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[ARCHITECTURE OF BATH FACILITIES IN THE 1930S SOVIET UNION] Bani, Dushi, Bassejny [i.e. Bath-houses, Showers, Swimming Pools]

Burche, F.

Item #2557

Moscow: Izdatel’stvo NKVD, 1930. 192 pp., 4 folding plates: ill. 17.3x25.4 cm. Publisher’s dark blue cloth with small pictorial cover label depicting a woman about to enter a swimming pool. Light wear. Otherwise near fine condition.
Scarce. First edition. 1 of 5,000 copies. Design by Ivan Rerberg (1892-1957), a Soviet artist and poster designer. After graduating from the Architectural Department of the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in 1917, Rerberg started working in the field of book design. He began creating ex-libris in 1922 and performed about fifty book signs in a variety of techniques - autolithography, etching, woodcut, blueprint, and drawing.

One of the most comprehensive Soviet studies on the architecture of bath-houses, showers, and swimming pools, compiled by the engineer of the Moscow municipal services Fedor Burche in 1930.

Following the 1918 decree abolishing private property, all bathhouses in the USSR were municipalized, but the sector remained in poor condition, even after improvements under the New Economic Policy. Rapid urban population growth in the late 1920s made the shortage particularly acute: in Moscow, for example, there were only 44 baths for 2.7 million residents. Between 1928 and 1932, the construction of bathhouses became part of a broader ideological effort to shape the “New Soviet Man” in a modern, mechanized society. As a result, baths gradually began to appear in cities across the USSR, marking the start of a major expansion of communal hygiene infrastructure.

The edition opens with a historical overview of bathhouse construction from ancient times to the 20th century and explores topics such as the use of propaganda to promote regular bathing (through books and brochures), required tariffs, and the state of bathhouses in Moscow. Subsequent sections examine various types of bathing facilities—showers, baths, steam and air saunas, swimming pools—their equipment, and construction specifics. Burche emphasizes the importance of coordinating architectural design with facility equipment and provides calculation methods for heating water, ventilation, and other technical requirements.

Especially interesting is the fifteenth section, which presents detailed statistics on Soviet bath attendance in 1928 (1.23 visits per 100 inhabitants), operating, repair, and construction expenses, number of visits, and fuel consumption for wood and oil in 1924. The chapter also includes comparative data on bath construction in Western Europe. The publication concludes with official documents on bath facilities adopted in 1920 and 1929. The edition is richly illustrated with black-and-white images depicting prevailing trends in 1930s Soviet bath construction and includes four folding plates showing pipeline distribution for cold and hot water, heating and ventilation, a switchboard, and a bathhouse project for 500 persons designed by architect V. Ivashkevich.

Worldcat shows 1 copy of the edition at Texas A&M University.

Price: $1,200.00