Named after the post-Stalinist regime of Nikita Krushchev, the Soviet Block Housing System or Khrushchyovka was designed by engineer Vitaly Lagutenko to be rapidly deployed as a low-cost solution to a severe housing shortage from 1947 to 1961. The original Khrushchyovkas had 4 or 5 floors and were divided into 2 to 6 sections. Each section was organized around one staircase and each floor had two, three, or four different apartments connected to one staircase. Based on a paneled design, Khrushchyovkas utilized concrete plants in which most of the construction occurred in the factory and trucked to be assembled at the site. As traditional masonry was labor-intensive and individual projects were not scalable to the needs of overcrowded cities, the Khrushchyovka was an early attempt at mass-produced industrial construction with 64,000 five-story buildings produced throughout the Soviet Union. The biggest problem is that they have not been maintained. What’s in bad condition is the heating, the water, and the waste systems. The buildings are also not up to today’s energy efficiency standards. This project looked at documenting the aesthetics, technology, and lifestyles of the Khrushchyovokas and their inhabitants through decades since its construction. 1960’s - As simple as they could get. Not much decoration. Furniture was simple as raw material and labor was diverted to build the Khrushchyovka. Textured wallpapers, curtains, and rugs. Small radio, few appliances 1970’s - Even though they were only 10 years into their supposed 25-year lifespans, many of the Khrushchyovka’s started becoming dated. Modern fridges couldn't fit in the small kitchens and as a result, had to be placed in the living rooms. Very cramped as even 3 or more generations would live together in one. Highly ornamental rugs, wallpapers, decorations, velour, felt, cramped feeling. TV, small oven, decorative chandeliers. 1980’s - Furniture was inspired by Ikea in the west. However, what was proposed was highly idealized and not necessarily used by the common apartment. Fold up beds to save space, wall cabinet storage space, decorative wallpaper, sleek furniture 1990’s - Fall of the Soviet Union. In the 1990s, the city attempted large-scale upgrades of such buildings, but the undertaking has proven too costly and inefficient. According to official data, Khrushchovkas are 20-to-40% depreciated, with some being classified as being too dangerous to live in. Not much change. Computer, tv, new kitchen appliances, mounted tv 2000’s - Change to cheaper materials, Linoleum, Less fabric, and less use of wallpaper. Introduction of Computers, newer TVs, and new kitchen appliances. Today - Today there is two options with what to do with the Khrushchyovka. Larger more affluent cities such as Moscow plans to demolish all of them, displacing more than 1.5 million people. They plan on having developers build towers nearby, moving the residents to the towers, and putting up for market the rest of the apartments. Allowing the Khrushchyovka to be demolished and make room for the next tower. However, while architects didn’t have a huge influence in the design of Khrushchyovkas, they did have a voice in how they were organized, drawing masterplans in laying them out in neighborhoods called mikrorayons which the new towers ignore. The other issue is that the quality of the new projects doesn't seem to be any better. Also yet to see if the government follows through with its plans. Calls to renovate them or demolish them have been declared but not followed through in the past. Smaller cities are forced to make their best in renovating them in a style influenced by the west called Euromount.
