Failed But Nonetheless Triumphant
The Protagonists of Modern Construction in the Soviet Union
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
In the 1920s and early 1930s, many architects and city planners set out for the nascent Soviet Union. One of the most prominent among them was former Frankfurt city councillor Ernst May, who had had achieved an international reputation. With their ideas of modern construction, they seemed to be urgently needed to create a new society in the era of forced industrialisation and urbanisation. New publications show that modern construction architects’ activity, which had begun so full of hope, remained a mere episode in the history of the Soviet Union under Stalin.The result of their efforts is little more than paper.
(Osteuropa 11-12/2016, pp. 169–180)