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[POST-WAR CONSTRUCTION IN THE SOVIET UNION] Proyektirovaniye zhilykh zdaniy dlya industrial’nogo stroitel’stva [i.e. Design of Residential Buildings for Industrial Construction]

Gintsberg A.

Moscow; Leningrad: Gos. izd-vo arkhitektury i gradostroitel’stva, 1950. Item #1090

148 pp.: ill. 14.3x21.4 cm. In original illustrated publisher’s wrappers. Fine.
Scarce. First edition.
Following the end of the World War II, the Soviet regime faced a major problem of reconstructing and rebuilding its main cities. An important increase in the population posed another challenge of constructing residential buildings at an even higher pace. In an effort to cope with the housing issue, the Bolsheviks decided to introduce industrial construction methods and the typification of projects for residential and household buildings of mass construction.
In 1947, the Academy of the USSR Architecture developed the concept of prefabricated housing construction, which proposed a frame system of load-bearing structures with light self-supporting panel outer walls. By the end of 1940s, the transition to a five/seven-storey (instead of two-three storey) construction began with a typification object taken as a residential building. The multi-storey standard design was based on the principle of planning three or four apartments per staircase. In all sections, standard sanitary and kitchen units were adopted and the number of standard sizes of supporting structures was minimized. As a result, from 1948 to 1953, the degree of industrialization of construction works in the capital alone increased from 25% to 55%.
The book represents an interesting account that generalizes the experience of designing and constructing residential buildings in Leningrad. The author primarily rested his research upon the activity of Leningrad Research and Design Institute for Housing and Civil Construction, Lenproekt, which took up a major part of the post-war construction in Leningrad. The edition consists of 10 chapters elucidating the ABC of industrial construction, from the basic principles of designing residential buildings and standardization of elements to the features of various planning schemes and characteristics of the main structures of typical residential sections. The book includes an array of black and white illustrations and plans depicting samples of typical floor schemes, standard elements, general view of standard kitchen and sanitary facilities, built-in apartment equipment, prefabricated foundation elements from large blocks, etc. The edition also features numerous tables showing a catalog of reinforced concrete beams, a sample specifications for a working project, a table of technical and economic indicators for the operating costs of residential sections of various organizations, etc.
This book was compiled by Alexander Gintsberg (1910-1957), Leningrad-based architecture and the author of the first standard projects of public institutions for children. Some of his most famous works include the house of communication in Voronezh, standard school in Leningrad (1936-1937), standard kindergarten for 100 children in Leningrad (1938), etc.
Overall, the edition provides a unique vision of the post-war reformation process in the Soviet architecture.

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