Svoboda Factory Club (

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

:Клуб фабрики "Свобода"), conceived as ''Chemists Trade Union Club'' (Клуб Химиков), also known as ''

Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в; – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...

Palace of Culture'' (Дворец культуры имени Горького), is a listed memorial

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

building in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

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, designed by

Konstantin Melnikov Konstantin Stepanovich Melnikov (Russian: Константин Степанович Мельников; – November 28, 1974) was a Russian architect and painter. His architectural work, compressed into a single decade (1923–33), placed ...

in 1927 and completed in 1929. It is located at 41A, Vyatskaya Street, in

Savyolovsky District Savyolovsky District (russian: Савёловский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion) of Northern Administrative Okrug, and one of the 125 raions of Moscow, Russia. The area of the district is . See also *Administrative divisi ...

Evolution of design

Upon his return from

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

in 1925 and completion of

Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage was a public bus garage in Moscow, designed in 1926 by Konstantin Melnikov (floorplan concept and architectural design) and Vladimir Shukhov (structural engineering). The building, completed in 1927, was an example of app ...

, Melnikov enjoyed a rush of commissions from trade unions, who launched a nationwide campaign to build workers' clubs in 1926. After negotiations with the Communal Workers Unions, who accepted his concept for

Rusakov Workers' Club The Rusakov Workers' Club (russian: Дом культуры имени И.В.Русакова (рабочий клуб)) in Moscow is a notable example of constructivist architecture. Designed by Konstantin Melnikov, it was constructed in 1927� ...

and rejected his

Zuev Workers' Club The Zuyev Workers' Club (russian: Клуб имени Зуева) in Moscow is a prominent work of constructivist architecture Constructivist architecture was a constructivist style of modern architecture that flourished in the Soviet Unio ...

(awarded to

Ilya Golosov Ilya Alexandrovich Golosov (Russian: Илья Александрович Голосов; 31 July 1883 – 21 January 1945) was an architect from the late Russian Empire and early Soviet Union. A leader of Constructivism in 1925-1931, Ilya Golos ...

), Melnikov was employed by the Chemists' Union who planned to build one large (Svoboda Factory) and one small ( Frunze Factory) club. Initial concept for Svoboda Club was a flat

elliptical Elliptical may mean: * having the shape of an ellipse, or more broadly, any oval shape ** in botany, having an elliptic leaf shape ** of aircraft wings, having an elliptical planform * characterised by ellipsis (the omission of words), or by conc ...

tube raised above ground floor

pilotis Pilotis, or piers, are supports such as columns, pillars, or stilts that lift a building above ground or water. They are traditionally found in stilt and pole dwellings such as fishermen's huts in Asia and Scandinavia using wood, and in elev ...

Architecture

In the age of total steel

rationing Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...

, the tubular concept was immediately blocked. Melnikov had to minimize the use of steel to the bare minimum (main span

girder A girder () is a support beam used in construction. It is the main horizontal support of a structure which supports smaller beams. Girders often have an I-beam cross section composed of two load-bearing ''flanges'' separated by a stabilizing ' ...

s).

Preservation

As of March, 2007, Svoboda Club is in quite good exterior condition. The building is painted to its original white-red color scheme. The only difference with 1920s photographs is the lack of color accent around end block windows (originally, there was a third color - a paler shade of red). 2007 photographs Image:Melnikov_Svoboda_Club_Moscow.jpg, Vyatskaya Street facade Image:Melnikov_Stairs_Svoboda_Club_Moscow.jpg, Facade stairs - fire escape from the theater hall Image:Melnikov_Stairs_Svoboda_Club_Moscow_BW.jpg, Stairs, side view Image:Melnikov_Colors_Svoboda_Club_Moscow.jpg, Original facade colors restored in 2000s

References

*Russian: 2006 biography of Melnikov by Selim Khan-Magomedov: Хан-Магомедов, С.О., "Константин Мельников", М, 2006 *English: Khan-Magomedov, Selim, "Pioneers of Soviet Architecture: The Search for New Solutions in the 1920s and 1930s", Thames and Hudson Ltd, {{coord, 55, 48, 2, N, 37, 34, 53, E, region:RU-MOW_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Moscow Russian avant-garde Constructivist architecture Buildings and structures completed in 1929 Modernist architecture in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Moscow