Courage and greatness

Conservationists have called on City Hall to preserve Budyonovsky.

While the problems with the existing buildings mean some work is needed, Denis Romodin, curator of the Soviet Architecture web site sovarch.ru, believes the 1920s buildings are too important to ignore.

"These residential districts are not only monuments to the architecture of the avant-garde, they also show off the courage and greatness of the 1920s - an era of social design and a search for new architectural forms," said Romodin. "The Budyonovsky Settlement shows us an example of how an expressive ensemble of comfortable homes can be built in a small area without sacrificing the integrity of houses and courtyards."

Despite the poor state of the current buildings - criticised by Central Administrative District prefect Alexei Alexandrov as unfit for the 21st century - Romodin believes they can be saved.

"These buildings were built at a difficult time in the U.S.S.R. and everything was done with cheap materials," he said. "But in Moscow, many of these residential communities from the 1920s have been reconstructed between the 1970s and 1990s, such as Shabolovka, Kolodezny and Sushchyovsky. Even at Budyonovsky there are already examples of this in three houses on Bolshaya Pochtovaya Ulitsa and Novaya Doroga Ulitsa. Rebuilt in the last two decades, they now provide modern social housing."

Architectural journalist Anton Razmakhnin fears that much of Moscow's constructivist legacy is "almost ruined", but believes that there could be a demand for these sites on the property market.

"The buildings should be carefully examined to find ways to restore them," he said. "Then they should be bought from their inhabitants at a fair market price - and the inhabitants should have the option to return when the building is restored. Finally they should be properly restored, including all their surroundings.

"No doubt there will be plenty of people willing to live in an authentic 1920s environment, even if it is less comfortable than a modern house."
by Andy Potts
 

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