Get ready for a wild ride through Soviet housing history! From plastic houses to the iconic Stalinkas, Khrushchyovkas, and Brezhnevkas, discover the secrets, quirks, and genius behind these legendary buildings. Which fun fact surprised you most? Drop a comment and let us know! Don’t forget to subscribe for more awesome stories every week. #history #architecture #SovietUnion #engineering #homes
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with @kramola_online
00:00:00 - Introduction and Overview of Soviet Housing
00:02:02 - Communal Housing and Stalin-era Projects
00:03:06 - Stalinkas: Luxury and Design for Elites
00:05:02 - Transition to Khrushchyovkas and Mass Housing
00:06:30 - Khrushchyovkas: Simplicity and Mass Construction
00:09:12 - Brezhnevkas and Later Soviet Housing
00:10:34 - Iconic Buildings and Hidden Engineering
00:12:17 - Practical Solutions and Design Features
👉 This channel was created in collaboration with @kramola_online
00:00:00 - Introduction and Overview of Soviet Housing
00:02:02 - Communal Housing and Stalin-era Projects
00:03:06 - Stalinkas: Luxury and Design for Elites
00:05:02 - Transition to Khrushchyovkas and Mass Housing
00:06:30 - Khrushchyovkas: Simplicity and Mass Construction
00:09:12 - Brezhnevkas and Later Soviet Housing
00:10:34 - Iconic Buildings and Hidden Engineering
00:12:17 - Practical Solutions and Design Features
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00Not many people know about this now, but in the mid-20th century, Soviet engineers experimented
00:06a lot with plastic.
00:07It was an attempt to respond to the Americans and their breakthrough developments.
00:12In 1957, a plastic house of the future, a futuristic cottage, was built in Disneyland.
00:19The designer, whose project was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
00:23the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics responded by building the first prototype of an individual
00:28residential house made from new materials.
00:31It was the year 1961.
00:34The house had two floors, a technical floor of glass blocks and a residential floor of
00:40reinforced plastic with 14 cm thick walls.
00:45It's hard to believe even in our time.
00:47But even back then, more than half a century ago, absolutely everything here was made of
00:53plastic, from windows made of plexiglass to wallpaper made of polyvinyl chloride film.
00:58What's amazing is that the cost of building such housing was three times lower than the
01:03cost of constructing Khrushchevkas.
01:05However, the project was never put into mass production.
01:10However, operating and maintaining the building was quite costly.
01:14Authorities also worried that this beauty would encourage a lasting artificial individualism
01:19in Soviet citizens.
01:21By looking at how housing construction developed in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, you
01:25can study the history of the Soviet Union.
01:28Stalinkas, Khrushchevkas, Brezhnevkas, each of these housing projects had its own spirit.
01:35For what purpose?
01:36Entrances were mostly painted blue and green.
01:39Why did doors almost always open into the apartment?
01:43And why was there a window in the bathroom?
01:46In this video, we'll answer all these questions, so be sure to watch it until the end.
01:51It's going to be interesting.
01:53Before watching, hit the like button and don't forget to subscribe to the channel.
01:57Every week, we release interesting and informative content here.
02:02With the advent of Soviet power, housing for the majority of the country's population became
02:07communal.
02:07Back then, this was called the policy of densification.
02:11Former owners had to share their living space with workers, and huge multi-family apartments
02:17appeared.
02:18They existed in the 1930s and the 1950s, and some of them can still be found even today.
02:25By the mid-1930s, when millions of people were moving from villages and rural areas to Soviet
02:31cities, the first large-scale organized housing construction in Russian history began.
02:36And this is where things start to get really interesting.
02:41During Stalin's rule, the party elite, high-ranking military officials, and representatives of the
02:47creative intelligentsia finally took shape in the state.
02:50They could hardly live in the same communal apartment with ordinary workers who had just
02:54arrived from the village yesterday.
02:56All of them needed separate housing.
02:59That's how the large-scale project to build Stalin-era houses began.
03:03Today, they're simply called Stalinkas.
03:06According to the Soviet leader's idea, it was necessary to show the world the power and
03:11greatness of the Soviet people.
03:13For those times, the buildings could be considered luxurious.
03:17Usually, such apartments had two to four rooms and a spacious hallway.
03:21Plumbing, sewage, central air conditioning.
03:25Everything was here.
03:26It is now commonly believed that during the rule of Yosef Viserionovich, luxury and opulence
03:33could not be accessible to members of the ruling class.
03:36But that was not always the case.
03:38Personal libraries, studies, and even servants' rooms, all of this can be found in the apartments
03:44of that era.
03:45They stand out with high ceilings and kitchens that are large, even by today's standards.
03:50However, spacious kitchens can't be found in every building of that development.
03:56Even the very location of the new type of houses was no accident.
04:01Stalinka buildings were placed on the main streets of the city, at the beginning of avenues
04:05and major thoroughfares.
04:07Often the lower floors were entirely given over to housing for service staff, cleaners,
04:13janitors, and security personnel.
04:15The buildings themselves were decorated with arches, columns, and stucco.
04:19The walls, four bricks thick, provided excellent sound insulation, and even the cold winter
04:25was not a problem for the residents of these apartments.
04:28A different type of Stalin-era building was offered for ordinary people.
04:32Now let's go back to Stalin-era buildings for ordinary people, not the nomenklatura elite.
04:38Life was simpler then, communal living was common, and many apartments lacked bathtubs.
04:43Such buildings were mainly constructed in workers' settlements and in city districts intended for
04:50factory workers.
04:51Stalin-era buildings were constructed to last centuries, with a service life of about 150
04:58years, which is why many still exist today.
05:02In the 1950s, the government issued a decree with a boring bureaucratic title about eliminating
05:09excesses in design and construction.
05:12I think many viewers have already guessed that behind this unremarkable title were truly large-scale
05:18changes.
05:19The era of Khrushchevkas began in the Soviet Union.
05:23Here's what Khrushchev himself wrote about the wastefulness of designers from the previous
05:27era.
05:28They understand architecture too aesthetically, as an artistic activity, and not as a means
05:34to meet the vital needs of the Soviet people.
05:37They spend money on unnecessary beauty that no one needs, instead of building more simply,
05:42but in greater quantity.
05:44Stalin's luxury and the decor of Soviet apartment buildings are disappearing.
05:49It is not destined to return again.
05:51Now, architects and builders of the Soviet Union have been given a different task.
05:55To build as much as possible, and as cheaply as possible.
05:59The new series of houses were often panel-built.
06:02To save materials, the interior walls were only 4 centimeters thick, and the walls between
06:08apartments were 8 centimeters thick.
06:11Recipients of this housing had to give up on soundproofing and warmth in their apartments.
06:16The project of the giant house of Soviets and some other structures remained unfinished.
06:21Some of them, already without the pompous decor and architectural flourishes, were completed
06:28by 1961.
06:29But one way or another, the era changed.
06:33World War I-V buried hundreds of thousands of ordinary Soviet citizens' homes under its rubble.
06:39Many of them had to live in sheds and dugouts, and something urgently needed to be done about
06:44this.
06:45It's hard to believe now, but for many people at that time, the first Khrushchevkas were like
06:50a breath of fresh air.
06:52Citizens who shared a common kitchen with other families were happy to get, even if it was small,
06:58their own apartment.
06:59The classic Khrushchevka is a five-story building with longitudinal load-bearing walls.
07:05There is no elevator, garbage chute, fire escape, or balcony.
07:10The icing on the cake was the hassle caused by the layout's walk-through room.
07:15Apparently, so that the owners of such new buildings wouldn't feel completely sad, the
07:20architects included small storage rooms, and in some series of houses, there was even a
07:25refrigerator shelf built under the kitchen windowsill.
07:28That's a Soviet-style bonus for you.
07:31This very kitchen was microscopic.
07:33A four to six square meter area barely gives the hostess enough room to move.
07:38However, Soviet planners knew what they were doing.
07:42All distances, angles, and proportions were carefully calculated, and this area is quite
07:48enough to minimally meet the needs.
07:50As for comfort, there was the bare minimum.
07:53The neglect of architectural elements in favor of practicality had an unpleasant effect on the
07:59appearance of Khrushchevkas.
08:01Gray, faceless, and shabby, they looked truly awful.
08:05But no matter how terrible the quality of the housing being built was, it must be admitted
08:10that mass construction in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was ahead of its time.
08:15And even 60 years later, buildings around the world are still being built according to Soviet
08:20standards. The standardized construction of five-story buildings solved the colossal problem
08:25of housing shortages. Khrushchev and his team managed to stop a real housing crisis.
08:31The brilliant project eliminated everyday problems for millions of families in a short time,
08:36and at the same time strengthened the urban population class of the Soviet Union.
08:40The state worked so hard to rescue people from the post-war ruins that it churned out an
08:47incredible number of Khrushchevkas. These buildings embodied the spirit of their time.
08:52No matter how you look at it, the space where we spend most of our lives changes us.
08:58By the way, what kind of building do you live in? If it's a Soviet-era building,
09:03write in the comments whether you like it or not.
09:06Or maybe you've had the chance to visit someone in a historic building? Well, let's continue.
09:12The term Brezhnevka also became common among the people. These are mass-built apartment
09:17buildings from the second generation of the post-Stalin era. These are upgraded Khrushchevkas
09:23that became taller with more floors and wider, as apartments grew more spacious.
09:29These buildings are sometimes called improved ones. Ceilings are higher and kitchens larger.
09:36In some standard versions, they could be as large as 14 square meters. Owners of apartments from other
09:42projects with kitchens were less fortunate. Basically, a Brezhnevka is the average between a Stalinka
09:49with its comfortable apartments and a Khrushchevka with its affordability. Under Brezhnev,
09:54layout solutions were significantly improved. Adjoining rooms almost disappeared from the designs,
10:00garbage chutes, and elevators appeared. And silicate brick began to be used in the construction
10:06of some series. Usually, only those buildings that were constructed during the rule of Leonid Ilyich
10:11were called Brezhnevkas. However, in reality, this type of construction was used right up until the
10:17mid-90s when not only Brezhnev, but even the Soviet Union itself no longer existed. The five-story
10:24buildings were replaced by ones with eight, nine, or even sixteen floors. This way, it was possible to
10:31house more people with minimal costs. Each type of building represents the era in which it was constructed.
10:38From the spacious and luxurious Stalinkas, which embody the ambitions of the leader, to the identical,
10:44cramped, in some ways even ugly, but affordable Khrushchevkas and Brezhnevkas for ordinary people.
10:51It's important to realize the Soviet Union built both identical standard houses and remarkable buildings.
10:58This is what, for example, the Omsk Musical Theater looks like. Its shape is still debated to this day.
11:04From one angle, it's a grand piano. From another, it's a ship with a sail. And some people even call
11:10it
11:11a ski jump. Consider the Kurpati Sanatorium in Crimea. It offers a warm seawater pool,
11:18movie theater, restaurant, bars, and a library. All present, of course. But that's not the main point.
11:25Just take a look at its shape. And here's another building, the Uzbekistan Hotel. It's a huge hotel,
11:33designed to accommodate participants of international competitions and conferences. National patterns are
11:39hidden between the sun-shading panels of the facade. And there were a lot of such buildings in the
11:44Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The triumph of Soviet engineers' imagination was reflected
11:50not only in the aesthetic appeal of their projects. Some buildings, which appeared to be civilian
11:55structures, could actually serve as bunkers or secret facilities in case of war. By the way, if you also
12:03find the topic of unusual buildings in the Soviet Union interesting for a separate video, let me know
12:08in the comments. The engineering design of Soviet houses concealed a number of secrets, many of which
12:14still spark interest even today. Most of the inconspicuous techniques and solutions were meant
12:20to help residents in their daily lives. Let's talk about them in more detail. A perfectly logical question
12:26is, why is there a window in the apartment between the bathroom and the kitchen? You can find exactly
12:32this kind of solution in some Khrushchevkas. It's a strange design element, isn't it? There are dozens
12:38of theories about its purpose, and some of them are ridiculous. Supposedly, such a window could save
12:44the wall from collapsing in case of a household gas explosion. A more reasonable theory says that the
12:50window helped save electricity, sunlight filled the space during the day, and in the evening the kitchen
12:56lamp lit both rooms at once. Another version says that during the Khrushchevka construction years,
13:02the Soviet Union was battling tuberculosis, and the Koch bacillus dies when exposed to direct sunlight.
13:09And this version is quite plausible. And the window also helped visually expand the space,
13:15and Soviet building designers, of course, knew this very well. They put the window in such an unusual
13:21place for a reason. Over many years of use, residents of such apartments have managed to
13:27brick up these windows, so now it's harder to find them. They were sealed up for more than just privacy
13:33reasons. The thing is, because of this window, it was almost impossible to mount the upper part of the
13:40kitchen set. Let's move on to the entrances, which were painted specifically in blue or green. And again,
13:46there are several theories. First of all, this solution is practical. These colors don't show
13:52dirt easily, and scratches and graffiti are hard to see on them. Some sources say that blue and green
13:59pigments are the most concentrated, so this paint is used up slowly. It's worth noting that after the war,
14:07there was an abundance of green paint in warehouses, since it was used for camouflaging military equipment.
14:13By the way, only the lower part of the wall was painted, while the upper part was usually
14:18whitewashed. It's much cheaper. That's why Soviet engineers and Gosplan economists carefully calculated
14:24everything here. Almost always, the doors in Soviet houses opened inward. This was justified by safety
14:31considerations. In case of a fire or another disaster, the door could be quickly broken down from the
14:37outside to get inside. However, the KGB could also break in by knocking down the door. However,
14:45it's unlikely anything could have stopped Soviet government agency employees. You may have noticed
14:50that in Soviet-era buildings, only the edges of steps are painted. Most often, brown paint was used for
14:57this purpose. The first version says, this recreated the Tsarist-era mansion atmosphere,
15:04with carpeted stairs in the cramped entryways of cheap apartment buildings. Supposedly, this way,
15:11the austere Soviet entrance looked more attractive and created a certain semblance of coziness.
15:16The second version is simple convenience for the cleaners. Dust and dirt accumulate specifically in
15:22the corners of the steps. Those specific corners were painted, making the surface smoother and the stairs
15:28noticeably easier to clean. Most houses built during Khrushchev's era did not have balconies on the first
15:35floor. Buildings of this type were low, with little space from the asphalt, so a balcony would simply be
15:43on the ground. In addition, people living on the first floors had easy access to the street,
15:49so they didn't need such a space. Another reason first floors lack balconies is fire safety.
15:54To be continued. This made it much faster to leave the premises in case of an emergency.
16:01Thank you for watching this video until the end. If you liked it, please give it a like and subscribe
16:07to the channel. There's a ton of interesting content here for every occasion, and we do our best to bring
16:13you up-to-date news and fascinating stories. See you in the next episode.
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