The architecture of a Revolution

On Monday, Anatole Senkevitch, a professor at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, as part of an Art Lecture Series donated by the Elsie Pawsley Fund, gave a lecture in E-104 detailing two particular architectural languages of the Soviet Union; Avant Garde and Soviet Realism. More than 50 people attended the photographically intensive lecture on the two highly dissimilar styles.

Immediately following the Russian Revolution and the formation of the Soviet Union, artists of all kinds faced a shift in philosophy in the Motherland; the aristocratic regime that had once ruled was gone, replaced by radical revolutionaries. The volatile political climate of the age also gave the artists of the Soviet Union a perfect reason to change their philosophy -- to a more modern approach.

Senkevitch explained during his lecture that art had already begun changing around the world already, Picasso and others were revolutionizing the modernist movement with cubism, which simultaneously showed an object from multiple points of view. Soviet artists were quick to seize upon the modernist movement, and these Avant Garde (French for “front guard,” its use means that something is experimental or novel, the so-called “bleeding edge”) artists put the new movement to use in the service of the new leadership.

Once the party came to power and Lenin stepped into command, he made his dislike of Avant Garde art well known. However, he saw that its simple geometry and oftentimes stark and blatantly obvious symbolism was the perfect mode of transport for propaganda; a way to include the illiterate population in art without alienating them. Needless to say, Avant Garde flourished .

Senkevitch revealed that many brilliant innovations were created by Avant Garde architects, despite some alienation of the public. Buildings of the time served not only to fulfill their primary purpose, but the most architecturally successful buildings of the time also served as giant propaganda machines. This was one of the first times in history that the mass media, and the melting of multiple mediums (photography, film, sound) was completed seamlessly and successfully. Architects designed integrated speaker stands that would extend the range of an orator’s voice and simultaneously project relevant images on to screens so those unable to find a seat in the auditorium could still hear the message. Architects incorporated orator podiums into the very sides and balconies of buildings so that at any point in time, the Party could send its message.

The crown jewel of the Avant Garde movement, however, was the Monument to the Third International, a tower of completely abstract proportion which contained, in its open interior, four precise geometric rotating prisms, which would serve simultaneously as buildings and propaganda machines.

Senkevitch explains that when the head of the Party changed, so did the artistic and architectural voice of the time.

While the propaganda of Lenin’s regime was stark, unapologetic, and made an effort to be different from anything that had come before, Stalin’s regime was more concerned with the self-promotion of Stalin. The form of art that developed during this time, Senkevitch revealed, was Soviet Realism. This purpose of this form of art, says Senkevitch, was to reveal “reality in its revolutionary development.” In other words, the purpose was to glorify the struggles of the proletariat (thereby making every work a piece of propaganda) by using myths to convey the ideals of the Party. This form of art dominated the communist world for almost 60 years.

Soviet realism as it applied to architecture was essentially unchanged from other artistic media and was dominated by two major characteristics: grand-scale buildings, and iconic simplicity (able to be understood by the masses while simultaneously projecting the grandness of the Soviet Union). Senkevitch says that the sole purpose of this architecture was for Stalin’s own self-promotion and propaganda.

The crowning achievement of this movement was the Palace of the Soviets, which was to be built immediately adjacent to the Kremlin. Senkevitch said that the original criteria dictated that the structure had to be huge and appropriately modern. He then went on to say that despite the criteria, nearly all of the original entries were discarded because they were too modern. Instead, the final (never built) design became the most accurate, all-inclusive example of all the classic details of Soviet Realim, according to Senkevitch.

Senkevitch summarized by saying that the two different styles of architecture that developed during the Russian Revolution were vastly different from one another; Avant-Garde was modern and abstract whereas Soviet Realism was rooted in the idealization of traditional Russian life.