aleksandrovic Vesnin and Viktor Aleksandrovic Vesnin he was a leading light of Constructivist architecture...
(1883–1959) were the leaders of Constructivist architecture
Constructivist architecture
Constructivist architecture was a form of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. It combined advanced technology and engineering with an avowedly Communist social purpose. Although it was divided into several competing factions, the movement produced...
, the dominant architectural school of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in the 1920s and early 1930s. Exact estimation of each brother's individual input to their collaborative works remains a matter of dispute and conjecture; nevertheless, historians noted the leading role of Alexander Vesnin in the early constructivist drafts by the Vesnin brothers between 1923 and 1925. Alexander also had the most prominent career outside of architecture, as a stage designer
Scenic design
Scenic design is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers have traditionally come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but nowadays, generally speaking, they are trained professionals, often with M.F.A...
and abstract painter
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
.
The brothers’ earliest collaboration in architecture dates back to 1906; their first tangible building was completed in 1910. Between 1910 and 1916 the Moscow-based family firm designed and built a small number of public and private buildings in Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
, stylistically leaning towards neoclassicism
Russian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival was a trend in Russian culture, mostly pronounced in architecture, that briefly replaced eclecticism and Art Nouveau as the leading architectural style between the Revolution of 1905 and the outbreak of World War I, coexisting with the Silver Age of Russian Poetry...
. During the Russian Civil War
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
Leonid and Victor concentrated on industrial projects and teaching while Alexander had a successful solo career as theatre stage designer.
In 1922 the three brothers reunited, embraced avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
concepts and developed their own vision of modern architecture that emphasized functionality of buildings and modern construction technology. The Vesnin brothers won professional leadership through winning architectural contests of 1922–1925, and activities and publications of the OSA Group
OSA Group
The OSA Group was an architectural association in the Soviet Union, which was active from 1925 to 1930 and considered the first group of constructivist architects...
chaired by Alexander Vesnin. When the economy recovered from post-war depression, they were rewarded with high-profile real construction projects like the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station
Dnieper Hydroelectric Station
The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station is the largest hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper River, placed in Zaporizhia, Ukraine.- Early Plans :In the lower current of the Dnieper River there were almost 100 km long part of the river filled with rapids...
and Likhachev Palace of Culture in Moscow.
The death of Leonid Vesnin in 1933 coincided with the government’s crackdown on independent art unions and modernist architecture. Victor continued a successful if unremarkable career in industrial architecture and administration of the Union of Soviet Architects, becoming the first President of the Soviet Academy of Architecture (1939–1949). Alexander failed to adjust to the rise of official Stalinist architecture
Stalinist architecture
Stalinist architecture , also referred to as Stalinist Gothic, or Socialist Classicism, is a term given to architecture of the Soviet Union between 1933, when Boris Iofan's draft for Palace of the Soviets was officially approved, and 1955, when Nikita Khrushchev condemned "excesses" of the past...
and quietly withdrew from public professional activities.
Family and education (1880s–1905)
Alexander Alexandrovich Vesnin, father of the Vesnin brothers, came from a Nizhny NovgorodNizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
merchant family. Shortly after marriage he relocated to his wife's home town Yuryevets
Yuryevets
Yuryevets may refer to:*Yuryevets, Ivanovo Oblast, a town in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia*Yuryevets, a former urban-type settlement in Vladimir Oblast, Russia; since 2006—a part of the city of Vladimirhttp://vladimir.kp.ru/daily/daily_capture/doc27084/...
on the Volga River
Volga River
The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...
where he established a distillery. The business ran successfully until the 1905 Russian Revolution; the Vesnins were wealthy enough to provide high school and graduate level education to all their children. The historical Vesnin House in Yuryevets became the Vesnin brothers museum in 1986.
Three sons: Leonid (born 1880), Victor (born 1882) and Alexander (born 1883) received basic home schooling and demonstrated talent in drawing since early childhood. At the age of 10 – 12 years their father sent them to a boarding school at the Academy of Commerce in Moscow where they perfected their drawing skills in the class of M. V. Mamistov.
Leonid, the older brother, enrolled at the Imperial Academy of Arts
Imperial Academy of Arts
The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, was founded in 1757 by Ivan Shuvalov under the name Academy of the Three Noblest Arts. Catherine the Great renamed it the Imperial Academy of Arts and commissioned a new building, completed 25 years later in 1789...
in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...
in 1900. The father hoped that at least one of his sons would continue the family business, or at least obtain a business-like profession, and insisted that Victor and Alexander chose a different college, the Institute of Civil Engineers (also in Saint Petersburg). Architectural training at the Institute was clearly subordinate to engineering courses and practical construction training. Difference in age and training caused stylistic differences between Leonid and his junior brothers, at least in the early stages of their professional work. Leonid embraced Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
, which flourished from 1900–1905, Alexander and Victor leaned towards the Russian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival was a trend in Russian culture, mostly pronounced in architecture, that briefly replaced eclecticism and Art Nouveau as the leading architectural style between the Revolution of 1905 and the outbreak of World War I, coexisting with the Silver Age of Russian Poetry...
that emerged around 1902 and gained widespread recognition after 1905.
The Vesnin family business was ruined by the 1905 revolution; from now on the brothers had to earn their own living and support two sisters and father (their mother died in 1901 giving birth to Anna Vesnina). Alexander and Victor dropped out of the Institute and moved to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
where they worked for architectural firms of Roman Klein
Roman Klein
Roman Ivanovich Klein , born Robert Julius Klein, was a Russian architect and educator, best known for his Neoclassical Pushkin Museum in Moscow. Klein, an eclectic, was one of the most prolific architects of his period, second only to Fyodor Schechtel...
, Illarion Ivanov-Schitz
Illarion Ivanov-Schitz
Illarion Ivanovich Ivanov-Schitz was a Russian architect, notable for developing a unique personal style, blending the Vienna Secession school of Otto Wagner with Greek Revival features. His career peaked in 1902-1912 with several Moscow buildings including the Morozov Hospital, the Merchant Club...
, Boris Velikovsky and other architects, building a reputation for their energy and dependability. Leonid stayed in Saint Petersburg and graduated from the class of Leon Benois
Leon Benois
Leon Benois was a Russian architect. He was the son of architect Nicholas Benois, the brother of artists Alexandre Benois and Albert Benois, and the grandfather of the actor Sir Peter Ustinov...
in 1909.
Early architecture (1906–1916)
In 1906 the brothers created their first public architectural draft – a neoclassical competition entry for the tramTram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
terminal at Strastnaya Square
Pushkin Square
Pushkinskaya Square or Pushkin Square in Moscow, historically known as Strastnaya Square and renamed for Alexander Pushkin in 1937, is located at the junction of the Boulevard Ring and Tverskaya Street, 2 km northwest of the Kremlin...
. The second, a 1908 draft for a church in Balakovo
Balakovo
-Twin towns/sister cities:Balakovo is twinned with: Pabianice, Poland Trnava, Slovakia Scranton, Pennsylvania, United States Baku, Azerbaijan-References:...
by Alexander and Victor, combined elements of medieval architecture of Uglich
Uglich
Uglich is a historic town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, which stands on the Volga River. Population: A local tradition dates the town's origins to 937. It was first documented in 1148 as Ugliche Pole...
and Kolomenskoye
Kolomenskoye
Kolomenskoye is a former royal estate situated several kilometers to the south-east of the city-centre of Moscow, Russia, on the ancient road leading to the town of Kolomna...
. This draft was recommended by the commission, however, none of the brothers had an architect’s license and the church was built by Fyodor Schechtel
Fyodor Schechtel
Fyodor Osipovich Schechtel was a Russian architect, graphic artist and stage designer, the most influential and prolific master of Russian Art Nouveau and late Russian Revival....
. Later, Victor Vesnin asserted that Schechtel executed the Vesnin brothers’ design, but contemporary authors give credit to Schechtel alone, citing different proportions and a simplified tented roof
Tented roof
A tented roof is a type of roof widely used in 16th and 17th century Russian architecture for churches. It is like a polygonal spire but differs in purpose in that it is typically used to roof the main internal space of a church, rather than an auxiliary structure...
alignment. Other Vesnin drafts of this period lean towards traditional 19th century eclecticism
Eclecticism
Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...
with formal neoclassical trim. Each of these drafts bears personal stylistic clues, but exact attribution to Alexander, Leonid or Victor remains a matter of conjecture.
The first tangible building by Vesnin brothers, designed for Boris Velikovsky's firm, was a neoclassical six-storey apartment block on Myasnitskaya Square, completed in 1910. One year earlier, Leonid obtained an architect’s licence and the brothers went independent. Their first building, the City Post Office on the same Myasnitskaya Street, was based on an earlier draft by Oscar Muntz, was approved for construction in 1911 and completed in 1912. The Vesnins retained the original planning and redesigned the facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
s in an eclectic Romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
-Byzantine
Neo-Byzantine architecture
The Byzantine Revival was an architectural revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It emerged in 1840s in Western Europe and peaked in the last quarter of 19th century in the Russian Empire; an isolated Neo-Byzantine school was active in Yugoslavia...
style.
Their father’s death in 1910 and, perhaps, improved finances, prompted Alexander and Victor to return to classrooms and complete professional training. Alexander graduated in May 1912. Incidentally, Alexander’s and Victor’s graduation drafts of 1911-1912 are the only architectural drawings actually signed by each brother individually, and thus provide insight into each brother’s own stylistic preferences that later blended under the ‘’Vesnin brothers’’ trademark. Specifically, Alexander demonstrated proficiency in Russian Revival
Russian Revival
The Russian Revival style is the generic term for a number of different movements within Russian architecture that arose in second quarter of the 19th century and was an eclectic melding of pre-Peterine Russian architecture and elements of Byzantine architecture.The Russian Revival style arose...
art but clearly mediocre, run-of-the-mill work in the neoclassical manner. Nevertheless, in 1912–1913 the Vesnin firm established itself among the Neoclassical Revival movement
Russian neoclassical revival
Russian neoclassical revival was a trend in Russian culture, mostly pronounced in architecture, that briefly replaced eclecticism and Art Nouveau as the leading architectural style between the Revolution of 1905 and the outbreak of World War I, coexisting with the Silver Age of Russian Poetry...
, as evidenced by the 1913 Historical Exhibition where their drafts were displayed along with works by Ivan Fomin
Ivan Fomin
Ivan Aleksandrovich Fomin was a Russian architect and educator. He began his career in 1899 in Moscow, working in the Art Nouveau style. After relocating to Saint Petersburg in 1905, he became an established master of the Neoclassical Revival movement...
, Ivan Zholtovsky and other masters of the style.
Prior to the outbreak of World War I the brothers completed a bank building and a neoclassical mansion in Moscow and two country churches in Russian Revival manner. Their most visible building of the period, Mantashev Stables on Khodynka Field, mixes Petrine Baroque
Petrine Baroque
Petrine Baroque is a name applied by art historians to a style of Baroque architecture and decoration favoured by Peter the Great and employed to design buildings in the newly-founded Russian capital, Saint Petersburg, under this monarch and his immediate successors.Unlike contemporaneous Naryshkin...
with Russian Revival and Neoclassicism, yet is clearly apart from mainstream eclecticism. The actual stables were demolished in the 2000s; the central core still stands.
At the beginning of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Leonid was drafted and became a military engineer
Military engineer
In military science, engineering refers to the practice of designing, building, maintaining and dismantling military works, including offensive, defensive and logistical structures, to shape the physical operating environment in war...
. Alexander and Victor stayed deep in the rear, in the factory belt on the Volga
Volga River
The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...
. Alexander was cashiered for poor eyesight, Victor worked in defence factory construction; his most important project of the period, a textile mill and adjacent worker's town in Kineshma
Kineshma
Kineshma is the second largest town in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia, which sprawls for along the Volga River. Population: -History:Kineshma was first noticed as a posad in 1429. In 1504, Ivan III gave it to Prince Feodor Belsky, who escaped to Moscow from Lithuania and married Ivan's niece...
, was completed in 1917. In 1914–1916 Alexander and Victor built the landmark neoclassical Sirotkin House in Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...
with elaborate internal paintings by Alexander. At the same time they collaborated with avant-garde artists Alexander Rodchenko
Alexander Rodchenko
Aleksander Mikhailovich Rodchenko was a Russian artist, sculptor, photographer and graphic designer. He was one of the founders of constructivism and Russian design; he was married to the artist Varvara Stepanova....
and Vladimir Tatlin
Vladimir Tatlin
Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin was a Russian and Soviet painter and architect. With Kazimir Malevich he was one of the two most important figures in the Russian avant-garde art movement of the 1920s, and he later became the most important artist in the Constructivist movement...
; the latter was initially Alexander’s partner on Sirotkin House project but dropped out to pursue his futuristic experiments. By the time of the February Revolution
February Revolution
The February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
Alexander was finally drafted but soon demobilized as the Imperial Army fell apart.
Revolution and Civil War (1917–1922)
In 1918 Alexander and Victor reunited for the prestigious decoration of Red SquareRed Square
Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...
for a May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
demonstration. Work for the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s cost Victor his job for Nadezhda von Meck
Nadezhda von Meck
Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck was a Russian businesswoman, who is best known today for her artistic relationship with Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. She supported him financially for 13 years, enabling him to devote himself full-time to composition, but she stipulated that they were never to meet. ...
's heirs, but he and Leonid quickly found employment opportunities in industrial construction; Alexander stayed in starving Moscow.
Architectural drafts by Leonid and Victor Vesnin dated 1918-1922 clearly followed the pre-revolutionary neoclassical tradition. Yet, around 1923 the brothers emerged as leaders of a new, modernist, architecture. Selim Khan-Magomedov attributed this "instant" change to Alexander Vesnin’s solo work in graphic arts and, in particular, in theatre. Leonid and Victor perceived themselves as primarily architects; when Civil War brought practical construction to a standstill, they joined the architectural faculty of MVTU and Vkhutemas
VKhUTEMAS
Vkhutemas ) was the Russian state art and technical school founded in 1920 in Moscow, replacing the Moscow Svomas. The workshops were established by a decree from Vladimir Lenin with the intentions, in the words of the Soviet government, "to prepare master artists of the highest qualifications for...
, and continued exercises in “paper architecture”. Both (especially Victor) also worked on real-world industrial projects in Podolsk
Podolsk
Podolsk is an industrial city and the administrative center of Podolsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Pakhra River...
, Saratov
Saratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
, Shatura
Shatura
Shatura is a town and the administrative center of Shatursky District, Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on Svyatoye Lake east of Moscow. Population:...
and other towns. Victor established ties with the textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
industry of Ivanovo
Ivanovo
Ivanovo is a city and the administrative center of Ivanovo Oblast, Russia. Population: Ivanovo has traditionally been called the textile capital of Russia. Since most textile workers are women, it has also been known as the "City of Brides"...
where he would build solo projects in the late 1920s.
Alexander, on the contrary, abandoned architecture for five years and dedicated himself to abstract art and stage design. In 1917-1918 critics placed Alexander on the "extreme left" of emerging modernist art, although Kazimir Malevich
Kazimir Malevich
Kazimir Severinovich Malevich was a Russian painter and art theoretician, born of ethnic Polish parents. He was a pioneer of geometric abstract art and the originator of the Avant-garde Suprematist movement.-Early life:...
described his paintings as "too material". As Alexander moved from fringe abstract art to theatrical design, his sets for Alexander Tairov
Alexander Tairov
Alexander Tairov was one of the leading innovators of theatrical art, and one of the most enduring theatre directors in Russia, and through the Soviet era.-Childhood:...
and Vsevolod Meyerhold
Vsevolod Meyerhold
Vsevolod Emilevich Meyerhold was a great Russian and Soviet theatre director, actor and theatrical producer. His provocative experiments dealing with physical being and symbolism in an unconventional theatre setting made him one of the seminal forces in modern international theatre.-Early...
shows regularly made headlines while his architectural past was nearly forgotten by contemporary press. Alexander actively experimented with "materializing" cubist art into three-dimensional, dynamic, tangible objects. Many contemporary artists (Malevich, Tatlin, El Lissitzky
El Lissitzky
, better known as El Lissitzky , was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, typographer, polemicist and architect. He was an important figure of the Russian avant garde, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designing numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works...
, Stenberg brothers) did the same, but, unlike them, Alexander had a solid background in structural engineering
Structural engineering
Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
and practical construction management. His return to architecture in the end of 1922 explains the radical change in the Vesnin brothers' collaborative projects, first exposed to the public in February 1923.
Paper architecture (1922-1925)
From 1922–1925, the Vesnin brothers designed six entries for public architectural competitions. These buildings never materialized (or were not intended to be built at all) but became a statement of constructivism; their stylistic cues were eagerly copied in practical construction in the second half of the 1920s. Alexander Vesnin contributed to all six drafts; Victor and Leonid each contributed to four drafts. Palace of Labor and Arcos were the only drafts signed by all three brothers. According to Harry Francis Mallgrave, these early works were "the first indication of what constituted constructivist architectureConstructivist architecture
Constructivist architecture was a form of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and early 1930s. It combined advanced technology and engineering with an avowedly Communist social purpose. Although it was divided into several competing factions, the movement produced...
" (as opposed to earlier concept of constructivist art
Constructivism (art)
Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th...
).
Palace of Labor
In the end of 1922, Moscow City Hall announced a competition for the Palace of Labor on the downtown site of the present-day Hotel MoskvaHotel Moskva (Moscow)
The Hotel Moskva name has been used for two identical buildings on the same spot in Moscow, Russia located near Red Square in close proximity to the old City Hall. The first Hotel Moskva was originally constructed from 1932 until 1938, it opened as a hotel in December 1935...
. It was the first national competition for a building perceived as the main building of the Soviet Union, with an 8,000-seat congress hall; ten years later, the idea resurfaced as the Palace of Soviets
Palace of Soviets
The Palace of the Soviets was a project to construct an administrative center and a congress hall in Moscow, Russia, near the Kremlin, on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour...
. Competition terms specifically ruled out any revivalist styles.
The Vesnins filed their draft, codenamed Antenna
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
, in February 1923 along with 46 other entrants. The rationalist arm of modernist architects led by Nikolai Ladovsky
Nikolai Ladovsky
Nikolai Alexandrovich Ladovsky was a Russian avant-garde architect and educator, leader of the rationalist movement in 1920s architecture, an approach emphasizing human perception of space and shape...
boycotted the competition, confident that the old-school commission led by Igor Grabar
Igor Grabar
Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar was a Russian post-impressionist painter, publisher, restorer and historian of art. Grabar, descendant of a wealthy Rusyn family, was trained as a painter by Ilya Repin in Saint Petersburg and by Anton Ažbe in Munich...
, Alexey Shchusev
Alexey Shchusev
Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev ), 1873, Chişinău—24 May 1949, Moscow) was an acclaimed Russian and Soviet architect whose works may be regarded as a bridge connecting Revivalist architecture of Imperial Russia with Stalin's Empire Style....
and Ivan Zholtovsky was biased against modernist art. Neoclassicists also neglected the contest, confident that the project would never materialize. The show attracted mostly constructivist architects and became a sweeping victory for the Vesnin brothers: their 125 meter tall reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
Palace, remotely reminiscent of Walter Gropius
Walter Gropius
Walter Adolph Georg Gropius was a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus School who, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modern architecture....
's Tribune Tower
Tribune Tower
The Tribune Tower is a neo-Gothic building located at 435 North Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Tribune and Tribune Company. WGN Radio also broadcasts from the building, with ground-level studios overlooking nearby Pioneer Court and Michigan Avenue. CNN's...
draft, made headlines in the professional mainstream press. Reviews by Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Mayakovsky
Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky was a Russian and Soviet poet and playwright, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Russian Futurism.- Early life :...
and Moisei Ginzburg
Moisei Ginzburg
Moisei Yakovlevich Ginzburg was a Soviet constructivist architect, best known for his 1929 Narkomfin Building in Moscow.-Education:Ginzburg was born in Minsk in a Jewish real estate developer's family. He graduated from Milano Academy and Riga polytechnic institute . During Russian Civil War he...
declared Vesnins’ draft the definitive statement of modernism. Zholtovsky, did indeed reject the novelty and in the end, in May 1923, the first prize was awarded to Noy Trotsky; the Vesnins came third. For unknown reasons the highly publicized draft was omitted from the official competition catalogue; floorplans and cross-sections were published only in 1927, along with Ginzburg's praise: "It cannot be imitated. It can only be followed, along the thorny path of independent, thoughtful and creative work."
One month before filing the Palace of Labor, Leonid Vesnin presented his drafts of a housing block, marked by clever rational floorplans but otherwise fairly conventional. This fact, and the existence of early Palace of Labor sketches drawn by Alexander Vesnin are, according to Khan-Magomedov, evidence that the Palace was primarily inspired by Alexander. Catherine Cooke
Catherine Cooke
Catherine Anne Chichester Cooke was a British architect and a Russian scholar of international renown. She was Lecturer in Design at the Open University at the time of her death in a car accident in 2004...
arrived at the same conclusion by examining Alexander's elaborate stage set for Alexander Tairov
Alexander Tairov
Alexander Tairov was one of the leading innovators of theatrical art, and one of the most enduring theatre directors in Russia, and through the Soviet era.-Childhood:...
's production of The Man Who Was Thursday
The Man Who Was Thursday
The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare is a novel by G. K. Chesterton, first published in 1908. The book is sometimes referred to as a metaphysical thriller.-Plot summary:...
: the layout of the Palace, according to Cooke, was directly based on Alexander's earlier "fantastic conception". Cheredina, on the contrary, noted that Victor Vesnin's own industrial drafts of 1922 were just as important in shaping the Vesnin brothers' collaborative style.
Leningrad Pravda
The Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
-based newspaper Moscow offices were intended to be first and foremost an advertizing magnet, rather than actual offices. The client secured a strategic but very small (6×6 meters) parcel of land on Strastnaya Square
Pushkin Square
Pushkinskaya Square or Pushkin Square in Moscow, historically known as Strastnaya Square and renamed for Alexander Pushkin in 1937, is located at the junction of the Boulevard Ring and Tverskaya Street, 2 km northwest of the Kremlin...
in Moscow. The Vesnins responded with a lean, six-storey tower housing two-storey public area (newsstand and reading room) and four-storey editorial office. It embraced various engineering and avant-garde novelties, including Alexander's own stage sets and the design cues of Nikolai Ladovsky
Nikolai Ladovsky
Nikolai Alexandrovich Ladovsky was a Russian avant-garde architect and educator, leader of the rationalist movement in 1920s architecture, an approach emphasizing human perception of space and shape...
's rationalist school. However, the building was completely devoid of graphic art or sculpture of any kind. Alexander Vesnin rejected the concept of synthesis of the arts
Gesamtkunstwerk
A Gesamtkunstwerk is a work of art that makes use of all or many art forms or strives to do so...
: for them, architectural form itself synthesized past experience in graphic art and spatial installations, and need no embellishments besides the inevitable advertizing.
Arcos
ArcosAll Russian Co-operative Society
The All-Russian Co-operative Society was the principal body responsible for the orchestration of Anglo-Russian trade in the early days of Soviet Russia, following the development of Lenin's New Economic Policy...
, a British-Soviet trading company that temporarily served as liaison between two countries without diplomatic ties, declared a public competition for its Moscow headquarters in 1924. The Vesnin brothers easily won the contest with a Brutalist, simple design emphasizing the structural grid of reinforced concrete and wraparound glazing. Moisei Ginzburg criticized the ‘’Arcos’’ draft as lacking any true novelty, which was expected of constructivist architecture: it was little more than a traditional office block wrapped in modern materials. Vesnins proposal became a model for numerous practical adaptations as the path of least resistance
Path of least resistance
The path of least resistance describes the physical or metaphorical pathway that provides the least resistance to forward motion by a given object or entity, among a set of alternative paths. The concept is often used to describe why an object or entity takes a given path.In physics, the path of...
between novel concrete structure and traditional expectations of a "solid" facade
Facade
A facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
. Critics like Ginzburg dubbed the emerging trend "constructive style", opposed to true "constructivism"; according to them, simple following the function
Form follows function
Form follows function is a principle associated with modern architecture and industrial design in the 20th century. The principle is that the shape of a building or object should be primarily based upon its intended function or purpose....
was sufficient and needed no external stylistic cues, no aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
whether original or borrowed. According to Khan-Magomedov, by 1927 the Vesnins, fed up with indiscriminate copies of their own work, also subscribed to Ginzburg's opinion. Their Arcos did not materialize; actual Arcos building in Kitai-gorod
Kitai-gorod
Kitay-gorod , earlier also known as Great Posad , is a business district within Moscow, Russia, encircled by mostly-reconstructed medieval walls. It is separated from the Moscow Kremlin by Red Square. It does not constitute a district , as there are no resident voters, thus, municipal elections...
was designed and built by former neoclassicist Vladimir Mayat in moderate "constructive style".
In 1925 Alexander and Leonid Vesnin teamed with structural engineer Alexander Loleyt. Loleyt’s structural scheme disposed with external load-bearing columns altogether, allowing unrestricted use of glass curtain wall
Curtain wall
A curtain wall is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, but merely keep out the weather. As the curtain wall is non-structural it can be made of a lightweight material reducing construction costs. When glass is used as the curtain wall, a great advantage is...
s. The idea, however, has not caught their attention instantly: the Vesnins and Loleyt continued the style of Arcos in their 1925 Central Telegraph and TSUM department store drafts, gradually moving to simpler, larger, laconic shapes. In 1925 they stopped just one step short of glass curtain walls running the whole length and height of the building (the future International Style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
).
Vkhutemas
Both Alexander and Leonid joined the faculty of VkhutemasVKhUTEMAS
Vkhutemas ) was the Russian state art and technical school founded in 1920 in Moscow, replacing the Moscow Svomas. The workshops were established by a decree from Vladimir Lenin with the intentions, in the words of the Soviet government, "to prepare master artists of the highest qualifications for...
during the Civil War, before the 1920-1921 conflict that split its Architectural Department into "academic" (Ivan Zholtovsky), "united" (Nikolai Ladovsky
Nikolai Ladovsky
Nikolai Alexandrovich Ladovsky was a Russian avant-garde architect and educator, leader of the rationalist movement in 1920s architecture, an approach emphasizing human perception of space and shape...
) and "independent" (Ilya Golosov
Ilya Golosov
Ilya Alexandrovich Golosov was a Russian Soviet architect. A leader of Constructivism in 1925-1931, Ilya Golosov later developed his own style of early stalinist architecture known as postconstructivism...
) workshops. Leonid always associated himself with the old-school academic line of teaching. Alexander was engaged in the Painting department, teaching the basic subject of Color
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
, a subject that potentially could become mandatory for students of all departments. Alexander had far-reaching plans of restructuring basic training at Vkhutemas along productivist ideas
Productivism (art)
Productivism was an art movement founded by a group of Constructivist artists in post-Revolutionary Russia who believed that art should have a practical, socially useful role as a facet of industrial production...
, that were cut short by its board in February 1923 Soon afterwards his students and staff, including Rodchenko, transferred to Ladovsky’s United Workshop.
Victor and Leonid accepted an offer from Alexander Kuznetsov and joined the faculty of MVTU. Victor leaned towards industrial construction and targeted his courses to "real problems addressed by various state economic organs", rather than pure art. His MVTU class of 1924–1925 became another incubator of the constructivist movement.
Alexander was practically ousted from Vkhutemas until the March 1924 publication of the Arcos drafts instantly made him a celebrity. In the 1924–1925 season he was given a chair at a new, fourth, architectural workshop; Leonid assisted Alexander with management but did not interfere with the actual training process. Alexander Vesnin chaired his department until the dissolution of Vkhutemas in 1932; his workshop was engaged in informal rivalry with Ladovsky’s United Workshop. Notable Vesnin alumni of this period include Andrey Burov (class of 1925), Mikhail Barsch (1926), Ivan Leonidov
Ivan Leonidov
Ivan Ilich Léonidov was a Russian constructivist architect, urban planner, painter and teacher.-Early life:...
(1927) and Georgy Krutikov
Georgy Krutikov
Georgy Tikhonovich Krutikov was a Russian constructivist architect and artist, noted for his Flying City.-References:...
(1928).
OSA Group
In December 1925 short-lived artistic unions based at Vkhutemas, MVTU and Institute of Civil Engineers merged together into a new organization, OSA GroupOSA Group
The OSA Group was an architectural association in the Soviet Union, which was active from 1925 to 1930 and considered the first group of constructivist architects...
, headed by Ginzburg and Alexander Vesnin. They recruited the formerly independent Ilya Golosov and Konstantin Melnikov
Konstantin Melnikov
Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov was a Russian architect and painter. His architectural work, compressed into a single decade , placed Melnikov on the front end of 1920s avant-garde architecture...
, making OSA the most representative left-wing architectural group since inception. The government’s reluctance to recognize yet another architects’ union forced OSA founders to reconsider its goals; these were proclaimed as “drafting the new, modern architectural style of large industrial hubs” and defence of constructivism as art, rather than the bare following of function. Later OSA leaders, including Alexander and Victor Vesnin, dropped the "constructivism as art" concept and frequently voiced the opposite viewpoint, that of rejecting any stylistic content in constructivism.
OSA was the only left-wing architects’ union that regularly published its magazine, SA (Contemporary Architecture), edited by Ginzburg and Alexander Vesnin. Its editorial "offices" was based at the Vesnin’s Moscow apartment and their country dacha
Dacha
Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...
. Alexander Vesnin "censored
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
" the magazine, blocking any extremist
Extremism
Extremism is any ideology or political act far outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards...
, fringe theories that the liberal Ginzburg would accept. SA was issued continuously for five years, 1926–1930, and consolidated nearly all practicing constructivists, including Victor Vesnin. Leonid Vesnin, on the contrary, stood aside from OSA and never spoke publicly in favor of any trend in art.
Vyacheslav Glazychev noted that the unique role of SA led to an overstatement of the constructivists’ influence at the expense of rival art schools, especially by foreign authors. LEF
LEF (journal)
LEF was the journal of the Left Front of the Arts , a widely ranging association of avant-garde writers, photographers, critics and designers in the Soviet Union. It had two runs, one from 1923 to 1925 as LEF, and later from 1927 to 1929 as Novy LEF...
and SA shaped a biased, incomplete image of Soviet architecture inside the country; their point of view, omitting successful work by the majority of Soviet architects of the period, was indiscriminately reproduced by Western historians. With or without the influence of SA, by the end of 1920s constructivism became a generic word for "new architecture". Constructivism made a leap from fringe theory into mass culture, and OSA struggled to retain its monopoly on its former brand name.
Vesnin workflow
Soviet critics "blended three richly different and highly complementary talents into one historical and professional personality." Memoirs published by Natalya Vesnina (Victor's widow), statements by the Vesnins' alumni and archive studies allowed different scholars to reconstruct each brother's input and work process. By 1927, the workflowWorkflow
A workflow consists of a sequence of connected steps. It is a depiction of a sequence of operations, declared as work of a person, a group of persons, an organization of staff, or one or more simple or complex mechanisms. Workflow may be seen as any abstraction of real work...
of the firm, according to Khan-Magomedov, crystallized into clearly defined roles for each brother. Usually, Alexander provided the initial artistic concept and sketched the building exterior. Leonid managed functionality: floorplans and internal communications between functional parts of the building. Victor, who lived and worked separately from Alexander and Leonid, would come at a later stage as devil's advocate
Devil's advocate
In common parlance, a devil's advocate is someone who, given a certain argument, takes a position he or she does not necessarily agree with, just for the sake of argument. In taking such position, the individual taking on the devil's advocate role seeks to engage others in an argumentative...
, pinpointing weaknesses of intermediate drafts. Neither Leonid nor Victor questioned Alexander's lead in defining overall exterior looks and composition. The brothers employed numerous student assistants and clearly preferred professional draftsmanship to sparks of genius; in fact, students who demonstrated their own creative ideas were quickly dismissed. To Vesnins' credit, they never incorporated such ideas in their projects.
Works for the Oil Industry
In 1927–1928 Alexander Vesnin, feeling himself responsible for the proliferation of a mediocre "constructive style", abandoned his earlier style demonstrated in the towering hulks of the Palace of Labor and Arcos. The new drafts by the Vesnin brothers decomposed the building into separate volumes linked according to the building's function. The approach, dubbed pavilion composition, was publicized in the Vesnins' 1928 draft for the Lenin LibraryRussian State Library
The Russian State Library is the national library of Russia, located in Moscow. It is the largest in the country and the third largest in the world for its collection of books . It was named the V. I...
. The Vesnins lost both stages of this contest to Vladimir Shchuko.
The first materialized constructivist work by the Vesnin brothers, a new workers' town
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
was launched in the suburbs of Baku
Baku
Baku , sometimes spelled as Baki or Bakou, is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. It is located on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula, which projects into the Caspian Sea. The city consists of two principal...
in 1925. The Vesnins developed a lasting association with Soviet oil industry (then based primarily in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
). In 1928, they built three workers' clubs in Bailov
Bailov
-Geography:In March 2000, a major landslide in the Bayil slope destroyed dozens of shops, apartments and gas stations.The slope in later years also experienced few minor landslides which led Baku City Administration to examine the area and make a final decision on razing houses in this...
, Suraxanı and the Black Settlement of Baku; all three followed the pavilion composition. These asymmetrical buildings had no visible oriental features but their low, horizontal outlines were tailored to fit into medieval Muslim city. Later, after World War II, the workshop of Victor and Alexander Vesnin worked full-time for the Ministry of Oil Industry.
Dnieper Power Plant
In 1929, when the Dnieper Hydroelectric StationDnieper Hydroelectric Station
The Dnieper Hydroelectric Station is the largest hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper River, placed in Zaporizhia, Ukraine.- Early Plans :In the lower current of the Dnieper River there were almost 100 km long part of the river filled with rapids...
dam was already in place, the state announced a competition to design its generator
Electrical generator
In electricity generation, an electric generator is a device that converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. A generator forces electric charge to flow through an external electrical circuit. It is analogous to a water pump, which causes water to flow...
building. Competition for an apparently insignificant industrial building was elevated to the level of top state priority; competing drafts were displayed in the Moscow Kremlin
Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin , sometimes referred to as simply The Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River , Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square and the Alexander Garden...
. Floorplans and dimensions (nearly 200 meters long and 20 meters tall) were set in advance. Visually, the intended building was dominated by a taller and longer dam with its pattern of vertical buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es.
Victor Vesnin entered this competition alone. All his rivals attempted to split the 200-meter wall with a rhythmic pattern of columns, arches or bay window
Bay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture...
s. Vesnin, on the contrary, completely eliminated any vertical patterns, confident that they would be dwarfed by the dam. Instead, the flat granite-clad wall was cut with a horizontal band of glass running nearly the whole length of the building. The final stage of the competition (January 1930) considered only two drafts - by Vesnin and Zholtovsky. Experts were split over the decision: Vesnin's structure was deemed inefficient and overweight; Zholtovsky's renaissance styling was deemed unacceptable. Engineering issues were brushed aside, and the commissioners chaired by Avel Enukidze
Avel Enukidze
Avel Safronovich Enukidze - А́вель Сафронович Енуки́дзе - , a prominent "Old Bolshevik" and, at one point, a member of the Soviet Central Committee in Moscow...
(Anatoly Lunacharsky, Alexey Shchusev
Alexey Shchusev
Alexey Viktorovich Shchusev ), 1873, Chişinău—24 May 1949, Moscow) was an acclaimed Russian and Soviet architect whose works may be regarded as a bridge connecting Revivalist architecture of Imperial Russia with Stalin's Empire Style....
and others) clashed over style alone, finally awarding the contract to Vesnin. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Victor Vesnin supervised reconstruction of Zaporizhia
Zaporizhia
Zaporizhia or Zaporozhye [formerly Alexandrovsk ] is a city in southeastern Ukraine, situated on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is the administrative center of the Zaporizhia Oblast...
and rebuilt the destroyed power station to its original design.
The Vesnins continued competing for contracts in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, specifically Kharkiv
Kharkiv
Kharkiv or Kharkov is the second-largest city in Ukraine.The city was founded in 1654 and was a major centre of Ukrainian culture in the Russian Empire. Kharkiv became the first city in Ukraine where the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in December 1917 and Soviet government was...
. In 1930 they made a bid for the Cooperation Building and Government Building on Dzerzhinsky Square
Freedom Square, Kharkiv
Freedom Square in Kharkiv is the 6-th largest city-centre square in Europe.Originally named Dzerzhinsky Square after Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the Bolshevik secret police , it was renamed after Ukraine became independent in 1991.A monumental statue of Lenin was erected in 1964 and...
(opposite the Gosprom Building). Their draft was deemed the best aesthetically, but was not executed due to high estimated costs. Also in 1930, they won an international contest for the 6,000 seat Kharkiv Theatre. Although the Vesnin brothers won the contract to produce working drawings, they were forced to share control with Arkady Mordvinov
Arkady Mordvinov
Arkady Grigoryevich Mordvinov was a Soviet architect and construction manager, notable for Stalinist architecture of Tverskaya Street, Leninsky Avenue, Hotel Ukraina skyscraper in Moscow and his administrative role in Soviet construction industry and architecture.-VOPRA years:Mordvinov was born in...
and his VOPRA associates, harsh critics of the OSA Group
OSA Group
The OSA Group was an architectural association in the Soviet Union, which was active from 1925 to 1930 and considered the first group of constructivist architects...
and other established architects. Friction among the "team" delayed construction for years; the project was abandoned when the capital of Ukraine relocated from Kharkiv to Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
.
Likhachev Palace
The first public constructivist building actually built in Moscow by the Vesnin brothers, a 1927 department store in Presnensky District, was a scaled-down clone of their 1925 TsUM department store draft. It was followed by the Institute of Mineral Resources building in Zamoskvorechye District (1928) and a theater on Povarskaya Street (designed in 1929–1930, completed in 1931–1934).The Vesnins did not take part in the public 1930 competition for the Proletarsky District Palace of Culture, to be built on the site of the demolished Simonov Monastery
Simonov Monastery
Simonov monastery in Moscow was established in 1370 by monk Feodor, a nephew and disciple of St Sergius of Radonezh.The monastery land formerly belonged to Simeon Khovrin, a boyar of Greek extraction and progenitor of the great clan of Golovins. He took monastic vows in the cloister under the name...
. After the competition ended with no clear winner the job was awarded to the Vesnins. Their original proposal, influenced by Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
’s ideas of ‘’flowing spaces’’, comprised two buildings – a complex T-shaped public services building with a 1,000 seat theatre hall, large dancing space, a library for 200,000 volumes and winter gardens, and a detached 4,000 seat main theatre. The latter, based on Kharkiv theatre draft, did not materialize. The smaller hall was inaugurated in 1933, construction of the public services building dragged until 1937. Unlike other constructivist buildings of the period, "enhanced" by stalinist facades, the Palace of Culture was completed in precise agreement with 1930 drafts. After World War II its exterior was, indeed, altered but all the Stalinist additions were stripped in the 1970s.
The building, operated by ZIL
ZIL
ZIL and similar may refer to:*Zil, a village in the Tabasaran rayon of Dagestan, Russia*Zil stands for Zulfikar Industries Pvt. Ltd. Pakistan, a Chemical factory in Pakistan producting soaps and related chemical products since 1976...
throughout most of its history, is known as Likhachev Palace of Culture.
Leonid’s departure (1933-1940s)
The Vesnin brothers actively participated in all public architectural competitions of 1932–1936 (Palace of SovietsPalace of Soviets
The Palace of the Soviets was a project to construct an administrative center and a congress hall in Moscow, Russia, near the Kremlin, on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour...
, Narkomtiazhprom
Narkomtiazhprom
The Narkomtiazhprom was a 1934 architectural contest for the People's Commissariat of Construction of Heavy Industry, to be constructed in Red Square, Moscow...
, STO building in Moscow and Government of Ukraine compound in Kiev), but lost all their bids to revivalist architects
Revivalism (architecture)
Revivalism in architecture is the use of visual styles that consciously echo the style of a previous architectural era.There were a number of architectural revivalist movements in the United States in the 19th and early 20th centuries....
. Leonid died in October 1933, soon after the Palace of Soviets competition sealed the demise of constructivism. A street in Moscow (former and current Denezhny Lane) where he lived was named in his honour from 1933 to 1991. Alexander and Victor recruited the young revivalist architect Sergey Lyaschenko, who became the style expert of the firm as Alexander gradually withdrew from practical architecture.
Palace of Soviets and Narkomtiazhprom
Palace of Soviets
The Palace of the Soviets was a project to construct an administrative center and a congress hall in Moscow, Russia, near the Kremlin, on the site of the demolished Cathedral of Christ the Saviour...
contest (1932). The complex composition of cylindrical and prismatic shapes connected by skywalk galleries clearly borrowed from their earlier Palace of Soviets. According to Khan-Magomedov, it was marginally inferior to competing modernist entries by Ladovsky and Ginzburg. For the fourth (and last) stage the Vesnins radically redesigned their proposal; this time, all parts of the building merged into a single monolithic volume. The Vesnins apparently reversed to the despised "constructive style", blending constructivist styling with a monumental structure more appropriate of stalinist architecture.
The same pattern continued at the Narkomtiazhprom
Narkomtiazhprom
The Narkomtiazhprom was a 1934 architectural contest for the People's Commissariat of Construction of Heavy Industry, to be constructed in Red Square, Moscow...
contest. The first (1934) draft proposed four glass skyscrapers connected by skywalks. After experimenting privately with a twin tower option, in 1936 the Vesnins and Lyaschenko switched to a single star-shaped, relatively wide tower shrouded by typical socialist realist
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
sculpture and pseudo-classic arches. Neither of these designs gained official recognition.
Perhaps the only high-profile public project awarded to the Vesnins after 1932 was the design of Paveletskaya-Radialnaya
Paveletskaya-Radialnaya
Paveletskaya is a Moscow Metro station on the Zamoskvoretskaya Line. It was opened in 1943 and was designed by S.V. Lyashchenko and E.S. Demchenko. Paveletskaya features tall white marble pillars decorated with the hammer and sickle and a high, arched ceiling...
station of the Moscow Metro
Moscow Metro
The Moscow Metro is a rapid transit system serving Moscow and the neighbouring town of Krasnogorsk. Opened in 1935 with one line and 13 stations, it was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union. As of 2011, the Moscow Metro has 182 stations and its route length is . The system is...
. However, due to war-time cost cuts the station was built in a different, temporary shape. In 1950–1952 it was rebuilt to a new design by Alexey Dushkin
Alexey Dushkin
Alexey Nikolayevich Dushkin was a Soviet architect, best known for his 1930s designs of Kropotkinskaya and Mayakovskaya stations of Moscow Metro...
.
Alexander
The tandem of Victor and Alexander fell apart in the second half of 1930s. Alexander stepped aside from active professional life, perhaps unable or unwilling to blend into the official style. His last public design, for the government building in ZaryadyeZaryadye
Zaryadye is a historical district in Moscow established in 12-13th centuries within Kitai-gorod, between Varvarka Street and Moskva River. The name means "the place behind the rows", i.e., behind the market rows adjacent to the Red Square.-History:...
, is dated 1940. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Alexander, evacuated to Chimkent, designed makeshift new workers towns
New town
A new town is a specific type of a planned community, or planned city, that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are uncommon in new...
for the defense factories. In his spare time he painted numerous canvasses on Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
n subjects, first displayed to the public in 1961 and considered his best since the early 1920s. After the war he retired from architecture although he held the title of chief architect for the Ministry of Oil Industry until 1950.
Victor
Victor Vesnin was the sole constructivist architect that retained or even improved his role in Joseph StalinJoseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
's establishment after the Palace of Soviets contest sealed the stylistic outline of Stalinist architecture
Stalinist architecture
Stalinist architecture , also referred to as Stalinist Gothic, or Socialist Classicism, is a term given to architecture of the Soviet Union between 1933, when Boris Iofan's draft for Palace of the Soviets was officially approved, and 1955, when Nikita Khrushchev condemned "excesses" of the past...
. Between 1932 and 1938, he chaired the Union of Soviet Architects, a state-managed union that replaced all the formerly independent associations. In the same period, being chief architect of the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy
Supreme Soviet of the National Economy
Supreme Soviet of the National Economy, Superior Soviet of the People's Economy, Vesenkha was the superior state institution for management of the economy of the RSFSR and later of the Soviet Union...
and its successor, Commissariat for Heavy Industry, he reported directly to Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze
Grigoriy Ordzhonikidze
Grigol Ordzhonikidze ორჯონიკიძე - Grigol Orjonikidze, , generally known as Sergo Ordzhonikidze ; – February 18, 1937) was a Georgian Bolshevik, later member of the CPSU Politburo and close friend to Joseph Stalin...
and was the top-ranking architect of the Soviet industrialization. He cooperated on good terms with Albert Kahn and was the only Soviet to send condolences to Kahn's widow after his death in 1942. Vesnin's alumnus and protege Anatoly Fisenko (1902–1982, MVTU class of 1925) was the principal point of contact between Soviet authorities and Kahn's firm, and was secretly tasked with training masses of local students at the expense of Kahn's Moscow offices. After the breakup with Kahn in 1932 Fisenko was arrested, spent half a year in prison but was extricated by Victor Vesnin. Gosproyektstroy-1 (later Metallostroyproyekt), managed by Fisenko and supervised by Vesnin before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, designed practically all Soviet metallurgical plants, Gorky Auto Plant
GAZ
GAZ or Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod , translated as Gorky Automobile Plant , started in 1932 as NAZ, a cooperation between Ford and the Soviet Union. It is one of the largest companies in the Russian automotive industry....
, Zhiguli Hydroelectric Station
Zhiguli Hydroelectric Station
The Zhiguli Hydroelectric Station or Zhigulyovskaya Hydroelectric Station , formerly known as Kuybyshev Hydroelectric Station is a large dam and hydroelectric station on the Volga River, located near Zhigulyovsk and Tolyatti in Samara Oblast of Russia...
and other top priority industrial sites.
Highly valued work for the militarized
Militarization
Militarization, or militarisation, is the process by which a society organizes itself for military conflict and violence. It is related to militarism, which is an ideology that reflects the level of militarization of a state...
industry kept Victor on top, but also meant withdrawal from actual architectural design and public professional life. His involvement in design process, the workings of Soviet-Kahn partnership and the means of "borrowing" American design technology remain unknown to the public, despite the fact that Vesnin remained a public person, one of the few constructivists known in the West and still active. He chaired the Soviet Academy of Architecture (1939–1949) and was awarded the 1945 British Royal Gold Medal
Royal Gold Medal
The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture....
by the RIBA
Riba
Riba means one of the senses of "usury" . Riba is forbidden in Islamic economic jurisprudence fiqh and considered as a major sin...
for lifetime professional achievement.
Sources
- Catherine CookeCatherine CookeCatherine Anne Chichester Cooke was a British architect and a Russian scholar of international renown. She was Lecturer in Design at the Open University at the time of her death in a car accident in 2004...
. The Vesnin's Palace of Labor, in:- English edition: