The history of communal apartments began at the moment when the Soviet government came up with the idea of moving the proletariat into large multi-room apartments of the middle class of pre-revolutionary Russia. In the first years of its existence, the Soviet government, which promised to give workers factories, became convinced that it was not able to provide them with even separate housing. The problem became especially urgent in large cities, whose population was growing rapidly.
The Bolsheviks, with their characteristic penchant for simple solutions They found a way out - they began to move several families into one apartment, allocating each a separate room with a common kitchen and bathroom. This is how the process of creating communal apartments was launched. Completely different people, often entire families, moved into the apartment, which consisted of several rooms. Accordingly, they had one room and a common kitchen and bathroom.
Neighbors in communal apartments - people of different social status, life interests and habits - lived in one place, intertwined destinies, quarreled and made peace. “Relationships between residents of communal apartments, as a rule, were tense: everyday difficulties embittered people,” writes writer Lev Stern in his memoirs about Odessa. “If sometimes you had to wait a long time in line to use the toilet or tap, it is difficult to expect warm relationships between neighbors.”
As a rule, communal apartments were organized in apartment buildings - multi-storey buildings built by the Tsars, erected by the beginning of the 20th century in large cities. The communists began to densify the population of these “bourgeois” nests as soon as they established control over the cities. “It is necessary to densify housing, and in view of the lack of housing, we will resort to the eviction of those elements whose stay is not necessary,” wrote the newspaper Kiev Communist on February 19, 1919, two weeks after the Bolsheviks’ second attempt to gain a foothold in Kyiv. On behalf of the new government, the newspapers informed readers that “loafers, speculators, criminals, White Guards, etc. elements, of course, should be deprived of their apartments.” In addition, in Soviet apartments, as it turned out, there should be no living rooms, halls and dining rooms. The Bolsheviks promised to leave offices only to those who needed them for work - doctors, professors and senior officials. As a rule, one or two floors were vacated for new management. Previous residents and owners were placed in the same buildings, offering to vacate the square meters allocated for government needs within 24 hours. You were only allowed to take your bed and essentials with you.
The painting “Housewarming Party” (1918) by K. S. Petrov-Vodkin is indicative:
It shows in some detail the clash between the old aristocratic way of life and representatives of the working people who moved to an unconventional home, the new masters of life. A large hall with a parquet floor, on which the new residents have laid out rustic paths, next to a huge mirror and oil paintings in gilded frames hung on the walls, there are stools mixed with carved chairs. Everyday objects of opposite social strata conduct their own silent dialogue, echoing the realities of social life.
Literally a couple of years after the former tenement buildings received new residents - small-town proletarians who poured en masse into large cities after the revolution, the authorities were faced with an unexpected problem: strong-looking housing, built of stone and brick, began to quickly fall into disrepair. The poor who found themselves in the “manorial mansions” did not value them too much, because many new residents not only received housing for free, but were initially exempt from paying rent. The "proletariat" quickly finished off the sewers, water supply and stoves. Garbage began to accumulate in the courtyards, which no one took out. And devastation came, just like according to Bulgakov.
The fact that the apartment was communal was clear from the threshold - near front door There were several call buttons with the names of the heads of families and an indication of how many times to call whom. In all common areas - hallway, kitchen, bathroom, toilet - there were also several light bulbs, according to the number of families (no one wanted to pay for the electricity used by a neighbor). And in the toilet, each had its own toilet seat, hanging right there on the wall. Common areas were cleaned on schedule. However, the concept of cleanliness was relative, because each user had his own idea about it. As a result, fungus and insects have become constant companions of communal apartments.
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This Soviet housing know-how determined not only the life of citizens of the USSR for many years, but also became part of the urban subculture. Housing, intended to be temporary, managed to survive the Union.
Some Soviet films take place in communal apartments. Among the most famous: “Girl without an address”, “Pokrovsky Gate”, “Five Evenings”.
Stalin's apartments of the 1930s-1950s
After the cessation of 15 years of experiments to create new aesthetics and new forms of community life in the USSR, from the beginning of the 1930s, an atmosphere of conservative traditionalism was established for more than two decades. At first it was “Stalinist classicism,” which after the war grew into “Stalinist Empire style,” with heavy, monumental forms, the motifs of which were often taken even from ancient Roman architecture.
The individual comfortable apartment was declared the main type of Soviet housing. Stone, eclectically decorated houses with apartments rich by Soviet standards (often with rooms for housekeepers) were built on the main streets of cities. These houses were built using high quality materials. Thick walls, good sound insulation along with high ceilings and a full set of communications - live and be happy!
But in order to get such an apartment in such a building, one had to be in the “clip,” or, as it would later be called, be part of the nomenklatura, be a prominent representative of the creative or scientific intelligentsia. True, it should be noted that a certain number of ordinary citizens still received apartments in elite buildings.
Many people have a good idea of what apartments were like in the 50s from films of those years or from their own memories (grandmothers and grandfathers often preserved such interiors until the end of the century).
Stills from the film “Moscow Doesn’t Believe in Tears”, the film was released in 1979, but it accurately conveys the atmosphere of those years down to the smallest detail. First of all, this is luxurious oak furniture designed to last for several generations.
Those who were richer were forced to buy collectible porcelain from the Leningrad factory. IN main room more often the lampshade is cheerful, luxury chandelier in the picture it looks quite high social status owners.
The interiors of Stalin's apartments can also be seen in the canvases of artists of those years, painted with warmth and love:
A real luxury for the 50s was having your own telephone in the apartment. Its installation was important event in the life of a Soviet family. This photo from 1953 captures just such a joyful moment in one of the Moscow apartments:
Sergei Mikhalkov with his son Nikita, 1952
In the mid-50s, television gradually began to enter the life of the Soviet family, immediately taking pride of place in apartments.
In this new apartment, the interiors are still pre-Khrushchev, with high ceilings and solid furniture. Pay attention to the love for round (extendable) tables, which later for some reason will become a rarity among us. Bookshelf in a place of honor - also a very typical feature of Soviet home interiors.
At the end of the 1950s it will begin new era. Millions of people will begin to move into their individual, albeit very tiny, Khrushchev apartments. There will be completely different furniture there.
Khrushchevka
1955 was a turning point, since it was in this year that a decree on industrial housing construction was adopted, which marked the beginning of the Khrushchev era. But in 1955, they were still building “malenkovkas” with the last hints of the good quality and architectural aesthetics of “Stalinkas”. There could not be enough Stalinka for everyone, by definition...
The construction of the Khrushchev-era houses began in 1959 and was completed in the eighties. Typically, apartments in such houses contain from one to four rooms, which would be better called “cells.” But Khrushchevka, no matter how you scold it, became the first housing for the people in the post-revolutionary years.
Housewarming
In a new apartment. Personnel worker of the Red October plant Shubin A.I. Moscow, Tushino, 1956
Furniture from the 60s and 70s can still be found in old apartments, but most of us don’t remember what the real average interior of an apartment looked like in the late 60s and early 70s, even before the period of imported walls and our cabinet furniture. Nevertheless, it is very interesting to look at the interiors of these apartments. Let's go back 40 years and look at a typical Soviet-era apartment for a middle-income family. Let's take a look into the living room of the 60s - 70s. So, let's start with the sideboard, which came into fashion in the 60s and replaced the buffet.
The design of the sideboards was the same, its surface was polished, according to the fashion of that time, the glass was sliding. And they all differed in one feature - it was very difficult to open the glass of the sideboard. This miracle was used for storing dishes and souvenirs.
There is also such a cute set, I know that many people still keep it as a family heirloom:
From the sideboard we glance at the armchairs and coffee table. Armchairs, well, what can you say about them. Only that they were comfortable, with upholstery often in rather poisonous colors - they pleased the eye and created comfort.
Considering that in our apartments of those years, the living room was most often combined with the parents’ bedroom, many of them had dressing tables. An irreplaceable piece of furniture that every Soviet woman dreamed of. And today many still remember the old Soviet furniture and even still use sideboards, cabinets and shelves made in the USSR. Against the background of the current abundance, these polished monsters seem even uglier and antediluvian.
Such carpets were often hung on the walls of living rooms and bedrooms:
And this is what the kitchen looked like, with no furniture for you:
Barack
Now let’s see how and under what conditions 80% of the population of the USSR lived before the start of Khrushchev’s industrialization of construction. And don’t get your hopes up, these weren’t pretentious Stalinists different periods, and not at home - communes, and the old stock was not enough for everyone, even taking into account the resettlement in communal apartments. The basis of the housing stock of that time was a peat-filled barracks...
Each of the factory villages consisted of several stone buildings of capital construction and many wooden barracks, in which the vast majority of its inhabitants lived. Their mass construction began simultaneously with the construction of new and reconstruction of old factories during the first five-year plan. A barrack is a quickly constructed and cheap housing, built with disregard for service life and amenities, in most cases with a common corridor and stove heating.
A room in one of the barracks in Magnigorsk
There was no running water or sewerage in the barracks; all these “conveniences,” as they say, were located in the courtyard of the barracks. Barrack construction was seen as a temporary measure - workers of new industry giants and old factories expanding production needed to be urgently provided with at least some kind of housing. The barracks, like the dormitories, were divided into men's, women's and family-type barracks.
For a modern city dweller spoiled by comfort, this housing will seem completely unsatisfactory, especially considering that the barracks were overcrowded already in the 1930s, and during the harsh war years of the 1940s the situation worsened even more due to evacuation. Barack did not imagine the opportunity to retire, to sit quietly at the table with his family or with his closest friends. The physical space of the barracks formed a special social space and special people, this space inhabited. But people tried to equip even such housing the best way, as far as possible, and create at least some semblance of comfort.
In Moscow, such houses existed until the mid-70s, and in more remote cities, people still live in such houses, which were thoroughly dilapidated.
New apartments of the 70-80s
Brezhnevka houses appeared in the Soviet Union in the seventies. Usually they were built not in width, but in height. The usual height of the Brezhnevka was from nine to 16 floors. It happened that even taller houses were erected.
Brezhnevka houses were required to be equipped with an elevator and a garbage chute. Apartments were located in so-called “pockets”, each such “pocket” usually had two apartments. The original name of “brezhnevok” was “apartments with improved layout”. Of course, compared to the “Khrushchev” apartments, such apartments actually had an improved layout, but if you compare them with the “Stalin” apartments, it would be more accurate to call them a “deteriorated option.” The size of the kitchen in such apartments is from seven to nine square meters, the ceilings are much lower than “Stalin’s”, the number of rooms can be from one to five.
So, entering a typical apartment of the 70s, we could see an interior consisting of a sofa and a “wall” facing opposite, two armchairs and a coffee table, a polished table - and everything was arranged the same for everyone, because... the layout left no room for imagination. This meant Life was good...
Imported walls were especially valued, from the CMEA countries, of course. They saved up for the wall for a long time, signed up for a queue, waited a long time and finally found the coveted GDR, Czech or Romanian headsets. It must be said that their prices were quite impressive and reached 1000 rubles, with the average salary of an engineer being 180-200 rubles. In many families, buying imported furniture was considered a very good and practical investment; they bought it as an inheritance for children, that is, for centuries.
These walls sometimes occupied almost half the room, but it was impossible not to have one, because it somehow imperceptibly moved from the category of cabinet furniture into the category of an object of prestige. It replaced several types of furniture and gave impetus to the emerging fashion for collecting crystal, books, etc. The shelves with beautiful glass doors had to be filled with something!
All self-respecting housewives acquired crystal glassware. Not a single dinner party was complete without a crystal glass, crystal vase or bowl sparkling in the light. In addition, crystal was considered an ideal investment option.
Another obligatory item in the interior of those years was an extendable polished table.
Of course, carpets were part of the interior of a Soviet apartment. They formed an inseparable pair with crystal. In addition to aesthetic value, the carpet on the wall also had a practical value. It performed the function of soundproofing the walls, and also, in some cases, covered wall defects.
An invariable attribute of the living room: a three-tier chandelier with plastic pendants:
Transformable furniture with multiple functions was very popular. Most often, beds underwent transformation, which could turn into chairs, beds, sofa beds, as well as tables (bedside table, sideboard table, dressing tables, etc.). For many families this was a salvation. Sometimes, in the evening the living room turned into a bedroom: a sofa bed, armchairs and beds. And in the morning the room again turned into a living room.
Stills from the film "Moscow Doesn't Believe in Tears." In the 80s in the USSR, such an interior was considered simply aerobatics.
And the interior is like Samokhvalov’s apartment in the movie " Love affair at work"was also the envy of ordinary Soviet citizens.
Perhaps fifty years from now our current homes will also be an object of curiosity for future generations, with the inevitable pros and cons being weighed up. But this stage is necessary for our future, just as the past aesthetics of the Soviet apartment was necessary for the perception of our present.
Source http://www.spletnik.ru/
Retro style furniture represents interior fashion of the 40s-70s XX century. Technological progress at this time was constantly gaining momentum, as a result of which the furniture industry was rapidly improving and changing the configuration of carpentry products. Therefore, the interior items that transformed the appearance of homes in the 40s were significantly different from the designs of bureaus, sideboards or cabinets produced in the 60s and 70s.
In the post-war period, carpentry manufactories created retro-style furniture: tables, chairs, sofas and other furnishings made of wood with chromed metal parts. Joinery products were produced in large quantities. Therefore, cabinetmakers rarely decorated the fronts of cabinets or bedside tables. In the 60s, there was a loud furniture boom - free-thinking designers actively created beds, armchairs, dressing tables and other carpentry products from plastic with unusually shaped frames, colorful upholstery and eye-catching finishes.
Retro style furniture: distinctive features
Retro style furniture has different design features that characterize a certain era of the 20th century. In the 40s, carpentry had rectilinear outlines and simple design. The deliberately rough finish of the facades and tabletops was softened by textile decorative items - crocheted napkins and tablecloths.
In the 50s, the post-war financial crisis significantly affected the furniture manufacture: carpenters manually created structures from cheap materials - plastic, plywood and simple wood species. Used for upholstery plain fabrics in eye-catching colors: blue, red, yellow, white and black textile coverings.
There was a heyday in the 60s carpentry production– automated equipment has facilitated and accelerated the labor-intensive process of creating upholstered retro furniture. Modernized materials and decoration methods have allowed us to radically change the idea of interior items. At this time, it came into fashion wooden kitchens with glossy facades, sofas and armchairs with streamlined backs. Absolutely all pieces of furniture had straight or slightly inclined thin legs. Thanks to this feature, the furnishings looked elegant and did not clutter the surrounding space.
In the 70s, the younger generation sought to emphasize individuality and created exclusive stylish images. The designers took into account the wishes of progressive youth, so retro-style furniture dynamically stood out against the background of the interior picture. Prominent representatives of carpentry products of this time are sofas with semicircular backs, covered catchy striped and checkered fabrics, leather chairs in rich colors and drop-shaped coffee tables with glass table tops.
Original carpentry will create an amazing ambiance in the house and emphasize the courtly features of the interior. Your guests will not forget about the spectacular image of a colorfully decorated apartment for a long time, because its cozy atmosphere will not only be conducive to pleasant communication, but will also allow you to visit the last century.
Furniture celebrities of the 20th century
Retro furniture provided an opportunity for decorators of the last century to express a personal point of view about ergonomic and stylish interior items. Designers developed layouts unique details environment without taking into account any rules or stereotypes. Thanks to this, many legendary carpentry products appeared in the world of interior fashion, which to this day are very popular among admirers of retro-style furniture.
Egg-shaped chair with bright upholstery, decorated with expressive geometric patterns, - the main symbol of retro design. The first example of a stylish piece of furniture was draped in red velvet, and then the back and seat began to be decorated different kinds fabrics with colored abstractions. Today, designers are actively using this stylish piece of furniture to design media zones in rooms designed in different styles design.
A sofa in the shape of the front of a car is the hallmark of this stylistic concept. Massive semicircular armrests with integrated car headlights and a leather double seat with separate headrests, visually reminiscent of the appearance of a car interior, are configuration features of the original furniture product. An unusual sofa will look great in tandem with ottomans made in the shape of car wheels. This spectacular interior composition is perfect for decorating a man’s or teenager’s bedroom.
Swan chair with semicircular inclined back and seat, connected to the armrests, is an icon of retro style. It was designed by the famous Danish designer for the hotel, whose representatives wanted to decorate the luxurious rooms in an original way. hotel complex. In the interior modern apartment it's elegant furniture product will look impressive, reflecting the retrospective features of the setting.
Buffets with antique porcelain tea sets against walls decorated with wooden frames with black and white photographs will eloquently testify to the dominance of retro aesthetics in the kitchen. The headset must be selected without wall cabinets, since more than half a century ago, spaciousness reigned in dining areas.
Wooden bedside tables with built-in faience sinks equipped with metallic faucets can act as retro bathroom furniture. The focal point of this interior composition can be a cast-iron or wooden font equipped with graceful legs.
If you want to create a comfortable environment in your home that will promote a break from the surrounding glamorous pathos, then you should buy retro-style furniture to improve your home. Original soft interior items draped in plain eco-leather or multi-colored velvet, chenille or corduroy, will allow you to decorate different rooms calm or spectacular color schemes.
Retro furniture has many design variations, as carpenters use different materials: wood, glass, metal and polymers. Therefore, you can choose interior items for your home that can organically fit into the surrounding environment. At the Westwing shopping club you will find beautiful classic furniture typical of furnishing apartments designed in the manner of historical design styles, and carpentry reflecting the features of modern interior fashion.
The character of the interior changes with time, and this is quite logical, because the consciousness and mood of people are constantly influenced by many different economic, social and cultural factors. Let's see how interior design has evolved from the 50s of the last century to our time, and what these or other changes were associated with.
1950s
In the 50s, the whole world was recovering from the terrible Second World War. Humanity is entering an era of consumerism. Modernism dominates the interior design; people prefer open and bright living spaces, in which everything is arranged with maximum comfort.
Main features of 50s interior design:
Functionalism rules in architecture and design, but it becomes brighter and more emotional;
Often used in room decoration bright colors, which symbolize the end of a terrible war period;
Architects and designers are increasingly trying to use modern materials and new technologies. For example, in the 50s, objects made of plastic, metal, rubber and synthetic fabrics began to appear in interiors;
Particular attention is paid to the forms of things, which is largely due to the development of the concept of functionalism by specialists different countries. At this time, Scandinavian modernity was born, which we still value today for its convenience, practicality and long term services.
1960s
A decade of restoration was replaced by the bright and bold 60s. This time is associated with space exploration, hippies, prosperity and abundance.
Main features of 60s interior design:
The color palette of the interiors has become even brighter than in the 50s. Designers can even use colors that don't go well together!
Artificial materials are also at the peak of popularity: a rare fashionable interior does without plastic furniture, laminate and plywood;
At this time, it is fashionable to use wallpaper and textiles with various geometric patterns in decoration;
A special feature of the 60s interior is a place for reading. This activity has become extremely fashionable, so many homes have shelves with books, soft chairs and floor lamps next to them; The 60s are, of course, a story about space. Space themes have also seeped into interior design, for example, with the help of furniture non-standard shape;
There was a television boom, that is, television became accessible to almost everyone, and the TV became the center of the living room, the entire interior was built around it;
The heyday of the hippie movement was also reflected in interior design: young people traveled a lot and brought various strange things and souvenirs from their travels, sometimes with an ethnic character. All this was done without it bright interior even more colorful and cheerful.
1970s
The 70s are sometimes called the “decade of bad taste,” and this can be explained by the fact that at this time some trends and innovations openly contradicted others. The mood in society was also characterized by instability: on the one hand, there was a recession in the economy, various armed conflicts and natural disasters, on the other, the desire to live, listen to music in a new stereo format, dance to disco...
Main features of 70s interior design:
The color palette of interiors changed in the 70s: yellow, green and blue were replaced by purple, violet and turquoise. New shades added a bohemian feel to the design;
Furniture in current interiors this time often had a glossy or polished surface;
It was very fashionable at this time to upholster upholstered furniture and the head of the bed with material that was pleasant to the touch, for example, plush and velvet;
No interior in the 70s could do without carpets;
The economic downturn has pushed people to create their own interior decor. Items in the spirit of DIY (from the English Do It Yourself - “do it yourself”) helped to bring individuality to the interior;
The ideas of the hippie movement began to bear fruit: people began to strive more for nature. Comes into fashion wood trim, wicker furniture and an abundance of indoor plants.
1980s
The 80s are associated with the spirit of freedom, deliberate theatricality, neon shades and noisy parties. This is a time of bold experiments and unexpected combinations.
Main features of 80s interior design:
A design trend such as shabby chic has come into fashion. Its founder is considered to be the Englishwoman Rachel Ashwell, who bought at sales and flea markets old furniture, restored and remodeled it in a romantic spirit;
The 80s was the heyday of various avant-garde styles and trends, for example, the works and concepts of the Milanese design group Memphis were at the peak of popularity. They had a bright and sometimes unexpected character. “Memphis” works are asymmetrical and disproportionate lines and sizes, a variety of materials and playful forms, witty, illogical, expressive, exotic, sometimes foolish, always emotional and a challenge to perception;
In contrast to bright abstractions, calm pastel colors were popular;
The desire to be closer to nature gradually took shape in the Country style direction, which is characterized by sincerity, lack of pretentiousness, practicality and the use of natural materials.
1990s
The 90s were a time to take stock of a turbulent, eventful century. At this time, interior design had already begun to get rid of the unnecessary and deliberately complex.
Main features of 90s interior design:
At this time, minimalism was born: people were tired of the riot of colors, abstractions and active geometry;
Furniture with leather upholstery became especially popular in the 90s: it is considered a symbol of wealth and status;
Pine furniture is also in great demand; chairs, tables, chests of drawers and cabinets were made from it. Bulky wooden furniture, sometimes with carvings, decorated almost every home;
In the 70s, not a single interior could do without carpets; in the 80s, they gradually migrated to the walls and remained there in the 90s;
At the end of the 20th century, they loved to decorate interiors with paintings by contemporary artists. Huge canvases in elaborate frames occupied almost all the walls.
2000s
The advent of the new millennium has become a symbol of the desire for an interior with individual, unique features. The development of technology and technology has made it possible to do Appliances more advanced and compact, which helped add comfort to residential and public spaces.
Key features of 2000s interior design:
Thus, the development of technology has made it possible to produce comfortable flat-screen TVs with large screens. Thanks to the spread of the Internet, people were able to set up compact cinemas in their homes;
Frequent terrorist attacks, the war in Iraq and unstable moods in society have caused people to pay more attention to the security of their homes;
However, the nondescript interior of the 90s has been replaced by a more cheerful and interesting interior 2000s People began to use complex colors, unusual finishes and sophisticated decorations. 2010s The second decade of the 21st century saw the rise of design, social media and self-expression. Interiors at this time tend to be eclectic: both ultra-fashionable objects and materials and restored old things can be used in one space. Key features of 2010s interior design:
Designers use a variety of colors and shades to decorate the interior; Each season announces its favorites;
The development of technology leads to the emergence of the concept “ smart House", which means that the owner can remotely control all devices throughout the house. This raises the comfort of the human home by new level;
The need for laconic interiors has only intensified, leading to the popularity of styles such as Scandinavian, minimalism and loft;
The desire for purity and nature also intensified: people began to try to eat healthy food and decorate your interior in pleasant natural colors using natural materials. It is obvious that interior design has come a long way in seven decades. It is difficult to predict how this area will change in the future, but we can already safely say that it is completely dependent on economic, social and cultural events. Changes in the mood of society are projected into all forms of art, and interior design is no exception.
It is obvious that interior design has come a long way in seven decades. It is difficult to predict how this area will change in the future, but we can already safely say that it is completely dependent on economic, social and cultural events. Changes in the mood of society are projected into all forms of art, and interior design is no exception.
I have long wanted to write a post about what furniture was like in the USSR. Until about the mid-1990s, my parents' apartment was furnished with typical Soviet "mass" furniture produced in the 1970s-80s, and in my grandmother's old apartment I saw many examples of old "artel" furniture made in the fifties.
So, in this post there is a story about Soviet furniture and how apartments were furnished in.
02. Until about the beginning of the 1960s, what is now called “mass-produced furniture” did not exist in the USSR - when standard cabinets, tables, racks, etc. were cut from chipboard sheets, furniture production in those years was most often carried out by small production facilities, as well as artels, such furniture was most often made from solid inexpensive wood (laminated pine board), plywood (both veneered and regular), and also simply from boards.
This is what the kitchen looked like in the photo below: ordinary apartment In the 1950s, white painted wooden cabinets and sideboards were popular furniture options. The buffet was used both for storing and preparing food - dishes were stored in the upper cabinet of the buffet (glazed), in the lower one - all sorts of pots and bulk products, and working surface The buffet (countertop) was used, for example, for cutting food.
Since the late 1950s, such a buffet stood in my grandmother’s old apartment in Minsk on Berestyanskaya Street, and it survived almost until the mid-2000s, I remember it very well.
03. Here's another very good example kitchen interior a la the USSR from the period before the 1960s. At that time, the everyday concept of “interior in such and such a style” simply did not exist; apartments were furnished with whatever was necessary. Very often in the kitchen of that time one could find pre-revolutionary furniture, especially all sorts of cabinets and sideboards - they, as a rule, were made of quality wood and served for a very long time, they began to get rid of them en masse only during the move to small-sized Khrushchev-era apartment buildings.
According to the famous St. Petersburg anthropologist Ilya Utekhin, in the 1960s and 70s, Leningrad garbage dumps were littered with antique furniture that simply did not fit into new small-sized apartments; they got rid of it en masse, replacing it with modern chipboard furniture.
04. Interiors living rooms in those years they also didn’t look very presentable. This picture perfectly conveys the details of the Soviet interior of those years - a mixture of ornate pre-revolutionary objects, cheap artel furniture (painted stools), homemade bookshelves. Furniture was placed, as a rule, strictly around the perimeter of the room; only a table could stand in the middle.
05. The interior of a rich (by Soviet standards) house could look something like this; in the photo there is very expensive, by the standards of that time, solid veneer furniture in the Art Deco style. Not an ordinary citizen of the USSR could afford such a set.
06. Typical Soviet furniture began to appear en masse in the 1960s; the need for such furniture became obvious after the resettlement of communal apartments began and families moved to Khrushchev-era buildings. The design of standard furniture at that time was carried out by the so-called. "All-Union Design and Technological Institute of Furniture" (VPKTIM), it was created in 1962 and essentially copied the developments of Western countries, the same Swedish IKEA, which already from the second half of the 1950s made assembled furniture transported in flat packages .
In general, following the developed countries, the USSR also began to make “square” furniture; it fit well into small-sized apartments and was multifunctional, which is also especially important when there is a lack of space. For example, in different compartments of the same closet linen, dishes, books and documents could be stored at the same time - in a large apartment, for the same purposes, you could buy a separate chest of drawers, a display cabinet, a shelving unit and a secretary.
According to the designers' sketches, the ideal Soviet apartment of the 1960s should have looked something like this:
07. In reality it turned out closer to something like this. Furniture surfaces coated with a hard, shiny varnish were considered especially chic; in the 1960s and 1970s, such sideboards (after brush-painted chests of drawers) looked very formal and expensive - they were reserved for the best place in the room, and inside they kept silverware and crystal, which were either never used or used only on exceptional occasions.
By the way, polished sideboards filled with old dishes can still be found in.
08. Around the same time (late 1960s - early 1970s), polished “walls” began to appear in houses, and they were in almost every Soviet apartment. “Walls” produced in the socialist camp were considered especially high quality, but not on the territory of the USSR - in the GDR, Romania or Poland. The “wall” was usually placed in the largest room in the house and had many functions - valuable services, books, clothes, etc. were stored in it, and photographs or simply beautiful pictures were often displayed on glass shelves.
By the way, it was partly because of the “walls” that he was born - in the USSR, people massively bought books (twenty-five-volume editions of all sorts of Tolstoys, Nekrasovs and Prishvins) simply “for the interior” and to fill the empty space of the shelves.
09. The standardized “upholstered” furniture of those years looked quite scary. It was noticeable that the designers tried to copy samples from Western catalogs, but at the same time these samples were most often never seen in person, plus local “production specifics” were imposed.
While studying at the Faculty of Industrial Design, I heard a lot interesting stories about how they designed household things in the USSR - the designer drew a beautiful vacuum cleaner, went to the designer, who told him “here you have “hidden connection” written, we can’t do that, we only have KV-14 screws.” Then the designer went to the paint shop, and there he said: “here you have written “blue paint with a metallic tint”, this is not in stock, there is yellow oil enamel KT-116.”
In short, what ended up happening was:
10. Back in Soviet times small apartments you could often find carpets - they were hung on walls most often for sound insulation, but that’s a completely different story)
Do you remember Soviet furniture? How were your apartments furnished in those years?
Tell me, it’s interesting)
Artyom Dezhurko
We call “Soviet furniture” the furnishings of grandmothers’ apartments: cabinets with legs, armchairs with wooden armrests, sideboards, trellises, floor lamps, three-arm chandeliers. The name is inaccurate: most of this furniture is not Soviet in origin. It was made in the Eastern Bloc countries: East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Romania. There was little domestic furniture in Soviet stores.
Spread cabinet legs, wooden armrests, long cabinets, three-legged coffee tables- this is the style of the 60s. In the 70s and 80s they made different furniture: bulky, legless, flimsy, and smelling disgusting. Soviet furniture from the 60s is worth loving. Furniture from the 70s and 80s, in my opinion, is nothing to love.
The style of the Soviet 60s is the same style that in English is called mid-century modern, mid-century modernism. The same chairs, floor lamps, the same walnut veneer can be seen in the first seasons of the Mad Men series, where they are reproduced with great accuracy American interiors second half of the 50s. In the West, this style flourished in the 50s, and in the USSR it spread later, during the Khrushchev Thaw.
50s style has been all the rage for the past few years. Now this fashion is passing, and I can no longer say: “buy Soviet furniture and you will be in trend.” You won't. But there are other reasons to pay attention to it.
This is not Ikea
The Russian furniture market is structured in such a way that the buyer has few choices. If he is rich, he buys furniture from premium Italian brands. If he is poor, he buys trash at a furniture center on the outskirts. If he is neither rich nor poor, there is only one way - to Ikea. I get angry when I remember how much good and inexpensive furniture there is abroad. They don't take her here. Or they carry it, but sell it at the price of Italian premium brands.
So it turns out that no matter what apartment you go into, there is Ikea everywhere. I would like to add variety to the landscape. Grandma's sideboard is one of the few available ways.
It's high quality
As I already said, “Soviet” furniture mainly comes from Eastern Europe. For example, from the GDR - the country of the Bauhaus, from the Czech Republic - a country with rich and old traditions of furniture production. This furniture was also sold in Western Europe, and now at Western flea markets you can find things from the same manufacturers and models as in your grandmother’s apartment. It is no worse than mid-century Western mass-produced furniture. And why would she be worse? They did it in Europe too.
This is a good design
In the world of postmodernism, where we are unlucky to live, it is believed that each object contains several meanings: one communicates directly, hints at another, and is silent about the third. Things are no longer things, but clumps of contradictory information. They seem to be talking to us: “Buy me, I’m prestigious! You can afford me, but your neighbor can’t!” or “I’m a designer! A celebrity designer made me! Limited Edition!
Old things are silent. Designers designed them, caring only that they were strong, comfortable, and that they had good proportions. They don't stroke your pride, they don't play with your phobias. They simply exist.
She doesn't clutter
space
Furniture of the 60s was made for standard apartments with two-meter ceilings and narrow doors. Therefore it is compact and low. Even tables and chair seats at that time began to be made a couple of centimeters lower, so that there was more free space above them. For the same reason, chairs from the 60s have lattice backs, and you can stick your hand under the armrest of the chair. The furniture was made in such a way as to create minimal obstacles to the view: looking over it and through it, a person clearly sees the boundaries of the room. This is also helped by the high legs on which all the objects of that era stand: the floor is visible underneath them.
Under it you can
sweep
Behind the bases of cabinets and chests of drawers, which have no legs, have not been vacuumed for decades, and there hides an amazing but unpleasant world with rich flora and fauna. The floor under cabinets with legs is easy to keep clean.
It's wooden
Of course, not all. Artificial materials were also used in the 60s, but much less frequently than now. In addition, they say that almost all the poisons have evaporated from 50-year-old chipboard. And you can find objects where there is no chipboard at all, made entirely of plywood and boards, with a rich texture of walnut veneer, under a good old varnish (the varnish ages beautifully and becomes more transparent). Can you imagine how much a modern solid wood cabinet costs?
She's cheap
Most of our fellow citizens are obsessed with the idea of novelty. For them, living among old things means disrespecting themselves. Having barely saved up for new sofa Factory "8 March", they are in a hurry to get rid of the furniture of their ancestors, giving it away for pickup or selling it for an amount much less than the cost of transportation. It happens that they take it to the trash heap.
True, now the attitude towards modernist furniture is changing. I think that in five years, my grandmother’s chair with wooden armrests in Moscow will only be found in a specialized store. But now, while the vintage furniture market has not developed, we can still furnish the apartment good samples modernist design for 200–500 rubles, purchased through private advertisements.
photos: Alexey Naroditsky, Artyom Dezhurko
