Sotsgorod: Cities For Utopia
Duration: 01:32:00 In the late 1920s and early 30s, well-known Western European architects were invited to create the workers' paradises. SOTSGOROD tells their stories in the architects' own words. Some of the last survivors are interviewed: Jan Rutgers (of the Autonomous International Col...
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| Institution: | Open Society Archives at Central European University |
| Language: | Russian |
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Scholten, Rene
1995
Germany |
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/10891/osa:6f5e4660-cff0-40b0-a567-8cfa6b3329ec |
| Summary: | Duration: 01:32:00
In the late 1920s and early 30s, well-known Western European architects were invited to create the workers' paradises. SOTSGOROD tells their stories in the architects' own words. Some of the last survivors are interviewed: Jan Rutgers (of the Autonomous International Colony Kuzbass), Magarete Schutte-Lihotzky (of the Ernst May group, famous for the "Frankfurter Kuche" or super efficient kitchen), and Phillipp Tolziner ("Bauhaus Brigade"). Those who have passed away speak through their letters, articles and lectures, including Hannes Meyer, Hans Schmidt and Ernst May. Some believed they were making an essential contribution to the workers' struggle; others were seizing an unheard of opportunity to apply their design philosophies and spatial theories to entire cities. In 1937 the Westerners were presented with a choice: become citizens or leave the Soviet Union. For the first time, this film reveals the fate of the architects who stayed, as well as those who left and kept silent for six decades. The film also visits four of the cities that were built: Magnitogorsk, Orsk, Novokuznetsk and Kemerov. The success of these Sotsgorods ("Socialist Cities") is examined by following a resident in each city as he goes to work, shops, eats dinner. Nothing spectacular, but by looking at the quality of day-to-day lives, the film trys to measure the success of the once robust ideals of the architects. |
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| Published: | 1995 |