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[A TREASURY OF CONSTRUCTIVIST PROJECTS] Ezhegodnik obshchestva arkhitektorov-khudozhnikov = Annuaire de la Societe des Architectes-Artistes [i.e. A Yearbook of the Society of Architects and Artists]. Issue XIV

Leningrad: Izd. Leningradskogo soiuza sovetskikh arkhitektorov, 1935. Item #1386

[6], 272, [10] pp.: ill. 30,5x24,5 cm. In original cloth with blind debossed lettering and a colored image on the front cover, blind embossed lettering on the spine. Tears of the spine, chipped, slightly soiled, otherwise very good.

One of 3,600 copies. Title pages and names of the contributors printed on the verso side are in Russian and French. Compiled and edited by a number of people, including Andrei Belogrud who died before the edition was published.
Cover design was produced by the Soviet Jewish graphic artist and type designer Mark (Meer-Vol’f) Kirnarskii (1893-1942). He studied at the Petrograd and Kyiv Academies of Arts under I. Fomin and G. Narbut, respectively. Kirnarskii joined the art group the Community of Painters in 1924 and in the same year became engaged in typography. He participated in the exhibition Book Art twice, first in Leipzig in 1927, and then in Paris in 1931.
Layout was created by I. Antonov and I. Khotianov. Compared to the 13th issue dominated by constructivist style, this one echoes official editions that showed off the successes of the first five-year plan.
This is the last of the yearbooks showcasing Russian and Soviet projects to be built in St. Petersburg (primarily), Moscow, Kharkiv, Tashkent, and various Siberian cities. Overall, 14 issues were published from 1906 to 1935. After the Revolution, three issues came out in 1927/1928, 1930, and 1935 as an attempt to restore the old course until the publication was discontinued by the Communist party. The printer’s information in the last issue immortalized the changes that took place in the 1930s – it was the only issue published by the Leningrad Union of Soviet Architects instead of the Society of Architects and Artists. Due to the hardships of the early 1930s, the publication was postponed for a year, and the issue included works of 1930-1933. Thus, it still contained “formalist” constructivist designs.
The edition opens with professor Andrei Belogrud’s (1875- 1933) realized and unfinished projects: the House of Book and the House of Labor in Moscow, residential buildings in Leningrad, etc. The issue contains a model and pictures of the realized building of the Narva district factory-kitchen in Leningrad. An important element of Leningrad Constructivism, the building was designed by Ia. Rubanchik, I. Meerzon, A. Barutchev, and I. Gil’ter. The same group of architects designed the Vyborg district factory-kitchen, which is also showcased in the edition. Another notable design is a project of the Central Asian Museum of Revolution (Tashkent) by A. Barutchev and I. Gil’ter. The edition includes an original design of the Dnipro Aluminum Plant by N. Gundobin, E. Ominin, and A. Liuter. The plant was built in 1933, but its design was probably changed later. A project of a Constructivist building of a technical school and factory courses was created for Kuznetskstroi (now Novokuznetsk) by B. Danchich, Ushakov, and Bolotin. As with other projects, its exterior and floor plan are published.
Among hundreds of pictures and drawings included in the issue are apartment buildings, theaters, a worker club, a sanatorium, constructions for a pioneers’ summer camp, the Palace of Soviets, the second Moscow crematorium, the Kharkiv Palace of Worker (built in 1932), a power station in the Northeastern part of Donbas (built in 1928), etc.

Worldcat shows paper copies located at Columbia, Stanford, and Ohio Universities.

Price: $1,500.00