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[THE LAST BOOK BY GINZBURG] Arkhitektura sanatoriya NKTP v Kispovodske [i.e. The architecture of sanatorium NKTP in Kislovodsk]

Ginzburg, M.

Item #2144

Moscow: Izdatelstvo Akademii Architektury SSSR, 1940.
85, 2 p.: ill. 29x20 cm. 1 of 3000 copies printed. Original cloth binding. Spine is slightly scuffed. Dark stain on the top of the front
cover of the binding. Otherwise a good, solid copy.

Kislovodsk Sanatorium #1 was the prime resort
for members of the Communist Party where the
major cardiology and neuropathology specialists
worked, including Iushchenko, Davidenkov, Pletnev,
Breitman, Ianovskii, Polonskii, Kogan. Thanks to
them, the focus mostly was on the heart diseases
and the nervous system diseases. They developed
experimental research: the electrocardiogram
monitoring was organized during the trip by car
and after climbing the hill. The process is recorded
in these articles and results are presented in
tables and charts. The sanatorium had the newest
devices for the hydropathy, electrocardiogram,
dentistry, radiography, etc. Due to the fact
that most of the patients worked in offices, the
focus mostly was on outdoor activities, motion
therapy and walks. And curiously, there was the
collaboration of the patients and doctors for
improving the procedures. The sanatorium is still
alive and now it has the name ‘Pearl of Caucasus’.
In late the 1930s the sanatorium was significantly
rebuilt - it became one of the last projects
of Moisei Ginzburg (1892-1946), one of the
founders of Soviet constructivism in architecture.
The early theoretical works by Ginzburg have
been compared to Le Corbusier’s texts for their
influence on Russian architectural thought. He
was the founder of the OSA Group (Organisation
of Contemporary Architects), which had links with
Vladimir Mayakovsky and Osip Brik’s LEF Group.
The OSA experimented with forms of Communal
apartments to provide for the new Communist
way of life. Its magazine ‘‘SA’’ (Sovremennaya
Arkhitektura [i.e. Contemporary Architecture])
was created by Ginzburg, Vesnin brothers, Aleksei
Gan, Varavara Stepanova, Alexander Rodchenko,
it featured discussions of city planning and
communal living, as well as the futuristic and
avant-garde projects by Ivan Leonidov, Le
Corbusier, Ivan Nikolaev and others.
Ginzburg is mostly famous for the Narkomfin
building in Moscow, however he was active as
an architect throughout his life: even during
the war his projects were used to build workers’
settlements and re-built partially destroyed
Sebastopol after the war.
In this project we can see the curious mix of
some of early ideas by Ginzburg, the apostle of
rhythm in architecture, and the heavier reality of
Soviet 1930s architecture. The album gives us an
overview of all the elements of the sanatorium,
including the tiniest details, like chairs and
plants in roof garden or ceiling decor. The book
was printed after the sanatorium has been fully
built, that allows the reader to see the project
completed, rather than in drawings and charts,
like with some other constructivist architecture of
1920-1930s.

Rare. Held in 6 US Libraries, according
to Worldcat: Getty, Stanford, Columbia,
Cornell, NYU, MIT.

Price: $950.00