Year of manufacture: 1991
Author: William Craft Brumfield
Genre: History of art / History of architecture
Publisher: University of California Press
English language
ISBN: 0-520-06929-3
Format: PDF
Number of Pages: 345

The transformation of Russian architecture from the 1880s to the 1917 revolution reflected profound changes in Russian society that entered the modern era of industrialization. The author explores the extraordinary diversity of architectural styles in this period and traces the search by architects and critics of a "unifying idea" that would define a new architecture. Illustrated by archival materials and author's own photographs, this book is the first comprehensive study by Western scholars of this period in European architectural and cultural history in this part of Europe. The author examines various styles of Russian modernism, partially analyzing the current theoretical debate about them: the relationship between technology and style, the commitment of architecture to society, and the role of architecture in the expression of national identity. Immersed in contradictions, Russian modernism at the beginning of the 20th century foretold a radical restructuring of the architectural form in the Soviet Union during the two post-revolutionary decades. In this work, a new understanding of the last brief, vivid episode of the history of Russian architecture and reflection on the modern era is given, when individual freedom and creative initiative can once again find expression in Russian architecture.

Download File Size:16.33 MB

---