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[METAL] Arkhitektura metallicheskikh sooruzheniy [i.e. Architecture of Metal Structures]

MIKHAYLOV, B.

Item #2927

Moscow: Izd-vo Vses. akad. arkhitektury, 1938. 168 pp.: ill. 25.3 × 17.8 cm. In original publisher’s cloth binding. Spine is soiled. Otherwise in a very good condition.

Scarce. First edition. 1 of 3,500 copies. Edited by I. Sushkevich.

This is one of the first comprehensive overviews of the architecture of metal structures in the Soviet Union. The book was written by Boris Mikhailov (1901—1969), a noted Soviet architect, art historian, and Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Architecture in 1938. In the edition the author analyzes the role of metal structures in contemporary architecture and reviews their construction peculiarities on the basis of various metal structures all over the world, including Stockholm, Cologne, New York, Dusseldorf, Innsbruck, etc. 180 black and white illustrations of metal structures presented in the book are particularly important considering that first, some of these constructions disappeared over the course of time, namely the first bridge over the Rhine at Deutz in Cologne (demolished in 1898), and second, they vividly represent architectural outlook ofthe world in the early 20th century. The edition consists of 12 sections and focuses on such topics as the principles of the composition of metal structures, the problem of style, the basis for the perception of works of architecture, the evolution of the forms of metal structures, etc. Interestingly, in the introduction to the edition, the author offers a brief historical overview of the usage of metal structures in architecture and criticizes constructivist architects for tearing structure away from the architectural art and states: “They deprived the architecture of the enormous ideological and historical content that it possessed in the best epochs of its development.”

From the 1920s, the Soviet state began a large-scale program for the industrialization of the country. The developing metallurgy made it possible to use more durable, low-alloy steel instead of low-carbon steel. In the middle of the 20th century, the mass of structures was significantly reduced, which in turn made it possible to build structures of much larger sizes. The large volume of construction and the repeatability of structures contributed to the typification of structural schemes and the main elements of buildings in the USSR.

Worldcat shows 1 copy of the edition at Princeton University Library.

Price: $750.00