Советский модернизм

Building complex on Turgenevskaya Plaza, Moscow . Exercising my right as author of this anthology, I include here another project of mine, which experienced a difficult fate. It was decided by the head of the government that my approved high-rise project, already under construction at the insistence of the party head of Moscow and with the approval of the prime minister of the USSR, was to be realized as a low-rise version instead. As a citizen of the USSR, I had no choice but to obey and rework the project upon this request. Its structure was erected by 1993. But, during the final stage of construction, it underwent crude changes due to the efforts of an uninvited co-author of the building. This was the reason for my resignation and denouncement of its authorship. The project of my colleague, now completed, is not presented here. F. Novikov Scheme I, 1967–76: architects – F. Novikov, I. Pokrovsky, engineer – Y. Ionov; Scheme II, 1976–93: architect – F. Novikov, engineers – Y. Ionov, V. Gnedin; 1998: architect – D. Solopov

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