School 518

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School 518

Building Information
Name School 518
Location Moscow
Country Russia
Architect Ivan Andreevich Zvezdin
Construction Start Date 1933
Completion Date 1935
Structural System Masonry
Style Postconstructivism

School 518 is a high school in historical Balchug area of Moscow, Russia. Designed by Ivan Zvezdin and completed in 1935, it is the only listed postconstructivist memorial building in the city. It was reconstructed in 1999-2003 to modern safety standards and Zvezdin's original design, externally and internally.

Contents

[edit] The site

The school was built on a 2.9 hectare waterfront lot between Sadovnicheskaya Street and Vodootvodny Canal. This area, near Bolshoy Ustinsky Bridge, became a site of major construction in 1930s; the bridge and adjacent Textile Institute were completed in 1938. Further east, the historical Sadovniki area retained its 19-th century mix of residential blocks, military depots and factories.

[edit] The architect

Ivan Andreyevich Zvezdin was born in 1899 in Nizhny Novgorod. He studied in Warsaw, Nizhny Novgorod and graduated from Moscow Institute of Civil Engineers in 1927. He worked all his life in Moscow on low-profile architectural and city planning work, including working-class apartment buildings, schools and theaters. Since 1935, Zvezdin was associated with Mossovet Workshop No. 10. He died in 1979 and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery.

[edit] Architecture

In 1932-1936, soviet architects were in transition from 1920s Constructivism to stalinist architecture. Two groups of architects - constructivists and neoclassicists - converged on the same transitional style, known as postconstructivism (or simply early stalinism). The style features classical shapes without classical detail; the arhitects stopped experimenting with shapes, but where yet reluctant to accept classical order. They invented their own order, combining large window surfaces with slim, capital-less supporting columns.

School 518, as an example, has such constructivist features as large glass panes and circular top floor windows. But it also has a portico of slim white columns supporting the protruding third-floor hall. It is also perfectly symmetrical - another classical feature.

Technologically, it was built of man-made lime and cinder blocks, with wooden ceilings, partitions and roof trusses. With a gross volume of 18,500 cubic meters, it has nearly twice more volume per student than the 1935 standard (30.8 vs. 16.5 cubic meters per student).

[edit] History

Zvezdin designed a so-called Moscow Suburban School (Подмосковная школа) for 600 students, an experimental institution with main school hall, gym, stadium and workshops. By 1935, the age of experiments was over, and the main building opened as two regular high schools - No.518 for boys and No.519 for girls. Other buildings were never completed; a small gym was attached in 1950s. The main building was only partially completed; it had open-air terraces but no provisions for open-air classes, the rear wall was coarsely finished. During WWII the school was converted to a military hospital.

[edit] Reconstruction

By 1996, the cinder and wood structure was literally falling apart, demolition was imminent. Parents and preservationists, lead by Selim Khan-Magomedov, managed to list the school on the national register of memorial buildings, thus it became the only listed postconstructivist building in Moscow. Memorial status allowed city funding to reconstruct protected interiors and southern facade. Reconstruction of 1999-2003 also expanded the rear facade, adding the fourth floor with circular windows. Single-story rear terraces were built out to complete 4-story height; small gym was torn down and replaced with a larger, separate structure. Historical interiors were rebuilt to 1935 drawings. Unlike other recently rebuilt constructivist buildings (i.e. Mostorg by Vesnin brothers), School 518 retains it's original function and interiors.

Main entrance

Built-out rear facade

No parking for boats

Main entrance, side view

[edit] External links

Russian: School 518 site

[edit] See also

  • Selim Khan-Magomedov, "Pioneers of Soviet Architecture: The Search for New Solutions in the 1920s and 1930s", 1986, Thames and Hudson Ltd, ISBN 978-0500341025
  • Maria Gough, "The Artist as Producer: Russian Constructivism in Revolution", 2005, University of California Press, ISBN 978-0520226180
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